200 Atheist Songs

87 thoughts on “200 Atheist Songs”

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeUbqbcNjGA

2. List needs some Bad Religion – numerous songs to choose from. And lead singer Greg Graffin is an evolutionary biologist and wellknown naturalist/skeptic/atheist

3. Very nice list.
   It made me go and upload a similarly themed (atheistic) song from some of our very own.
   Irish (Dublin) hip-hop duo, Dusty Residents’ song ‘The Gospel Pt. I’ is definitely worth a listen.
   There’s a ‘Pt. II’ also that I could upload if anybody is interested.

   http://youtu.be/z-PmdPN16pI

4. Here are two more for the list.
   “Legion” by Theatre of Hate:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdCIw1tllWA

   “Salt Lake City Sunday” by Fad Gadget:
   http://youtu.be/Pvc8KXbNCBg?t=7m8s
   (Sorry about this link; the only other version available on YouTube is of utterly abysmal quality, and sounds like it might have some tape bleed-through.)

5. The Cure is led by a pretty vocal atheist. I would throw in at least “Where the Birds Always Sing” and “Your God Is Fear.”

6. Thanks for this entertaining list!

   I’d add “Goddamned”, by my favourite artist Jay Brannan:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0XxgP82f4
   Somehow he never makes the lists, but he’s more than earned his place with this one. If you like it, please buy it.

   I also recommend Etta James’ cover of Randy Newman’s “God’s Song”:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKfxqWgGRBQ

7. You might like to add “Losing My Religion” from REM, really meanignful to my generation

8. Thanks for the list! My addition: Tombstone Da Deadman has a great album called Rise of the Infidel.

9. Dusty Residents – The Gospel Pt. II…

   http://youtu.be/6yuSG5vC3vE

10. Great post Michael. Would be nice to make a playlist of these.

    I have often thought that Games People Play by Joe South ( my fave version is Petula Clark) … had at least a hint of religious skepticism about it.

    “…People walking up to you
    Singing glory hallelulia
    And they’re tryin to sock it to you
    In the name of the Lord

    They’re gonna teach you how to meditate
    Read your horoscope, cheat your faith
    And further more to hell with hate
    Come on and get on board”

11. Mick,

    If you insist on making a mockery of this project by including genuine, serious Christian songs – I refer, of course, to “Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine (Rave Remix)” – then I believe that an equally serious and meaningful song is also included. I refer, of course, to this: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=SO5Y1OuQIxo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSO5Y1OuQIxo

    Jon Pierson

12. Good list. Here are some possible additions, all of which are critical of religion/theism, although some are more explicit about it than others.

    God, Paper, Scissors – Paul Cusick
    Halo – Porcupine Tree
    Faithless – Rush
    Bukowski – Modest Muse
    Parting of the Sensory – Modest Mouse
    The Origin of God – The Ocean

13. Jesus Saves by Slayer is fairly robust attack on Christianity.

    Kerry King (guitarist on another song of theirs called “Cult”):

    “Actually on “Cult” [“Beware the cult of purity / Infectious imbecility / I’ve made my choice / 666”] the line “666” was going to be “Atheist,” to get that point across about how I really feel. But it doesn’t make for a good song. Kids love screaming “666.” [laughs]”

14. Thanks for including my song! I’d love to make more. Maybe again next Xmas! 🙂

15. Hey, I put all these songs into a Grooveshark playlist. Only a few not found. Enjoy:
    http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Atheism+Themes/87412179

16. Good list, may I also add a track by Linton Kwesi Johnston which upset Bob Marley somewhat, also a track of my own http://thebionicrats.bandcamp.com/track/seen-not-heard

17. Reality Poem by L.K.J…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Q_hzOPfAk

18. Thanks so much for taking the time to gather this list. I can’t wait to have the time to go through the ones I’m not familiar with. Here’s some atheist Gospel for ya…

    Frank Turner – Glory Hallelujah
    Brothers and sisters, have you heard the news?
    The storm has lifted and there’s nothing to lose,
    So swap your confirmation for your dancing shoes,
    Because there never was no God.
    Step out of the darkness and onto the streets,
    Forget about the fast, let’s have a carnival feast,
    Raise up your lowered head to hear the liberation beat,
    Because there never was no God.

    There is no God,
    So clap your hands together,
    There is no God,
    No heaven and no hell.
    There is no God,
    We’re all in this together,
    There is no God,
    So ring that victory bell.

    No cowering in the dark before these overbearing priests,
    Not waiting until we die until we restitute the meek,
    No blaming all our failings on imaginary beasts,
    Because there never was no God.
    No fighting over land your distant fathers told you of,
    Not spilling blood for those who have never spread a drop of blood,
    No finger pointing justified by fairies up above,
    Because there never was no God.

    There is no God,
    So clap your hands together,
    There is no God,
    No heaven and no hell.
    There is no God,
    We’re all in this together,
    There is no God,
    So ring that victory bell.

    And I know you’re scared of dieing man and I am too,
    But just pretending it’s not happening isn’t gonna see us through,
    So just accept that there’s an end game and we haven’t got much time,
    And then in the here and now we can try and do things right.
    Forget about the crazy things that people have believed,
    And think of wondrous things that normal people have achieved,
    ‘Cos I’ve known beauty in the stillness of cathedrals in the day,
    I sang Glory Hallelujah! Won’t you wash my sins away?
    But now I’m singing my refrain and this is what I say,
    I say there never was no God.

    There is no God,
    So clap your hands together,
    There is no God,
    No heaven and no hell.
    There is no God,
    We’re all in this together,
    There is no God,
    So ring that victory bell.

    There is no God,
    So clap your hands together,
    There is no God,
    No heaven and no hell.
    There is no God,
    We’re all in this together,
    There is no God,
    So ring that victory bell.

19. Great list! My computer’s AWFULLY slow, though, so I wish you’d just put in individual links, rather than 75 embedded videos!

20. Even though I’m a Canadian and sitting in the sun at Christmas is an impossibility here, Minchin’s White Wine in the Sun is my favourite Christmas carol. It captures perfectly why atheists celebrate Christmas or whatever their cultural’s religiously inspired holidays are.

21. What, no Tonight We Fly by the Divine Comedy?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NUfjBbyFPg

22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__khgIzMyaM

23. Thanks, that’s a great list and some great ones in the comments too.
    Heres some more I thought of:

    “it aint necessarily so” by Gershwin, many covers, my favourite is Jamie Cullum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4mbdOYT2gw

    “banging in the nails” by The Tiger Lilies: http://youtu.be/cl3mqiKHx-E

    “fuck the creationist” by MC Hawking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_k-MZcjCFI

    “tomorrow wendy” by concrete blonde – although I think the cover by Broderick Smith is the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb4hh_St-o

    “Pie in the Sky” by Joe Hill (no youtube for him of course, but Utah Phillips has done a cover): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ236CwhlPw

24. “Judith” by A Perfect Circle in an in-your-face denial of religion, based on Maynard James Keenan’s mother Judith, who suffered most of her life from a debilitating disability.

25. Here’s a song I wrote about people who confuse their opinions with god’s.

    “Isn’t It Convenient (God Agrees With Me)”

    http://willygrigg.com/wpsite/2014/09/13/isnt-it-convenient/

26. It’s a bit self-pluggy, but this is one we did to address that perpetually annoying “It’s a religion too, you know!” non-argument theists keep trotting out. Hope it’s okay 🙂

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO9I70w4oWE

27. East Jesus Nowhere by Green Day should be on here

28. Darwin Song Project: ‘We’ll Hunt Him Down’ – Jez Lowe
    http://youtu.be/epqpt3Yh_Ac

    Across this noble country, this fair land of the free,
    I’m searching for the man who stole my Lord away from me,
    And God is riding with me, and half the town is, too,
    His name is Charlie Darwin and he must not talk to you.

    We’ll hunt him down, we’ll hunt him down,
    And every word he ever said we’ll grind into the ground,
    We’ll hunt him down, we’ll hunt him down,
    Charles Robert Darwin, you’re not welcome in this town.

    At first we thought him crazy, so we just let him be,
    Playing with worms and flies and little critters from the sea,
    Then he started spreading rumors that you scarcely would believe,
    That my ancestors were chimpanzees, not Adam and Eve.

    It’s hard to speak about him without sinking to abuse,
    They say that he’s an Englishman, but that’s still no excuse,
    He’s robbed our schools and churches of the truth the bible tells,
    So we’re out to stop his Godless ways and damn his words to hell.

    We’re holy and we’re righteous, and we know it to be true,
    That it was on a Saturday morning that God made me and you,
    He made us smart and clever, he even gave us tools,
    Like guns and bombs and rifles, that shows you God’s no fool.

    http://www.jezlowe.com/lyrics/well-hunt-him-down-j-lowe-lowe-life-music/

29. “Let the Mystery Be” written by Iris DeMent;
    nicely covered here by 10,000 Maniacs with David Byrne: http://youtu.be/9Gk8JJTinUI

    And here, by the author herself – Iris DeMent: http://youtu.be/nlaoR5m4L80

30. I think of XTC’s “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” as being a more oblique criticism of religion than their “Dear God.” Perhaps because I first encountered it in the form of the Crash Test Dummies’ video from the Dumb and Dumber Soundtrack

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrX70VzsmN8

31. Where’s all the death/black metal?

32. Meads of Asphodel – Addicted to God

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=s0T9GUqfDG4

    Great song.

33. Atheist at least by implication, “The Riddle”…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BtqElO1OX4

34. Anyone has a Spotify playlist of those OP songs?

35. Monster On Sunday has nothing but explicitly atheist songs. Check out their first single release “Just Like You” here…
    http://www.monsteronsunday.com/video/httpsyoutu-be6ybvzwuu2cc

36. Before I start the painful process of going through each and every song on the list, I wonder if you or any of your visitors here have already done so and perhaps compiled a shorter list of the songs that could be useful to teach preschoolers?

37. Naz and others,

    Thanks for the feedback. I’ll be updating this soon and I will be taking into account all of the helpful suggestions, as well as the idea of a shorter preschoolers list.

38. Come Down Jehovah by Chris Wood belongs on this list

    PMcE

39. Need some Tombstone da Deadman in there, and a few other Atheist rappers from the Grand Unified creative community.

40. Am I blind or have you passed over maybe the most expressive, best and superbly enjoyable one of all?
    Fuck Christmas – Eric Idle

    Great list nevertheless!
    JB

41. I Dream of Jesus, by The Dead Milkmen is pretty funny and worth a listen.

42. Chris De Burgh: Spanish Train

    Eric Schwartz: Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHjsaEK4vnw

43. Ah, you already have Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis!

44. Laura Nyro: Stoney End
    “I was born from love and my poor mother worked the mines
    I was raised on the good book Jesus
    Till I read between the lines
    Now I don’t believe I wanna see the morning”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6diadP-g_7s

45. “Making Things Up Again” from the Book of Mormon. In fact any number from the Book of Mormon. When is it coming to Dublin?

46. Steely Dan’s ‘Godwhacker’ from their ‘Everything Must Go’ album… some serious funky s**t…

47. Creationist Cousins by Baba Brinkman
    https://youtu.be/BFkn9UVIpQQ

48. I’m really incredibly surprised nobody has mentioned “Don’t Let It Pass You By” by UB40 as yet!

49. An interview here with Napalm Death which gives a nod to Richard Dawkins:

    http://deadtide.com/interviews/page.php?id=152

50. I have both The Galaxy Song and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life listed as songs to play at my funeral.

51. Mutiny in Heaven by Nick Cave and The Birthday Party:

    Ah wassa born…
    And Lord shakin, even then was dumpt into some icy font,
    like some great stinky unclean!
    From slum-chuch to slum-church, ah spilt mah heart
    To some fat cunt behind a screen…

52. Dear God — XTC
    Losing My Religion — REM

    But you have them and I don’t listen to music all that much.

53. I’ve written a collection of scientific versions of hymns and Christmas carols. You can find them here:
    http://www.scientificsongs.com
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrygFKnxl4&index=1&list=PLqAaxjrofZ64FCCyUJVce-75uFQpXXYXP

54. There is a song by Jon Lajoie on youtube, called “I Can Dance”. It starts off as one of his usual comedy songs, but then after around 2 minutes in, the song gradually changes into a very serious and non-comedic message to priests and the vatican.

    This song may not be specifically atheist, but it contains a very strong statement against the abuse of children by priests.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHnGwDy2y6s

55. Hasa Diga Eebowai, from the Book of Mormon musical

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLb7_UrV3-A

56. Cant wait for the Book of Mormon to come to Dublin. Apart from the brilliance of the production and music, it is a superb explanation of how religions are formed.

57. Would Personal Jesus count?

    – Depeche Mode and also the Marilyn Manson version is good

58. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Dkr5HGNsI -song, http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/darktranquillity/character.html#3 -lyrics

59. Do you need to stand a chance with the very best players?

60. dumb all over from frank zappa is great

61. Need some Lurch Marley added. “Fragile” “Death March” “The Tyruth” and many more.

62. Pingback: 200 Atheist Songs - Skeptical Science

63. Also by Frank Zappa:

    Dumb All Over
    Heavenly Bank Account
    The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
    When The Lie’s So Big

64. Letter to God, Sheryl Crow

65. Where is David Grays “Aint No Love” 🙂

    “Maybe that it would do me good
    If I believed there were a god
    Cut in the starry firmament
    But as it is that’s just a lie
    And I’m here eating up the boredom
    On an island of cement “

66. Late to the party but here is a couple more.

    Business by Louna

    God told me to by Paul Kelly

67. I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

68. Did you consider “Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee
    This list is a great find! Thank you.

69. Here are a few more worth knowing:

    Listen to Reason (Bryan Steeksma)
    Pariah (Dredg)
    Weak Fantasy (Nightwish)
    Walk with Me In Hell (Lamb of God)
    It’s a Miracle (Roger Waters)
    The God That Failed (Metallica)
    Condemnation (Depeche Mode)
    Children of Africa (Symphony of Science/Melodysheep)
    Pink Cellphone/Phantom Bride (Deftones)

70. My rather sad atheist anthem “Four Truths” on the album “Yes Why Not”.
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-5gTjNw5uw
    (Also Spotify, Amazon, iTunes etc)

71. I would like to suggest an addition to the list.

    Popular Monster – Falling in Reverse.

72. Also Drug – Falling in Reverse.

73. Also Drugs – Falling in Reverse.

74. Their Beloved Absentee – The Black Dahlia Murder

75. You’re a bit of a deluded fuckwit, aren’t you? Aretha Franklin singing an atheist song? Aretha fucking Franklin, who grew up singing gospel and heralds the merits of God and Jesus Christ, and you think she’s sing a song with atheist connotations? You’re seriously one bigger short of a Happy Meal.

76. False God by Taylor Swift

77. Check out the Pure Comedy album by Father John Misty, specifically the tracks “Pure Comedy” and “When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay”

78. In the Name of God by Ziggy Marley

    In the name of god you kill
    In the name of your god
    In the name of god you conquered
    In the name of your god

    All religion should be wiped out
    So that people may just live
    What divides us is an illusion
    Made up by men in their confusion

79. Rammstein Halleluja
    Rammstein Zeig Dich

80. Check out Jethro Tull.

81. Gary Numan has many atheistic songs . Especially from Pure and onwards.

82. Song: Pyre of Gods
    Band: Tarot

    Same vocalist as from Nightwish (Marko Hietala). Song to be is about burning all the gods on a pyre forged in your own unbelief and not allowing oneself to be controlled in life by some notion of a purpose after death.

83. Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis

84. Suggestion:
    4Q – You Only Live Once
    https://4qmusic1.bandcamp.com/track/you-only-live-once
    Living the truth, I’m not living a lie
    Having no doubts on the day that I die
    No need to make sense of the world that I see
    All that I ask is you understand me
    What did they use to wash your brain?
    It’s easy to convert the clinically insane
    How many wars have you caused?
    Don’t cry when it knocks on your door
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    Don’t believe in God or Nostredamus,
    Weird death cults or even karma
    This fairy tale makes it seem
    Like half the world are off their trees
    I may be right, I may be wrong
    But having one life makes you strong
    Sorry to break the news to you
    Life’s a myth, you know it’s true
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    The reason for life is in the sky
    It smiles on you, it always shines
    Let me think. Do I have this right?
    Wasting your time when you pray at night
    Who do you think you are? You see,
    Preaching lies won’t impress me
    Deep down I think you know you’re wrong
    Think of that when you sing your songs
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once
    You only live once

85. Church of No Religion

    https://youtu.be/IzRwAdU9vZw

    And THANK YOU for making this list.

86. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Shallow Be Thy Game
    Behind Enemy Lines – Gutter Religion
    Skunk Anansie – Selling Jesus

87. PBS Dinosaur train song.

    Dinosaur train
    Dinosaur train

    Once upon a time, there was a mom
    Her name was Mrs. Pteranadon
    Sitting on her nest she heard scratching and said

    “Oh boy, my eggs are hatching”

    One by one her kids popped free
    Baby Pteranadons, one two three

    “I’ll name you Tiny, Shiny, and Don”

    But Tiny said “Wait, there’s one more, Mom”

    The last little baby was a different size
    With teeth, a tail, and big green eyes
    He didn’t look anything like the rest

    “What am I doing in a Pteranodon nest?”

    But dear old Mrs. Pteranodon said

    “This is your family and I’m your mom
    We may be different, but we’re all creatures
    All dinosaurs have different features
    Come on Buddy, we’ll take a vacation
    I’ll get us a ticket at Pteranadon station
    We’ll travel the word in sunshine and rain
    And meet all the species on the…”

    Dinosaur train! (Dinosaur train)
    Dinosaur train! (Dinosaur train)
    We’re gonna ride (Ride, ride, ride, ride)
    The dinosaur train!