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Faith/Void Lyrics
It's time to put God away
Damnin' the children
Makin' the ill just a little more sick
It's time to put God away
(I put God away)
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
It's time to put God away
(I put God away)
For a void without a question is just perverse
A void without a question is just perverse
Like tear gas misters at my grave
It's time to put God away
(I put God away)
For a void without a question is just perverse
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
It's time to put God away
(I put God away)
Makin' the ill just a little more sick
(I put God away)
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
(I put God away)
A void without a question is just perverse
Like tear gas misters at my grave
(I put God away)
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
(I put God away)
Song Info
Submitted by
askforgiveness On Apr 18, 2009
More Bill Callahan
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"People would always ask me, 'Are you a spiritual person?' and I would say yes, but it made me uncomfortable. Before 'Faith/Void,' I was reading a lot of atheist literature and I realized, no, I’m not a spiritual person, because I don’t know what that means. I like mountains and oceans and stuff, which is where I’ve always felt some sort of power of meaning, but that’s not necessarily spiritual. I’ve realized it’s better if we just stop talking in that language, because it can lead to so many conflicts."
http://www.avclub.com/articles/bill-callahan,26516/
@ilse well this thread is from an awfully long time ago…
@ilse well this thread is from an awfully long time ago…
I liked your review So I searched for ones that agreed with me more… lol
I liked your review So I searched for ones that agreed with me more… lol
However because you asked for critiquing I want to suggest that when Bill speaks of:
However because you asked for critiquing I want to suggest that when Bill speaks of:
“ This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie”
“ This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie”
&, because I think it’s about ‘organized’ religion
&, because I think it’s about ‘organized’ religion
[not necessarily God or the evils...
[not necessarily God or the evils of “spirituality“]
Of course, I may be completely wrong
The remarks Callahan made that this song followed a realisation he had after reading Atheist literature is pretty damn telling.
"damning the children, making the ill just a little more sick"
I believe there is another interview where he remarks how he realised the effect of religion through history has basically been bad.
It seems an inanely wall-eyed account of religion, one which only really makes sense to me by taking into account atheist literature, I think, because its analysis is absolutely negative.
The void/question lines are a bit more interesting.
Perhaps I am being too literal - or perhaps I am simply wrong; I do find myself doubting my understanding of this song since it just seems so unusually banal for BC.
Compare with the subtly in previous Callahan lyrics:
"all we need is here on earth, every other day"
"God is a word and the argument ends there"
Whereas, here, he treats religion like a childish toy, but this is because the account of it hereis childish and superficial. And this is a 9 minute epic which keeps banging on. Awful; in my humble opinion anyway.
I'm not arguing that Callahan has to embrace religion (Christianity particularly) but that if he is going to dismiss it he ought to do so with his trade-mark humour, subtlety and finesse.
[hopefully I will not anger anyone; if you think my account of the song is superficial, please critique it]
I should just add an actual interpretation of this song.
I should just add an actual interpretation of this song.
It's time to put God away (God is a toy I (or we) no longer need.)
It's time to put God away (God is a toy I (or we) no longer need.)
Damnin' the children (making the children suffer because they are "sinners" etc.) Makin' the ill just a little more sick ("religion poisons everything"; there was a piece of research, Dawkin's I think, where those people who were very ill who did not pray for God to save em, actually had more difficulty recovering/were more likely to die -- due to complex reasons).
Damnin' the children (making the children suffer because they are "sinners" etc.) Makin' the ill just a little more sick ("religion poisons everything"; there was a piece of research, Dawkin's I think, where those people who were very ill who did not pray for God to save em, actually had more difficulty recovering/were more likely to die -- due to complex reasons).
This is the end of faith, no...
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie (Callahan draws a line between "spiritually/religion" and the agnostic sublimity and awe of existence.)
A void without a question is just perverse (a void is amazing, doesn't shouldn't it make you wonder? No, hierarchical religions make the void a certainty, they desecrate it -- I'm not confident about this interpretation - since it is not analogous with the following line). Like tear gas misters at my grave (if you only do something because you're forced it doesn't really count (those who do good deeds so they'll go to heaven?))
It's time to put God away (an imperative for us all to ditch our childish fantasy) (I put God away) (Callahan's own resolution)
-- Not all the lines here are what I have referred to above as superficial.
dammit, I meant to say above that in the cherry-picked scientific research, those (and their relatives) who DID pray to God had more difficulty recovering, than those who did not.
dammit, I meant to say above that in the cherry-picked scientific research, those (and their relatives) who DID pray to God had more difficulty recovering, than those who did not.
I tend to agree that it seems almost overly anti-religious. Almost like there's something we're not getting. Thinking about what he's trying to conjure up with the image of him having tear gas misters at his own grave leaves me a bit baffled but still curious..
I tend to agree that it seems almost overly anti-religious. Almost like there's something we're not getting. Thinking about what he's trying to conjure up with the image of him having tear gas misters at his own grave leaves me a bit baffled but still curious..
Love Bill Callahan's voice, and music, but how do you find peace without a god? Not even a god, but a higher purpose. Knowing that the creator of the world knows your name and loves you despite any mistakes you may make, this is peaceful knowledge. Knowing you have a purpose on this earth grounds the mind and wandering spirit. The human mind capable of love and madness is not a mere happenstance. You were made by the same God who made the oceans and forests. The peace one experiences in nature is peace in God and His creation.
I myself am an atheist. I find a great deal of peace in the beauty of my existence. I find peace in the marvellous coincidence that is the beautiful world I live in, and I don't need more then this. The mountains, the trees, the animals, the seas, the people, my peace comes from these. My purpose comes from the fact that I am lucky enough to have a brief existence in this incredible world, and that I have a few years to leave my mark and make tiny changes for the better. This is what existence is to me,...
I myself am an atheist. I find a great deal of peace in the beauty of my existence. I find peace in the marvellous coincidence that is the beautiful world I live in, and I don't need more then this. The mountains, the trees, the animals, the seas, the people, my peace comes from these. My purpose comes from the fact that I am lucky enough to have a brief existence in this incredible world, and that I have a few years to leave my mark and make tiny changes for the better. This is what existence is to me, and I need no more then that for complete peace and purpose.
The ultimate anthem to a world where we no longer need God or the church to guide us, where we stand on our own two feet and find comfort in each other instead of a volatile being that only exists as a concept. The thought is as beautiful as the song.
If I were to rustle any jimmies here, I'd argue that perhaps certain people can't find Callahan's trademark humour here as it hits too close to home.
"This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in the light"
most definetly incorrect
it should be:
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
Agreed.
Agreed.
I am not so sure. The way he sings the lyric leaves it somewhat open, I think to let the listener here what they want. Listening critically it sounds like the first time he says the line that it is "in the light" and then when he repeats it with the musical build-up that he almost exclaims "in a lie" but with all the noise it can't be for certain. --- I think it's both
I am not so sure. The way he sings the lyric leaves it somewhat open, I think to let the listener here what they want. Listening critically it sounds like the first time he says the line that it is "in the light" and then when he repeats it with the musical build-up that he almost exclaims "in a lie" but with all the noise it can't be for certain. --- I think it's both
Wow. To find peace without faith. An amazing way to end a truly thought-provoking album.
Someone is damning children and then finding peace within a lie? Please explain.
He's singing that he doesn't need religion to find peace (inner-peace), religion being the 'lie'.
He's singing that he doesn't need religion to find peace (inner-peace), religion being the 'lie'.
I would guess that 'damning children' is in reference to children being having their parents' religion foisted upon them, or, more likely, to do with baptism - Christians believing that an unbaptised baby that died in infancy would not be able to enter heaven and would remain in Limbo/Purgatory.
I would guess that 'damning children' is in reference to children being having their parents' religion foisted upon them, or, more likely, to do with baptism - Christians believing that an unbaptised baby that died in infancy would not be able to enter heaven and would remain in Limbo/Purgatory.
Similarly I'd speculate that 'making the ill a little more sick' is about Christian Scientists refusal of medicine.
Similarly I'd speculate that 'making the ill a little more sick' is about Christian Scientists refusal of medicine.
A very beautiful song.
A very beautiful song.
I think 'making the ill a little more sick' has more to do with mentally than literally/physically.
I think 'making the ill a little more sick' has more to do with mentally than literally/physically.
The song's title is an allusion to the Dischord split LP Faith/Void, with one side The Faith and the other, Void.
When all around me gets crazy and I find myself completely alone and hurt, I can pray to God because he is my comforter. I never get it from anyone else. That to me is a proof that God lives. When people say he is not real, then they never possibly have known a time where they hit rock bottom, where it is impossible for our mind to invent the peace and burden uplifted. I perhaps know what I am talking about, and I do not argue the existence of God.
The word void might be used as a synonym for afterlife. Or it could mean just "being in the dark" here, while still living. Either way, a question would serve as an attempt to ratify ignorance on the subject. With the first interpretation, one would start by questioning what happens in such a "void" and then proceed by experiment to find out (perhaps philosophically?). With the other interpretation though, it would lead to a cessation of living by rules here and now which are based on non-provable absolutes.
"A void without a question is just perverse"
A remarkable line, I think. .. In one sweep there is his reason. When I hear it I think of stagnated places where no true realisation can penetrate, where a constant feeling of the unknown exists but the search for a truth is beset by an acceptance of an absolute which can't be questioned.
In what way is the perversion of an accepted void similar to the imagery in the following line? One would first have to assume that people would come to one's own funeral. One would place the misters there to either increase the crying (albeit, tears of physical pain and therefore false) or to cause suffering (post-mortem) to people who had cared enough to be at the funeral.