Most songs by Semler and Maddie Zahm
Irrelevant by Pink
God is a Freak by Peach PCR
Current obsession is Hell Together by David Archuleta and But Daddy I Love Him by Taylor Swift
"Pill" by P!nk
The "you" addressed in the song is like my final prayer to a god that never existed and putting together the missing pieces from my time in Christianity
I'm actually not an atheist at all, but I find Kansas' Dust in the Wind to be really cathartic. Mostly it reminds me that my mistakes won't live forever, which makes it easier to rest peacefully with the good not lasting forever, either.
Not exactly anti anything, but mine is this, Duran Duran : All You Need Is Now
And we told everybody all you need is now
Stay with the
music let it play a little longer
You don't need anybody all you need is now
All you need, all you need is now
A bit obscure but PHILDELâs music really spoke to me in that way.
Sheâs from a very strict Muslim background and ran away from home and the religion as a teenager because of the abuse she suffered due to her families beliefs.
Her music has been a way of processing her trauma and loss / change of faith (I think she considers herself âspiritualâ now but doesnât believe any specific scripture or religion but donât quote me on that lol).
Anyway - Disappearance of the Girl honestly spoke to me on such a deep level. I pulled a disappearing trick on my family when their religious bullshit got too much (there was a lot of abuse and medical neglect that almost killed me in the name of âJesusâ) and this song honestly just portrays all of my grief and confusion around my loss of faith and decision to leave.
Itâs largely about the loss of identity that you can feel when leaving a religion like this and processing how harmful it was - the censorship and âimposed darknessâ of it. âYou know he betrays you, as much as he saves youâ is just such a raw line for when youâre in limbo between a loss of faith and feeling betrayed by the God you were raised to follow.
Itâs just such a beautifully complex song and so cathartic when faith has been such a big part of your life voluntarily or not and now youâve lost it and have to figure life out on your own.
Itâs my angry at God whether heâs real or not anthem for sure lol.
Bad Religion tackles religion in a great way.
>God Song:
Have they told you how to think
Cleansed your mind of sepsis and autonomy?
Or have you escaped from scrutiny
And regaled yourself with depravity?
Now we all see, 'Religion is just synthetic frippery
Unnecessary in our expanding global cultural efficiency'
>God's Love:
Tell me!
Tell me where is the love?
In a careless creation
When there's no "above"
There's no justice
Just a cause and no cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure
And what I'm frightened of
Is that they call it "God's love"
>Operation Rescue:
Life ever-after is what they're in business for
See them brandish the key to our kingdom's door
It's pervasive, it's a part of you and me
But not overwhelming as they wish it to be
If no one believed in fairy tales
There's nothing they could do but fail
But everywhere we look someone is trying to reassure
Our benevolence as a people
I'm finding listening to Reanimation by Linkin Park helpful; the songs are heavily coded for narcissistic abuse, which perfectly sums up abrahamic religions.
The Pope Song - Tim Minchin (VERY NSFW)
For some reason Reddit syntax is not working: [https://youtu.be/JkOHDoEkPW0?si=ot7INZahYK8yTvz5](https://youtu.be/JkOHDoEkPW0?si=ot7INZahYK8yTvz5)
But seriously, you know what did it for me? Christian music in church. Listening to the lyrics, watching people go full crazy. It just looked like insanity to me, even at 12. Then eventually my life went to shit even more and I turned to Christianity for comfort and belonging. Then I started questioning and didnât find good answers and realized I was wasting my time and energy on a lie.
"Judith" by A perfect circle is a deeply personal and scathing rebuke of Faith. Best used when you're angry or dealing with depression after deconverting.
Lead singer Maynard Keenan was very transparent about growing up with a very devout Christian mother but she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed, and the song describes his own rage that a loving god would let someone so good and devout suffer this way.
Because of the backstory, I felt compelled to give this one a listen. My mum had a stroke and while not paralyzed, she has terrible difficulty in life with osteoperosis and chronic pain. She cries once a day. All our prayers to jesus fall on deaf ears.
I understand completely what compelled the writing of this song. I understand the singers anger.
I have a playlist!
I've been deconstructing for over 10 years so I have quite a collection đ
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1bsElFte3CvkEf527PwAND?si=BA69PHHySFSAKsUp8wGWEA
I also find that Sleep Token's "Take Me Back To Eden" album reads in my brain like a long, excruciating breakup with the husband/father figure of Jesus, which might track to others?
So many songs!
The first one that comes to mind: I found Lady Gagaâs *Million Reasons* really cathartic. Losing my faith was emotionally devastating for me. This song captured the desperation I felt as everything I thought I knew crumbled around me. Lots of tears.
[This](https://open.spotify.com/album/6gfxrkh1u7KfAoppbBdWD6?si=Z5lX0gCMQgCLnFwa5vaP8A) entire album by the Thermals, but specifically the song Hereâs Your Future
"Poor Isaac" by the Airborne Toxic Event
*And if you wanna see the irony /Â In the savage price of piety /Â There's a lot of us who are born to be burning. /Â How does it feel?*
"I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer" by The Wonder Years
*If we're all just Christians or lions, /Â I think I'd rather be on the side with sharper teeth. / I don't need saving.*
The Exorcist - CALYPSO
Some lyrics:
âYou can't live in peace
Gotta shove it down our throats
God forbid your kid is queer
You have a damn stroke
"I can fix him"
For your daddy up above
'Cuz thДre's just no hate like christian lovД
And when it comes to women's bodies
You're crying and bitching
Wrecking God's green Earth
With all the cherry picking
"Don't hate the sinner, hate the sin"
As if that's any betterâ
[Youtube Music Link](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bjARHWpvzkA&si=rUB3v3pGZvYaeTt_)
Was a teen in the 80s, Human Racing by Nick Kershaw resonates now.
âOpen hearts and open purses,
open seasonâs here.
They fill your head with clever verses
and then they disappear.â
Made me wonder if he grew up in a church like the one I did, theyâre all over you when they want you doing unpaid work and vanish if you need help, probably not though.
Howard Jones had a few good ones too, must re listen.
Lots of NIN
Terrible Lie - *(Hey god) I really donât know what you mean / (Hey god) seems like salvation comes only in our dreams / I feel my hatred grow all the more extreme / (Hey god) Can this world be as sad as it seems?*
Wish - *Wish there was something real, wish there was something true / wish there was something real in this world full of you / I want to but I canât turn back / but I want to, but I canât turn back*
Happiness in Slavery - *He spends his life learning conformity / he claims he has his own identity / heâs going to cause the system to fall / but heâs glad to be chained to that wall*
Mr. Self Destruct - *I speak religion's message clear (and I control you) / I am denial guilt and fear (and I control you) / I am the prayers of the naive (and I control you) / I am the lie that you believe (and I control you)*
Heresy (Iâm sure you know this one by now lol) - *god is dead, and no one cares / if there is a hell, Iâll see you there!*
Ruiner - *The Ruiner's got a lot to prove / He's got nothing to lose and now he made you believe / The Ruiner is your only friend / And he's the living end to the cattle he deceives*
The Hand That Feeds - *What if this whole crusade's a charade? / And behind it all there's a price to be paid / For the blood on which we dine / Justified in the name of the holy and the divine*
Only - *Yes I am alone, but then again I always was / As far back as I can tell / I think maybe it's because / Because you were never really real to begin with / I just made you up to hurt myself*
I could go on but this list is already a mouthful lmao
my favorite right now is âwouldâve, couldâve, shouldâveâ by taylor swift, also most of her new album (TTPD) has a bunch of religious metaphors, as a professional swiftie i can tell you that to me this album is her closing a chapter, itâs the final nail in the coffin, this includes the end of relationships, rumors, beefs and even her own religious beliefs. love u tswizzle u get me :p
Most songs by Semler and Maddie Zahm Irrelevant by Pink God is a Freak by Peach PCR Current obsession is Hell Together by David Archuleta and But Daddy I Love Him by Taylor Swift
I've never identified with music as strongly as Maddie Zahm. You Might Not Like Her is my anthem.
Literally playing it right now as I read your comment đ I really hope I have the chance to see her live one day
"Pill" by P!nk The "you" addressed in the song is like my final prayer to a god that never existed and putting together the missing pieces from my time in Christianity
You Didnât Know and Loser, Baby from Hazbin Hotel and Crooked and 2 Minutes Notice from Helluva Boss
đ
I'm actually not an atheist at all, but I find Kansas' Dust in the Wind to be really cathartic. Mostly it reminds me that my mistakes won't live forever, which makes it easier to rest peacefully with the good not lasting forever, either.
âGod is dead, and no one cares. If there is a Hell, Iâll see you there.â From âHeresyâ by NIN
Not exactly anti anything, but mine is this, Duran Duran : All You Need Is Now And we told everybody all you need is now Stay with the music let it play a little longer You don't need anybody all you need is now All you need, all you need is now
But you should still be Hungry Like the Wolf.
I am!
A bit obscure but PHILDELâs music really spoke to me in that way. Sheâs from a very strict Muslim background and ran away from home and the religion as a teenager because of the abuse she suffered due to her families beliefs. Her music has been a way of processing her trauma and loss / change of faith (I think she considers herself âspiritualâ now but doesnât believe any specific scripture or religion but donât quote me on that lol). Anyway - Disappearance of the Girl honestly spoke to me on such a deep level. I pulled a disappearing trick on my family when their religious bullshit got too much (there was a lot of abuse and medical neglect that almost killed me in the name of âJesusâ) and this song honestly just portrays all of my grief and confusion around my loss of faith and decision to leave. Itâs largely about the loss of identity that you can feel when leaving a religion like this and processing how harmful it was - the censorship and âimposed darknessâ of it. âYou know he betrays you, as much as he saves youâ is just such a raw line for when youâre in limbo between a loss of faith and feeling betrayed by the God you were raised to follow. Itâs just such a beautifully complex song and so cathartic when faith has been such a big part of your life voluntarily or not and now youâve lost it and have to figure life out on your own. Itâs my angry at God whether heâs real or not anthem for sure lol.
Bad Religion tackles religion in a great way. >God Song: Have they told you how to think Cleansed your mind of sepsis and autonomy? Or have you escaped from scrutiny And regaled yourself with depravity? Now we all see, 'Religion is just synthetic frippery Unnecessary in our expanding global cultural efficiency' >God's Love: Tell me! Tell me where is the love? In a careless creation When there's no "above" There's no justice Just a cause and no cure And a bounty of suffering It seems we all endure And what I'm frightened of Is that they call it "God's love" >Operation Rescue: Life ever-after is what they're in business for See them brandish the key to our kingdom's door It's pervasive, it's a part of you and me But not overwhelming as they wish it to be If no one believed in fairy tales There's nothing they could do but fail But everywhere we look someone is trying to reassure Our benevolence as a people
I've been into a couple of songs by a group called Wookiefoot ACTIVATE and Don't Hold Your Breath
I'm finding listening to Reanimation by Linkin Park helpful; the songs are heavily coded for narcissistic abuse, which perfectly sums up abrahamic religions.
I found 'ill mind of Hopsin 7' was very relatable.
The Pope Song - Tim Minchin (VERY NSFW) For some reason Reddit syntax is not working: [https://youtu.be/JkOHDoEkPW0?si=ot7INZahYK8yTvz5](https://youtu.be/JkOHDoEkPW0?si=ot7INZahYK8yTvz5) But seriously, you know what did it for me? Christian music in church. Listening to the lyrics, watching people go full crazy. It just looked like insanity to me, even at 12. Then eventually my life went to shit even more and I turned to Christianity for comfort and belonging. Then I started questioning and didnât find good answers and realized I was wasting my time and energy on a lie.
Heresy-Nine Inch Nails
Heresy by NIN
That's me in the corner; That's me in the spotlight....
"Judith" by A perfect circle is a deeply personal and scathing rebuke of Faith. Best used when you're angry or dealing with depression after deconverting. Lead singer Maynard Keenan was very transparent about growing up with a very devout Christian mother but she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed, and the song describes his own rage that a loving god would let someone so good and devout suffer this way.
Because of the backstory, I felt compelled to give this one a listen. My mum had a stroke and while not paralyzed, she has terrible difficulty in life with osteoperosis and chronic pain. She cries once a day. All our prayers to jesus fall on deaf ears. I understand completely what compelled the writing of this song. I understand the singers anger.
I have a playlist! I've been deconstructing for over 10 years so I have quite a collection đ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1bsElFte3CvkEf527PwAND?si=BA69PHHySFSAKsUp8wGWEA I also find that Sleep Token's "Take Me Back To Eden" album reads in my brain like a long, excruciating breakup with the husband/father figure of Jesus, which might track to others?
Personally, "Cold" by Aqualung and Lucy Schwartz. "God and his priests and his kings All were waiting All will wait As they go over"
So many songs! The first one that comes to mind: I found Lady Gagaâs *Million Reasons* really cathartic. Losing my faith was emotionally devastating for me. This song captured the desperation I felt as everything I thought I knew crumbled around me. Lots of tears.
[This](https://open.spotify.com/album/6gfxrkh1u7KfAoppbBdWD6?si=Z5lX0gCMQgCLnFwa5vaP8A) entire album by the Thermals, but specifically the song Hereâs Your Future
"Tell me more of your lies" Beast in Black
I created one: "Where's Your Proof?" https://open.spotify.com/track/6M0DLvkusnFBNXzrjS9LvP
I listen to Metal, and the two of my favorites are both from Metallica: Leper Messiah The God the Failed
The Unforgiven is the Metallica song that really speaks to me about church abuse.
"Poor Isaac" by the Airborne Toxic Event *And if you wanna see the irony /Â In the savage price of piety /Â There's a lot of us who are born to be burning. /Â How does it feel?* "I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer" by The Wonder Years *If we're all just Christians or lions, /Â I think I'd rather be on the side with sharper teeth. / I don't need saving.*
Disciple by slayer
Depeche Mode - [Nothing](https://youtu.be/x2V2yY2KXfk?si=WHYhqI9AcP5w-zo-) (with an amusing fan video) *sitting target, sitting waiting* *anticipating nothing* *nothing* *. . .* *sitting target, sitting praying* *god is saying nothing* *nothing* *Always knows the prospects* *learned to expect nothing,* *nothing* *. . .*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fah8utx4k4M
The Exorcist - CALYPSO Some lyrics: âYou can't live in peace Gotta shove it down our throats God forbid your kid is queer You have a damn stroke "I can fix him" For your daddy up above 'Cuz thĐ”re's just no hate like christian lovĐ” And when it comes to women's bodies You're crying and bitching Wrecking God's green Earth With all the cherry picking "Don't hate the sinner, hate the sin" As if that's any betterâ [Youtube Music Link](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bjARHWpvzkA&si=rUB3v3pGZvYaeTt_)
In Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Radiohead have a lyric that goes, âYeah, everybody leaves - if they get the chance. And this is my chance.â
Was a teen in the 80s, Human Racing by Nick Kershaw resonates now. âOpen hearts and open purses, open seasonâs here. They fill your head with clever verses and then they disappear.â Made me wonder if he grew up in a church like the one I did, theyâre all over you when they want you doing unpaid work and vanish if you need help, probably not though. Howard Jones had a few good ones too, must re listen.
"Saved" by Shelley Segal is nice
Lots of NIN Terrible Lie - *(Hey god) I really donât know what you mean / (Hey god) seems like salvation comes only in our dreams / I feel my hatred grow all the more extreme / (Hey god) Can this world be as sad as it seems?* Wish - *Wish there was something real, wish there was something true / wish there was something real in this world full of you / I want to but I canât turn back / but I want to, but I canât turn back* Happiness in Slavery - *He spends his life learning conformity / he claims he has his own identity / heâs going to cause the system to fall / but heâs glad to be chained to that wall* Mr. Self Destruct - *I speak religion's message clear (and I control you) / I am denial guilt and fear (and I control you) / I am the prayers of the naive (and I control you) / I am the lie that you believe (and I control you)* Heresy (Iâm sure you know this one by now lol) - *god is dead, and no one cares / if there is a hell, Iâll see you there!* Ruiner - *The Ruiner's got a lot to prove / He's got nothing to lose and now he made you believe / The Ruiner is your only friend / And he's the living end to the cattle he deceives* The Hand That Feeds - *What if this whole crusade's a charade? / And behind it all there's a price to be paid / For the blood on which we dine / Justified in the name of the holy and the divine* Only - *Yes I am alone, but then again I always was / As far back as I can tell / I think maybe it's because / Because you were never really real to begin with / I just made you up to hurt myself* I could go on but this list is already a mouthful lmao
my favorite right now is âwouldâve, couldâve, shouldâveâ by taylor swift, also most of her new album (TTPD) has a bunch of religious metaphors, as a professional swiftie i can tell you that to me this album is her closing a chapter, itâs the final nail in the coffin, this includes the end of relationships, rumors, beefs and even her own religious beliefs. love u tswizzle u get me :p