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VanVanVan 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 08 2009
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Points: 756
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 Posted: September 06 2010 at 11:14 |
 Slartibartfast wrote:
miketheorganist wrote:
What amazes me is that atheist prog fans get so offended by lyrics about God.
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Speaking as an atheist prog fan, I do not get offended by lyrics about God. I've mentioned this in another thread, I just don't like Christian lyrics that are "preachy". I'll admit an almost complete ignorance or Neil Morse's lyrics. I've just read enough opinions that I trust on here to say, thanks, but I'll pass. Huge fan of 70's Kansas, though. I think Kerry Livgren was most responsible for the religious themed lyrics back then, but they never impressed me as explicitly Christian (Epignosis will correct me if I'm mistaken). I think Nobody's Home came the closest to being eC. Jesus returning home to Earth to find we had wiped us all out.
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Kansas is my favorite band and I had no idea that that's what Nobody's Home was supposed to be about. A testament to Kerry Livgren's lyrical subtlety. 
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"The meaning of life is to give life meaning."-Arjen Lucassen
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
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Joined: December 30 2007
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 12:08 |
Actually, "Nobody's Home" is about aliens. I'm not kidding. Lyrically, it's rather similar to "Watcher of the Skies."
Point of Know Return (where one can hear this song) was released before Kerry Livgren became a Christian (in 1979).
You will find lots of religious ideas in Livgren's lyrics before 1979, but none of these are explicitly Christian. His Christian lyrics can be found on Audio-Visions and onward (even his seemingly Christian lyrics on Monolith are not exactly Christian, because Livgren was exploring Uranita at the time).
His best lyrics for me are on what I consider their best album, Somewhere to Elsewhere, and many of those songs are decidedly Christ-centric (and at the same time, not, because some of them have double meanings).
Edited by Epignosis - September 06 2010 at 12:12
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John 6
Forum Newbie
Joined: August 29 2010
Location: Leigh, Lancs
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Points: 23
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 12:35 |
As long as the album isn't drenched in overtly religious lyrics, I'm not really bothered. Having it shoved in my face is a definite reason not to listen. I have all of Transatlantic's work, and think they are excellent, but I don't think Morse has gone over the top with the religious references, and as other forumites have mentioned, religion features heavily throughout most music genres, and never gets a second thought.
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Prog Is A Man's Best Friend.
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Epignosis
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Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 12:40 |
John 6 wrote:
As long as the album isn't drenched in overtly religious lyrics, I'm not really bothered. Having it shoved in my face is a definite reason not to listen. I have all of Transatlantic's work, and think they are excellent, but I don't think Morse has gone over the top with the religious references, and as other forumites have mentioned, religion features heavily throughout most music genres, and never gets a second thought. |
And here I was thinking your username referred to Jesus' bold claims about himself that made everyone but his disciples leave him. 
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John 6
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Joined: August 29 2010
Location: Leigh, Lancs
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 12:56 |
Epignosis wrote:
[QUOTE=John 6]As long as the album isn't drenched in overtly religious lyrics, I'm not really bothered. Having it shoved in my face is a definite reason not to listen. I have all of Transatlantic's work, and think they are excellent, but I don't think Morse has gone over the top with the religious references, and as other forumites have mentioned, religion features heavily throughout most music genres, and never gets a second thought. |
And here I was thinking your username referred to Jesus' bold claims about himself that made everyone but his disciples leave him. [/QUOTE ]Me, religious!!?!! Each to their own, but I choose not to partake. Seen religion cause alot of the world's problems, and to fight in the name of religion is so hypocritical, therefore I stay out of such matters.
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Prog Is A Man's Best Friend.
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 13:28 |
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I think you need to use a larger font in color...
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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John 6
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Joined: August 29 2010
Location: Leigh, Lancs
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 14:30 |
Just thinking the same myself!!
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Prog Is A Man's Best Friend.
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Mayhem.
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 05 2010
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Points: 4
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 14:39 |
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I know how you are feeling, sometimes a track can be really awesome, except for the lyrics :)
On the other hand, awesome lyrics can really pull up a lesser song.
Cheers
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Check out my Beatles blog at:
http://withtheblogs.blogspot.com/
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Harry Hood
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Points: 1305
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 17:04 |
I'm an atheist and it doesn't offend me at all. To me it's no different from someone writing lyrics about Narnia or Zeus or whatever else. Just another source of fiction for lyric writers to take inspiration from.
fact is, theres lots of crazy sh*t that happens in the Bible, and its in the public domain, so why not take those fictional stories and write songs about them.
Plus, you can always put your own unique twist on them, like Roine Stolt did with "The Judas Kiss". A tale of Jesus' last days where he's being chased in the snow by wolves.
Or "Supper's Ready" by Genesis. i don't even know what's going on in that song. But the religious imagery only serves to complement it's strangeness.
So yeah, just chill out and enjoy it. If the music is awesome enough it should transcend whatever petty disagreements you have with their lyrics.
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Medicine Melancholy
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 06 2010
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Points: 6
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 19:04 |
Harry Hood wrote:
I'm an atheist and it doesn't offend me at all. To me it's no different from someone writing lyrics about Narnia or Zeus or whatever else. Just another source of fiction for lyric writers to take inspiration from.
fact is, theres lots of crazy sh*t that happens in the Bible, and its in the public domain, so why not take those fictional stories and write songs about them.
Plus, you can always put your own unique twist on them, like Roine Stolt did with "The Judas Kiss". A tale of Jesus' last days where he's being chased in the snow by wolves.
Or "Supper's Ready" by Genesis. i don't even know what's going on in that song. But the religious imagery only serves to complement it's strangeness.
So yeah, just chill out and enjoy it. If the music is awesome enough it should transcend whatever petty disagreements you have with their lyrics. |
It's vastly different.
First off the obvious thing is that people don't BELIEVE in the Lord of the Rings, etc. it's been used as a source of fantasy.
The second aspect of that is that they're not even singing about the Bible, they're singing about Jesus and how awesome he is. There are plenty of great songs that use the Bible as a sort of mythological inspiration.
And again you are being really harsh on people who are made uncomfortable by it, "Petty disagreements". It's one thing if you're fine with it, but trying to guilt other people into being fine with is another thing.
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Epignosis
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Joined: December 30 2007
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 19:15 |
Medicine Melancholy wrote:
Harry Hood wrote:
I'm an atheist and it doesn't offend me at all. To me it's no different from someone writing lyrics about Narnia or Zeus or whatever else. Just another source of fiction for lyric writers to take inspiration from.
fact is, theres lots of crazy sh*t that happens in the Bible, and its in the public domain, so why not take those fictional stories and write songs about them.
Plus, you can always put your own unique twist on them, like Roine Stolt did with "The Judas Kiss". A tale of Jesus' last days where he's being chased in the snow by wolves.
Or "Supper's Ready" by Genesis. i don't even know what's going on in that song. But the religious imagery only serves to complement it's strangeness.
So yeah, just chill out and enjoy it. If the music is awesome enough it should transcend whatever petty disagreements you have with their lyrics. |
It's vastly different.
First off the obvious thing is that people don't BELIEVE in the Lord of the Rings, etc. it's been used as a source of fantasy.
The second aspect of that is that they're not even singing about the Bible, they're singing about Jesus and how awesome he is. There are plenty of great songs that use the Bible as a sort of mythological inspiration.
And again you are being really harsh on people who are made uncomfortable by it, "Petty disagreements". It's one thing if you're fine with it, but trying to guilt other people into being fine with is another thing. |
I sing about Jesus and how awesome he is. In fact, it's pretty much all I sing about. In fact, that's pretty much all the Bible is about.
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Medicine Melancholy
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 06 2010
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Points: 6
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 19:18 |
Really? Even the Old Testament?
I think it's kind of silly to only ever sing about one thing personally... it's a big part of the problem I have with Christian Rock.
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VanVanVan
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 08 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 756
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 19:32 |
Epignosis wrote:
Actually, "Nobody's Home" is about aliens. I'm not kidding. Lyrically, it's rather similar to "Watcher of the Skies."
Point of Know Return (where one can hear this song) was released before Kerry Livgren became a Christian (in 1979).
You will find lots of religious ideas in Livgren's lyrics before 1979, but none of these are explicitly Christian. His Christian lyrics can be found on Audio-Visions and onward (even his seemingly Christian lyrics on Monolith are not exactly Christian, because Livgren was exploring Uranita at the time).
His best lyrics for me are on what I consider their best album, Somewhere to Elsewhere, and many of those songs are decidedly Christ-centric (and at the same time, not, because some of them have double meanings).
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Yeah, I should have figured that one out. I'm rusty on my Kansas lore.  I agree about the lyrical content of Somewhere to Elsewhere. Distant Vision is a really stellar example of that imo.
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"The meaning of life is to give life meaning."-Arjen Lucassen
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 08 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 3281
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 21:44 |
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I'm an apatheist who listens to gospel music because the singing is often excellent. Religious lyrics don't put me off. I dislike Transatlantic because I've rarely seen a band more in love with itself, not because of Morse's beliefs.
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DisgruntledPorcupine
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 16 2010
Location: Thunder Bay CAN
Status: Offline
Points: 4395
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:03 |
mamboboy wrote:
...lyrics put me off so, so much! Being an atheist it really makes me cringe to hear some of the lines. The 'Dancing with eternal glory , whirlwind' is probably the best (or worst) example of this. An epic 12 minute song, but it's all about God!
"...and you're dancing with eternal glory, taking that step to another land. you are dancing with eternal glory, don't be afraid, go and take his hand"
 It all really brings the album down a few levels to me, anyone else finding this? Or are most okay with it? I mean, I have nothing against Christian bands, but Transatlantic throw it right in your face in some songs...
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I'm a huge atheist, but I'm not bothered.
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thellama73
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:05 |
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Current 93 has a lot of religious (Gnostic) lyrics, and they're not even on PA. What do you think about that?
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
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Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:07 |
VanVanVan wrote:
Epignosis wrote:
Actually, "Nobody's Home" is about aliens. I'm not kidding. Lyrically, it's rather similar to "Watcher of the Skies."
Point of Know Return (where one can hear this song) was released before Kerry Livgren became a Christian (in 1979).
You will find lots of religious ideas in Livgren's lyrics before 1979, but none of these are explicitly Christian. His Christian lyrics can be found on Audio-Visions and onward (even his seemingly Christian lyrics on Monolith are not exactly Christian, because Livgren was exploring Uranita at the time).
His best lyrics for me are on what I consider their best album, Somewhere to Elsewhere, and many of those songs are decidedly Christ-centric (and at the same time, not, because some of them have double meanings).
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Yeah, I should have figured that one out. I'm rusty on my Kansas lore. I agree about the lyrical content of Somewhere to Elsewhere. Distant Vision is a really stellar example of that imo. |
"Distant Vision" is the first one to come to mind. On the one hand about Christopher Columbus, and on the other about a new Christian.
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
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Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:10 |
Medicine Melancholy wrote:
Really? Even the Old Testament?
I think it's kind of silly to only ever sing about one thing personally... it's a big part of the problem I have with Christian Rock. |
Oh wow, yes. The Old Testament is all about Christ! That's one main reason I'm a believer.
I would agree with you about singing about only one thing...but when there's so much to say about that one thing...so much so that a thousand songs would never cover it...I'm cool writing those tunes.
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 08 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 3281
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:16 |
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I can't be the only person who listens to Arabic music sometimes. That is routinely about Allah and Islam. But is anyone going to find that offensive or annoying?
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40footwolf
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 08 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 651
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Posted: September 06 2010 at 22:26 |
miketheorganist wrote:
What amazes me is that atheist prog fans get so offended by lyrics about God. What makes this any worse than any other topic? Why not just assign it to the realm of fantasy? You know, like, "What if there WERE such a being?" I mean, we can wonder about UFOs, ghosts, conspiracy theories, 2012, and have incomprehensible lyrics aplenty, but mention God and it's in the dumpster with it? I mean, if I can manage to listen to a fasntasy story about a lamb lying down on broadway, with slippermen, hairless hearts, etc., why can't you listen to fantasy story about a supreme being who loves people?
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This has always been my viewpoint. I'm agnostic, but "The Chronicles of Narnia" aren't my favorite books because of the religious overtones-they're my favorite books because of the beautiful prose and rich world. I don't like Transatlantic, but the Christian lyrics have nothing to do with it(The BAD lyrics, on the other hand...).
Edited by 40footwolf - September 06 2010 at 22:27
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Heaven's made a cesspool of us all.
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/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage")
Transatlantic - superb band, but those religious..
