This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
God never really did like man anyway
At least not after they started walking around
On their hind leg(s)
And talking on the telephone
Of course poor God's point of view wasn't easy now (to) understand
He had invented man from dead things
At that time there were no grave yards to rob
So He had been forced to use dead worms, some sea weed
That had laid out on the beach for quite a while
For quite a while.
At that time man had four legs and no telephone
A major mistake came when God decided that man should think
(A trait that He'd long desired for Himself)
What God no doubt intended was
For man to think about Him
And that was important because
God just wanted to be
Just another normal deity
Deity Deity Ty Ty Ty Ty Ty
All that God wanted to be
Was just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Was just another normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Was just a deity
Just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Just a normal deity
All went well for quite a while
Man was a wonderful creature
With long rich engraved face
Four fine legs ending in five mini-legs
And a coat of satiney hair
And large genitals
His thoughts were pure and
Full of wonder
The wonder part was God's favorite,
(at least at first)
Because that's the part that gave Him
His Identity Identity Identity Identity
Oh, it was so wonderful for God
Man's... Man's questions turned to visions
And visions gave God
All kinds of exciting things to do
Someday He would be a God of wrath
Reeking havoc upon undiscipline mankind
And at other times He'd be a God of love and compassion
Of course these were all things that man had invented
So God had a hard time getting the full grasp
But...
One of His favorite things
Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
One of His favorite things
Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Like some hide and seek game
Over
And
Over
And
Over and Over
Believing in Him
Believing in Him
Believing in Him
Not believing in Him...
Not believing in Him?
I think He liked believing in Him much better...
But I'm not sure...
At least not after they started walking around
On their hind leg(s)
And talking on the telephone
Of course poor God's point of view wasn't easy now (to) understand
He had invented man from dead things
At that time there were no grave yards to rob
So He had been forced to use dead worms, some sea weed
That had laid out on the beach for quite a while
For quite a while.
At that time man had four legs and no telephone
A major mistake came when God decided that man should think
(A trait that He'd long desired for Himself)
What God no doubt intended was
For man to think about Him
And that was important because
God just wanted to be
Just another normal deity
Deity Deity Ty Ty Ty Ty Ty
All that God wanted to be
Was just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Was just another normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Was just a deity
Just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Just a normal deity
All that God wanted to be
Just a normal deity
All went well for quite a while
Man was a wonderful creature
With long rich engraved face
Four fine legs ending in five mini-legs
And a coat of satiney hair
And large genitals
His thoughts were pure and
Full of wonder
The wonder part was God's favorite,
(at least at first)
Because that's the part that gave Him
His Identity Identity Identity Identity
Oh, it was so wonderful for God
Man's... Man's questions turned to visions
And visions gave God
All kinds of exciting things to do
Someday He would be a God of wrath
Reeking havoc upon undiscipline mankind
And at other times He'd be a God of love and compassion
Of course these were all things that man had invented
So God had a hard time getting the full grasp
But...
One of His favorite things
Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
One of His favorite things
Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Believing in Him, Not believing in Him
Like some hide and seek game
Over
And
Over
And
Over and Over
Believing in Him
Believing in Him
Believing in Him
Not believing in Him...
Not believing in Him?
I think He liked believing in Him much better...
But I'm not sure...
Lyrics submitted by JofaGuht
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That's an interesting perspective, but i don't agree at all. I think it's much more straight forward than that, and the god song is named so because its about humans invention of god (rather than the other way around).