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Series: Songs of Sacrilege

Songs of Sacrilege: Curse Your Branches by David Bazan

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

david bazan

This is the one hundred eighty-second installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Curse Your Branches by David Bazan.

Video Link

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Red and orange
Or red and yellow
In which of these do you believe?
If you’re not sure right now, please take a moment
Cause I’ll need your signature before you leave

When I sleep, I’m usually dreaming
But more and more, there’s only one
Where every hired gun I’ve ever fired
Is making love to you, while I look on

[Chorus]
All fallen leaves should curse their branches
For not letting them decide where they should fall
And not letting them refuse to fall at all

[Verse 2]
Digging up the root of my confusion
If no one planted it, how does it grow?
And why are some hellbent upon there being an answer
While some are quite content to answer “I don’t know”?

[Chorus]
All fallen leaves should curse their branches
For not letting them decide where they should fall
And not letting them refuse to fall at all

Songs of Sacrilege: Craig by Stephen Lynch

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment

Craig by Stephen Lynch

This is the one hundred eighty-third installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Craig by Stephen Lynch.

Video Link

Lyrics

Everyone knows Jesus,
The man who healed the lame,
But I am Jesus’ brother:
Craig is my name.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace,
Jesus is the Lamb,
Jesus is the Son of God,
But Craig don’t give a damn.

Because when Craig’s in sight,
We’ll party all damn night!
I don’t turn water into wine,
But into cold Coors Light!
I’m not my brother, I know,
Don’t walk on H2O,
But I got hydroponic shit that me and Judas grow!

I’m fuckin’ Craig!
I’m fuckin’ Craig!
Yeah, I’m fuckin’ Craig!
Craig Christ.

I hang out with lepers,
Barabas and Salome.
Jesus’ friends are called Apostles;
Those dudes are totally gay.

Jesus performs miracles
From Galilee to Rome,
But it would be a miracle
If he brought a fuckin’ lady home.

Because while Jesus is prayin’,
Fuckin’ Craig is layin’
Every lady in the Testament,
You know what I’m sayin’?
I won’t die for your sin
Like my famous kin,
But if you’ve got a little sister,
Then there’s room at this inn!

I’m fuckin’ Craig!
Yeah, I’m fuckin’ Craig!
I’m fuckin’ Claagh!
Craig Christ.

Jesus was our mother’s fave.
All her love to him she gave.
But there’s no sibling rivalry
When he’s nailed to that tree! Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

And now the question for you,
Is not “What Would Jesus Do?”,
But where will you be
When the Craig Machine comes partyin’ through?
And if the Lord will allow,
You’ve got to ask yourself how,
And who and why and when and where is your messiah now?

It’s fuckin Craig!
It’s Fuckin’ Craig!
Fuckin’ Craig!
Fuckin’ Craig!
I’m fuckin’ Craig!
Craig Christ.
Craig Christ.
Craig Christ.
I’m fuckin’ Craig.

Songs of Sacrilege: What if God Was One of Us? by Joan Osborne

Bruce Gerencser 3 Comments

joan osborne

This is the one hundred eighty-fourth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is What if God Was One of Us? by Joan Osborne.

Video Link

Lyrics

If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
And yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home?

If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see if, seeing meant
That you would have to believe in things like heaven
And in Jesus and the saints, and all the prophets?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
And yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home?

Just tryin’ to make his way home
Like back up to heaven all alone
Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome
And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
And yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home?
Just tryin’ to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just tryin’ to make his way home
Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

 

Songs of Sacrilege: I’ll Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab For Cutie

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

death cab for cutieThis is the one hundred eighty-fifth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is I’ll Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab For Cutie.

Video Link

Lyrics

Love of mine, someday you will die
But I’ll be close behind and I’ll follow you into the dark
No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark

If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
And illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs
If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I’ll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me,
Son, fear is the heart of love, so I never went back

You and me we’ve seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary and the soles of your shoes
Are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
But it’s nothing to cry about
‘Cause we’ll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms

Songs of Sacrilege: Who Will Save Your Soul? by Jewel

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

jewel

This is the one hundred eighty-sixth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Who Will Save Your Soul? by Jewel.

Video Link

Lyrics

People living their lives for you on T.V.
They say they’re better than you and you agree
He says “Hold my calls from behind those cold brick walls”
Says “Come here boys, there ain’t nothing for free”
Another doctor’s bill, a lawyer’s bill
Another cute cheap thrill
You know you love him if you put in your will but

Who will save your soul when it comes to the flowers now
Huh huh who will save your soul after all the lies that you told, boy
And who will save your souls if you won’t save your own?

We try to hustle them, try to bustle them, try to cuss them
The cops want someone to bust down on Orleans Avenue
Another day, another dollar, another war, another tower
Went up where the homeless had their homes
So we pray to as many different Gods as there are flowers
We call religion our friend
We’re so worried about saving our souls
Afraid that God will take his toll
That we forget to begin but

Who will save your soul when it comes to the flowers now
Huh huh who will save your souls after all the lies that you told, boy
And who will save your souls if you won’t save your own?

Some are walking, some are talking, some are stalking and kill
You got social security, but it doesn’t pay your bills
There are addictions to feed and there are mouths to pay
So we bargain with the devil, so evil, careful do they say
That you love them take your money and run
Say it’s been swell, sweetheart, but it was just one of those things
Those flings, those strings you’ve got to cut
So get out on the streets, girls, and bust your butts

Who will save your soul when it comes to the flowers now
Huh huh who will save your soul after all the lies that you told, boy
And who will save your soul if you won’t save your own?

Songs of Sacrilege: Strength in Stone by Opus of a Machine

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

opus of a machine

This is the one hundred eighty-seventh installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Strength in Stone by Opus of a Machine.

Video Link

Lyrics

I’ve waited for gods to take me and save me in time,
But now I know this picture we hold of the holy was all in our minds.
Why should we worship those divine, the ones on the other side?
They’ll be just as fragile and helpless as us when we drown.

Misguided dreams and wasted prayers to the sky,
Hoping to ascend to the heavens and drink from the fountain inside.
As we pay this bitter price, we gain what we were denied.
There’ll be strength in our hearts as we march from this holy divide.

Go on and carry the weight of the world,
Bare it all on your shoulders.
We will find our own way home,
We’ll see the weave as it’s woven.

Still waiting to feel the warmth,
Sleeping in you and me.
Reach in and hold it, this golden light is calling.

Go on and carry the weight of the world,
Bare it all on your shoulders.
We will find our own way home,
We’ll see the weave as it’s woven.

And we’ll uncover what we hold inside, becoming what we once called divine,
And walk down this road on our own to feet and know what it is to be alive.

It’s scary I know, letting it all go,
It’s easier to stay in a dream than fade to dust and bones.

We will be our very own halo,
A saviour is born,
Inside of you and me, it’s inside us all,

Go on and carry the weight of the world,
Bare it all on your shoulders.
We will find our own way home,
We’ll see the weave as it’s woven.

Go,
Stand tall,
Don’t look back.
Be strong,
Be like stone.

Songs of Sacrilege: Gospel Shoes by Mandolin Orange

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

mandolin orange

This is the one hundred eighty-eighth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Gospel Shoes by Mandolin Orange.

Video Link

Lyrics

Some set their heads to swimming, nothing to lose Drift about their good times, slivers in their boots Some walk the straight and narrow, only passing through Trading this world over for a pair of gospel shoes

Gospel shoes are laced with shackles and chains Fitted for the poor runners of the race Now every hand is folded shape of a gun Target’s ever changing but the war it rages on

So the armies march onward for the mother and the son As this world of screaming color is bleached in the blood

Freedom was a simple word so reverent and true A long time ago, it meant the right to choose Who you love and how to live, now it’s so misused Twisted by the politics of men in gospel shoes

So the armies march onward for the mother and the son As this world of screaming color is bleached in the blood Our mother she is crying, her broken heart is blue ‘Cause we’re too busy dying to love this life we lose

She’s growing weary of the lying She’s tired of all this fighting in the name of gospel shoes

Songs of Sacrilege: Jesus Christ by Brand New

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment

brand new

This is the one hundred eighty-ninth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Jesus Christ by Brand New.

Video Link

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Jesus Christ, that’s a pretty face
The kind you’d find on someone that could save
If they don’t put me away
Well, it’ll be a miracle

Do you believe you’re missing out?
That everything good is happening somewhere else
With nobody in your bed
The night is hard to get through

[Chorus 1]
And I will die all alone
And when I arrive I won’t know anyone

[Verse 2]
Jesus Christ, I’m alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
Because this problem is gonna last
More than the weekend

Jesus Christ, I’m not scared to die
But I’m a little bit scared of what comes after
Do I get the gold chariot
Do I float through the ceiling

[Chorus 2]
Or do I divide and pull apart
Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark
This ship went down in sight of land
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands?

[Bridge]
I know you’re coming in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time, O Lord, to hone my lying technique
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear I’ll try to nail you back up
So do you think that we could work out a sign
So I’ll know it’s you and that it’s over so I won’t even try
I know you’re coming for the people like me
But we all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we sleep inside of this machine

Songs of Sacrilege: Weak Fantasy by Nightwish

Bruce Gerencser 0 Comments

nightwish

This is the one hundred ninetieth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Weak Fantasy by Nightwish.

Video Link

Lyrics

These stories given to us all

Are filled with sacrifice and robes of lust

Dissonant choirs and downcast eyes

Selfhood of a condescending ape

Behold the crown of a heavenly spy

Forged in blood of those who defy

Kiss the ring, praise and sing

He loves you dwelling in fear and sin

Fear is a choice you embrace

Your only truth

Tribal poetry

Witchcraft filling your void

Lust for fantasy

Male necrocracy

Every child worthy of a better tale

Pick your author from à la carte fantasy

Filled with suffering and slavery

You live only for the days to come

Shoveling trash of the upper caste

Smiling mouth in a rotting head

Sucking dry the teat of the scared

A storytelling breed we are

A starving crew with show-off toys

Fear is a choice you embrace

From words into war of the worlds

This one we forsake with scorn

From lies the strength of our love

Mother’s milk laced with poison for this newborn

Wake up child, I have a story to tell

Once upon a time

Songs of Sacrilege: Terrible Lie by Nine Inch Nails

Bruce Gerencser 1 Comment

nine inch nails

This is the one hundred ninety-first installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Terrible Lie by Nine Inch Nails.

Video Link

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
(Hey God)
Why are you doing this to me?
Am I not living up to what I’m supposed to be?
Why am I seething with this animosity?
(Hey God)
I think you owe me a great big apology

[Chorus]:
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie

[Verse 2]
(Hey God)
I really don’t know what you mean
Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams
I feel my hatred grow all the more extreme
(Hey God)
Can this world really be as sad as it seems?

[Chorus]
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie

[Post-Chorus]:
Don’t take it away from me
I need you to hold on to
Don’t take it away from me
I need you to hold on to
Don’t take it away from me
I need you to hold on to
Don’t take it away from me
I need someone to hold on to
Don’t tear it away from me
I need you to hold on to
Don’t tear it away from me
I need someone to hold on to
Don’t tear it away from me
I need you to hold on to
Don’t tear it, don’t tear it
Don’t take it, don’t take it, don’t

[Verse 3]:
(Hey God)
There’s nothing left for me to hide
I lost my ignorance, security, and pride
I’m all alone in a world you must despise
(Hey God)
I believed your promises, your promises and lies

[Chorus]
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie
Terrible lie

[Bridge]:
You made me throw it all away
My morals left to decay
How many you betray
You’ve taken everything
My head is filled with disease
My skin is begging you please
I’m on my hands and knees
I want so much to believe

[Background whispers]:
I give you everything
My sweet everything (5x)

[Outro]:
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone I need someone
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone I need someone
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone I need someone
I need someone to hold on to
I need someone to

Bruce Gerencser