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Dedicated to the memory of Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
pop love acoustic folk country classic california heart melody traditional australia sydney comedy finger picking london atheist philosophical satire tyler natural cornelius charles religion agnostic mendocino relaxed satirical
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Hi folks. I have added a lot of videos recently. Please take a look!
Hi folks, This site acts as a personal archive of my work. So you'll find my best recordings here as well as some pretty crappy ones. The earliest recordings here were made on simple cassette decks, others were made on mobile phones, some are live recordings made at various gigs over the years, a handful were made in small recording studios, but most of the more recent ones were made at home on a Zoom portable studio, which itself is now rather ancient! If you like a song and want to download it, click on 'Full song info' for that song and you will see the download link. You can also read the lyrics and any background information on the songs that I may have added. All my music is available for free - enjoy :) cheers, Charles
Song Info
Genre
Pop • Dance-Pop
Charts
Peak #73
Peak in subgenre #38
Author
Charles Cornelius Tyler
Rights
Charles Cornelius Tyler
Uploaded
September 26, 2012
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.9 MB • 128 kbps • 6:27
Story behind the song
I wrote this song while I was travelling in China a while ago - I had the melody before I left and a couple of ideas - wrote the lyrics on the road and recorded it about a week after I got back.. on 21 July 2007. Perhaps being in China - one country where religion is decidedly on the back foot - had something to do with the way the song came out. It is refreshing, after travelling in many parts of the world where religion dominates society, to walk through streets full of people who see the world essentially as it is - without the weird distortions that religious views impose. China may have its problems, but at least women have equal rights for the most part and can walk around freely in tee shirts and shorts if they want - and I don't feel threatened there that if I upset someone's religious feelings they might kill me! As you may notice the lyric was influenced by reading Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God is not great - How religion poisons everything). Really what I have tried to do is capture the essence of these books in three short verses.... For the record, although I do not believe in the God of the Torah, the Bible and the Koran - the personal God watching and judging us - I am deep down a bit of a mystic... and my kind of mysticism gets along fine with science. Something is happening here after all... and we are part of it.
Lyrics
The land is just the land Like the sea is just the sea No land is ever promised No land is ever holy These are just words people say Just thoughts that lead them astray These are just myths of history Just ignorance and stupidity Religion poisons everything Religion is the original sin The pedophile priest The suicide bomber The plane into the tower The daughter killed for honour And a child is just a child Not a Muslim or a Jew Not a Shiite or a Sunni Not a Christian or a Hindu These are just labels we sell To those still innocent and free When they are much too young to tell Reality from fantasy Religion is the great mistake Religion is the trust we break The poison in the playground The suspicion of the other The faith school and madrassa Brother killing brother And a book is just a book Just words upon a page There is no holy scripture All writing is man made There is no afterlife to fear No god to which we have to bow The simple rule for living here Is just kindness in the here and now Religion paralyzes minds Religion is the past that binds The idiot evangelists Disputing evolution The crusade and the jihad And the final solution Religion poisons everything Religion is the original sin
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Richard Dieker
Aug 07, 2011
A thoughtful song with a message much needed. If only the world could hear!!!!! If only......