The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
In the beginning
We could hang with the dude
But it's been too much of nothing
Of that stank attitude
Now they curse your name
And there's a bounty on your face
It's your own fault daddy
Godwhacker's on the case
We track your almighty ass
Through seven heaven-worlds
Me, Slinky Redfoot
And our trusty angel-girls
And when the stars bleed out
That be the fever of the chase
You better get gone poppie
Godwhacker's on the case
Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history
Climb up the glacier
Across bridges of light
We sniff you, Big Tiger
In the forest of the night
Cause there's no escape
From the Rajahs of Erase
You better run run run
Godwhacker's on the case
Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history
Yes we are the Godwhackers
Who rip and chop and slice
For crimes beyond imagining
It's time to pay the price
You better step back son
Give the man some whackin' space
You know this might get messy
Godwhacker's on the case
We could hang with the dude
But it's been too much of nothing
Of that stank attitude
Now they curse your name
And there's a bounty on your face
It's your own fault daddy
Godwhacker's on the case
We track your almighty ass
Through seven heaven-worlds
Me, Slinky Redfoot
And our trusty angel-girls
And when the stars bleed out
That be the fever of the chase
You better get gone poppie
Godwhacker's on the case
Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history
Climb up the glacier
Across bridges of light
We sniff you, Big Tiger
In the forest of the night
Cause there's no escape
From the Rajahs of Erase
You better run run run
Godwhacker's on the case
Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history
Yes we are the Godwhackers
Who rip and chop and slice
For crimes beyond imagining
It's time to pay the price
You better step back son
Give the man some whackin' space
You know this might get messy
Godwhacker's on the case
Lyrics submitted by blackiswhite, edited by SeeBread
Godwhacker Lyrics as written by Walter Becker Donald Fagen
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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Brilliant song, one of my favorites.
The meaning is surprisingly simple; for Steely Dan anyway.
In Donald Fagen's book Eminent Hipsters (Well worth a read btw) he says:
"One more word about my mother: She died horribly of Alzheimer's. One time, after not seeing her for a while, I visited her in a nursing home in Ohio. As I walked towards her, she stared at me with great interest and then said, "You know, I've always liked you very much." Not long after that, she was gone. How do you like that?
A couple of days later, I started writing a lyric for this song "Godwhacker," which Walter and I completed and recorded for a Steely Dan CD. It's about an elite squad of assasins whose sole assignment is to find a way into heaven and take out God. If the Deity actually existed, what sane person wouldn't consider this to be justifiable homocide?"
So yeah. The lyrics are kind of straight forward. However it does give a whole new philosophical dimension to the song. The concept of if a God did exist, he surely deserves punished for his blatant lack of care etc.
Whether you agree with the concept or not, or if you just don't care, it still adds a very deep philosophical meaning to the song.
@thebassman95 I was just coming to post this. It seems that Fagen was devastated by the loss of his mother. I guess he felt anyone that allowed the amount of suffering she went through, and the suffering of those who loved her went through, was evil.<br /> <br /> You're right it is an excellent read.
In the beginning We could hang with the dude > In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve and God were together in harmony Slinky Redfoot > satan And our trusty angel-girls > wives of the "sons of God" Genesis 6:2 You better get gone poppie > refers to the pope? At the start of the end of history > end of the 6th millenium
The Devil gets too big for his britches and puts a contract out on God...
"Yes we are the GodWhackers Who rip and chop and slice"
splendid
It's about exactly what the title says: killing god.
The first lyric is "In the Beginning," an obvious reference to Genesis (the book of the bible, not the band!)
A couple of times they refer to the target with paternal words ("daddy", "poppie") meaning God the Father.
"Slinky redfoot" is satan.
Also, the theme of the entire album (Everything Must Go) is ending, so what better topic than the end of history?
Nice try associating "God" in this song with Saddam Hussein, but Reagan and the Bushes didn't create Saddam; you've got him mixed up with Manuel Noriega. Saddam was created by European bankers and his buddy/fellow Baathist Hafez al-Assad in Syria; he was just the least slimy of two alternatives when the Iraq-Iran War broke out (as horrible as Saddam was to HIS people, Khomeini and the Green Bands were even worse to the people of Iran; we backed what we thought was the least nasty of two nasty alternatives).
No, this song isn't allegorical at all - it's Manichaean fantasy, the story of a pair of cosmic Super Flys who hunt down a god (lower case) guilty of "crimes beyond imagining," and then treat him like the cook at Benihana treats a cut of wagyu steak. Although the tagline "at the start of the end of history" tempts the listener to believe he's listening to an allegory of post-Cold War politics, this is just Fagen and Becker doing riffs on Gnosticism. Again.
I believe you (along with Bolosky and TMiller68) are correct. There's no allegory here at all. The only place I believe you're incorrect is the "lower case". This is, as Bolosky said (below your comment) about the God of the Bible. For me, as much as I know that Steely Dan music has always been worldly, fleshly, in a word evil to some degree (I mean even the name of the group for crying out loud, is from Naked Lunch ... but I digress ...), but I've always enjoyed the imagination, high talent, and execution. I suppose it's inevitable that the truth comes out when Christ said, in so many words "They are either for us or against us". There's no inbetween. And sooner or later it just comes out clearly. :(
I can't recall the source but I remember a reputable article which claimed the song is about the Bush 43 administration and the war on terror ( the "umbrella" war on terror, not just OBL but also the WMD propaganda being spread at the time). The underlying notion was how ridiculous it is (was) that this band of delusional leaders (Bush 43, OBL, Saddam, etc.) all fancied themselves as earthly Gods, or on some kind of religious mission.... ones that included mass murder.
This song is clearly about the dawn of religion. We have been promised all kinds of BS through time and know man is waking up to the possibility that there is no such thing as god. I don't get these bush theories, when this lyric is so clear. "There's a bounty on your face" everyone wants proof. And my favorite "For crimes beyond imagining It's time to pay the price" all the lives claimed by others in his name. Good song and the keyboard/guitar solos are amazing
I didn't have Gaucho until recently. I just got this album today because I heard them live.
I can see the religious interpretations as well as the Bush / Saddam Hussein connection, too. If you stop and think about it, the song is about taking down any given high-level formidable opponent, whether it's an arch-criminal, kingpin or a dictator. Every criminal of significant achievement I've ever dealt with eventually gets a bit of a god-complex (hence the reference to someone who was cool in the beginning then got too full of the stank attitude). The song is almost a like an allegorical pair of sunglasses that can be worn to look at whatever you're dealing with. Me personally, I deal in IT security, so I see myself as a Godwhacker when on the hunt to take down some cybercriminal or to thwart a hack attack.