Horrible. And the girl sings out of tune. She's not the first one who can't sing, but where is the producer and recording engineer? Shame on them for allowing something like that to leave their mixing desk.

 pegteger wrote: 
"XTC ruined it"?  They wrote it (well, founding member Andy Partridge did).  Is there some other version somewhere?

Love this song, BUT  XTC ruined it completely. It now sounds like a terrible karaoke recording of someone who cannot carry any tune.

Wish I had written this amazing song!

 Grammarcop wrote: 
I'm right there with ya.

 kaybee wrote: 
The OWSers are rioting: San Francisco, Oakland, Denver, Portland, Chicago, Vancouver, et al  If you think rioting and destruction qualify as 'peaceably demonstrating' your judgment is terminally and irremediably defective.

 kaybee wrote: 
HA!!! Puhlease!!! A word that unmistakably tells the intent and emotion of the writer.

btw, A 10 song, and a great rebutt. 

Not only do I love this song, it captures my feelings toward religion exactly.

Gave this a 10. One of my fav songs of all time. The words say it all — for me.

 aelfheld wrote: 
Oh, Puhlease!!!!  The OWSers are getting tear gassed and beaten up for peaceably demonstrating!  And they aren't even carrying guns like some of the tea partiers!

 sirdroseph wrote:
Ummm, why?

The Tea Partiers aren't promoting racism, nor making racist statements.  Tea Party rallies have been held around the country - they obey all the local ordinances and regulations, and clean up after themselves.

Now the #OWSers on the other hand . . .

Ah yes, the incredible Andy Partridge and XTC, always a treat to listen to! Song ranks a 10 for me.

Dear God,

Please don't play this again.

Amen

awesome song

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
Indeed perhaps you should ask the Tea Partiers that. They could use those words more than someone here making a song comment.

Would give it an 8, but can't resist the irony of classifying it as 'Godlike'.

Always wish I had written this amazing tune.

I must say I like Sarah's version MUCH better,
were any animals mistreated during the taping of this ?
I am sure I heard the scream of a .....................? 

To me, this is just another fantastic XTC song........
Sometimes I wonder if The Dukes of Stratosphere follow up was kind of ...........well to take away the attention that song, (probably unintentionally),  stirred up.
I don't know if that made any sense, but I personally find most XTC songs to be so creatively written and well crafted.

 ick wrote: 
Exactly...some say doubt is the essence of faith.  This song is another way of asking the question someone else once asked, "God, why have you forsaken me?"  But I guess arguing that would be intruding in a family dispute.  (1-ADAM 12, see a man...)

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
Answer me two questions:

1. when did you first come to the realization that the "government was 'out of control'?"
2. are you ready to dismantle the two programs that have effectively ended that centuries long problem in Western Society of how to allow the elderly to live out their lives with dignity and free from economic worry?

 Mikalew wrote: 
First, please recall this book from 1966.

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Letters-God-Stuart-Hample/dp/0894809997

Then read the following.
Irony:

1 : a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning -called also Socratic irony

2 a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b : a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c : an ironic expression or utterance

3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

(2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity

b : incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play -called also dramatic irony, tragic irony

 BdylanT303 wrote:
Laz (May 26,'06-14:18) did in fact quote from Richard Bach's,  Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

The irony behind Tomnam's (Aug 07,'06) original criticism is even richer knowing he identifies as a "Creative Director", and you as a "Publisher's Assistant" who enjoys philosophy and literature.

Perhaps you are familiar with a book by Bach called, Jonathan Livingston Seagull ? Illusions was Bach's follow up book to JLS.

 Shimmer wrote: 
What I've read is that the prolific Andy Partridge submitted a lot of demos to Todd for consideration for the album. Todd chose which songs, the order and came up with the theme for "Skylarking" (the passage of time). Andy wasn't happy with the control that Todd is known for asserting as a producer so the whole process of putting the album together was fraught with tension, mostly between Andy and Todd.

When recording was completed they still had too many songs for an LP. Todd thought "Dear God" was the strongest track and Andy disagreed and didn't even want it included. He may have been worried about the controversial nature of the song.

Andy won out (initially, anyway) and "Dear God" was not included on the original issue of "Skylarking"."Dear God" was released as some sort of a single or EP and did very well, so on later pressings "Mermaid Smiles" was removed and "Dear God" added.

Well said.
Too many people make their opinions based on the media they watch or the politicians they follow. Most lack the wit to look at things objectively.
Businessgypsy wrote: 

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
What's all that got to do with teabagging - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag_%28sexual_act%29, in fact, what's this song got to do with teabagging?

MinMan wrote: I'm a conservative pragmatist. Love the song, always have. Nothing more healthy than questioning authority, real or imagined. Why are you so scared of people trying to find a practical way to live with an out of control Government? Vilifying a group of political activists isn't progressive, nor is stereotyping a large number of people to fit tidily in a mental box.

We all have to live in this country, and realize that it will take a compromising consensus to do so effectively. That starts with not telling you what to do, rather letting everyone make their own choices to rise or fall as they will. The reason for such a large pragmatic small Government moment has everything to do with personal responsibility over Government control. Racist and ignorant individuals are out there with stupid signs in every movement from Code Pink to John Birch and in between. Why not engage in discussion and solution instead of categorization and rejection? This is not a sporting event, everybody can win.