In the Spirit: All of the twang, none of the religion
8 hours ago DOUG ERICKSON
Chicago-based singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks plays Madison at least once a year, giving his devoted fan base here easy access to his off-kilter brand of country music. Hell be back Aug. 3 as part of the ninth-annual Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival at Lake Farm County Park in Madison.
Fulks music both elevates country traditions and punctures them. He crafts wonderfully twangy songs, yet the lyrics often veer crazily from the genres more conservative leanings. Case in point: God Isnt Real, his unambiguous ode to atheism.
Ive been curious about the songs back story since first hearing it on Lets Kill Saturday Night, his 1998 major-label debut on Geffen Records. The songs first two stanzas:
A world filled with wonder, a cold, fathomless sky
A mans life so meager, he can but wonder why
He cries out to heaven its truth to reveal
The answer: only silence, for God isnt real.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/lifestyles/faith-and-values/religion/in-the-spirit-all-of-the-twang-none-of-the/article_efc12044-d2b6-11e1-af0d-001a4bcf887a.html
(Graphic images in the youtube video.)
I still prefer Joe Hill's The Preacher and The Slave. It harnesses class consciousness to rejection of religion. Seems more productive to me.