No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God
When it's gotten real late and their kid's not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they're mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door and they say we got some bad news, sir
No one's laughing at God when there's a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke
God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious, ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God
When they've lost all they've got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke
God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God, we're all laughing with God


Lyrics submitted by tinylittlewords

Laughing With Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Laughing With song meanings
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  • +5
    General Comment

    Atheists don't laugh AT God (since they don't believe he exists, how can they laugh AT him?), they laugh at PEOPLE who believe in God.

    In Regina's own words, they laugh at people who "get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke," they laugh at people who hope God will "give you money if you just pray the right way," and they laugh at people who think God is "like a genie who does magic like Houdini."

    Indeed, Rowan Atkinson's "Amazing Jesus" sketch (google it on youtube) milks the latter joke brilliantly, suggesting Jesus' miracles, such as turning water into wine, were actually just the same as modern day "magic tricks."

    Regina asserts these things actually ARE funny, which suggests the perspective of an UNBELIEVER. Believers do not assert that these things ARE "hilarious!"

    And yet, while Regina asserts that God jokes are funny, she suggests that death, war, starvation, loss, etc are such painful human realities, that we will forsake our dismissive rationalist jokes about believers, and briefly become wannabe believers ourselves, in desperate moments.

    Such is our desire for someone, anyone, to reach out a helping hand, when times are hard, that we will play the ultimate joke on ourselves. Our rational mind falters, embracing the construct of a non-apparent, probably non-existent God, for comfort.

    We laugh, in those moments, at ourselves, at our rational mind: we are "LAUGHING WITH" this God-construct at ourselves, at rationality, at the human condition, at EVERYTHING.

    yhtrownuon May 30, 2009   Link

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