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2.15.2009

Orphans


"
And if god is great and god is good,
why can't he change the hearts of men?
Maybe god himself is lost and needs help.
Maybe god himself he needs all of our help.
Maybe god himself is lost and needs help.
He's out upon the road to peace.
"

-Tom Waits, "Road to Peace" (From Orphans: Brawlers)
Posted by The Social Utilitarian :: 7:07 PM

7 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2009 at 8:45 PM

    MAN is lost. MAN has lost his way from God. Why have wrath toward God?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Social UtilitarianFebruary 15, 2009 at 9:06 PM

    I'm talking about 'god' and you're talking about 'God.' Perhaps we can reconcile the difference. I was with you until the third sentence.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2009 at 9:16 PM

    Well your post implies a little of that. Or the lyrics. I don't necessarily mean you. Can you please explain the difference between god and God?

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Social UtilitarianFebruary 15, 2009 at 10:28 PM

    I disagree that this post implies any wrath toward God.

    'God' is the deity that people of religious faith worship. 'god' is a word, a concept, that has a broad scope in modern philosophy. I've actually been turning over a post in my head addressing this very topic.

    The wonderful thing about lyrical music is that it's open to interpretation. The song I quote was from an album released in 2006 composed of scattered b-sides from many years. 'Road to Peace' is about the Israel-Palestine conflict; I don't know when it was written, but lo and behold it has maximum pertinence in 2009. There are stanzas that could have been written last week.

    Throughout the song, Waits details specific incidents of killing and retribution between Jews and Palestinians. A choice excerpt:

    "And the last thing that he said on Earth was 'God is great and God is good.' And he blew them all to kingdom come along the road to peace."

    The phrase "Allahu akhbar" should be familiar to many people these days, albeit unfortunately with a negative connotation. Waits is pointing out the irony of proclaiming "God is great," then killing the children of God. In the name of God.

    Tom Waits, as I understand, is Christian and one can find related recurring themes in his music. What he is not is typical, and as such has interesting and thoughtful observations on the conflicting attitudes and behaviors expressed by the contemporary pious.* By the end of the song (which is the portion I posted) he is making the point that instead of resting on God as our motivations and excuses we should instead think. Saying "Maybe god himself is lost and needs help" is his way of introducing doubt that our actions are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. He's taking the emphasis off "God" and putting it back on "Man."

    Tom is saying what Barack Obama is saying what I am saying; that each and every one of us alone is accountable for what we do, regardless of our motivations. That achieving a better world will require the effort of every one.

    I encourage you to listen to the whole track, you can borrow a copy from me or we can arrange a private "viewing," as it were.

    *See also 'Chocolate Jesus' on Mule Variations.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2009 at 10:45 PM

    Thanks for going more into detail. This gives me a lot more to work with and helps me to understand the purpose of your post. I don't know much about Waits. From that small sampling of lyrics it seemed like placing blame rather than taking responsibility for our own actions was better.
    Private viewing, please.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Social UtilitarianFebruary 15, 2009 at 11:07 PM

    I think Tom Waits is one of the greats. If anyone has a cult following, it's him. I also didn't mean to mislead with the quotation, but don't mind that it sparked a dialog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2009 at 11:25 PM

    Make me a mix when you get bored one day. And WORD to the sparking of dialogue.

    ReplyDelete

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