My God Is the Sun

This song is about Akhenaten and the Amen Ra dynasty which was the first individual in history to develop worship of the sun and to stress the importance of distancing philosophical interpretation of literal worship to rational worship without understanding how the literal entity (in this case the sun) delivered life. This notion in turn lead to the birth of science in the experiments of alchemy (which was deemed witchcraft by the church), Giordano Bruno's interplanetary theories (which he was burnt at the stake for and why there is a statue devoted to him in Italy in the presence of the Vatican) and eventually Einstein's theories which solidified science as the general acceptance of life's origins.

Is he talking about the desert, where Homme is from?

Correct lyrics taken from the ...Like Clockwork Double LP:

Far beyond the desert road Where everything ends up So good, the empty space, mental erase Forgive, forgot

Heal them - bright fire from a gun Kneeling - my god is the sun Heal them - with fire from above Kneeling - my god is the sun

I don't know what time it was I don't wear a watch So good to be an ant who crawls Atop a spinning rock

Heal them - bright fire from a gun Kneeling - my god is the sun Heal them - with fire from above Kneeling - my god is the sun

Heal them - bright fire from a gun Kneeling - my god is the sun See them kneeling? Godless heathens

Godless heathens always want from the sky

very simple one...watch the show 'No reservations" with Josh and he talks about his love for the desert and how it defines his life...the nature, the sunrises...Sometimes we try to read way too much into these lyrics...he is just talking about his home area that he loves very much...

That is one hell of a song. What a wonderful melody. One would expect no less from Queens of the Stone Age. I haven't figured out what it is yet but the last lyrics of the third line are incorrect. I'll see if I can decipher them later if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

I would think it has to do with ignorance. A lot of primitive cultures worshipped natural phenomena as the work of a deity, in this case, the sun. Some other lyrics also support this, such as the fact that the singer doesn't wear a watch (as in he doesn't know, doesn't care). Also, the insignificance of being an ant (atop a spinning rock [AKA the Earth]). Another nod to primitive cultures is the whole waltzing in/on the sky, as early cultures such as the Greeks thought that when heroes died, they became constellations. In that case, the speaker is probably someone else, as he is calling those people heathens.

It's pretty obvious what the speaker is saying- he's declaring the sun to be his god and seemingly asking it to "heal them", whoever they are. The lyrics may have no meaning, but it seems to be about ignorance, as kangus said. Along with what he/she has pointed out, I've got a quote from George Carlin here, talking about religion, that is not only relevant, but probably influenced this song-

"So rather than be just another mindless religious robot, mindlessly and aimlessly and blindly believing that all of this is in the hands of some spooky incompetent father figure who doesn't give a shit, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on.

And immediately, I thought of the sun. Happened like that. Overnight I became a sun-worshipper. Well, not overnight, you can't see the sun at night. But first thing the next morning, I became a sun-worshipper. Several reasons. First of all, I can see the sun, okay? Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun. I'm big on that. If I can see something, I don't know, it kind of helps the credibility along, you know? So everyday I can see the sun, as it gives me everything I need; heat, light, food, flowers in the park, reflections on the lake, an occasional skin cancer, but hey. At least there are no crucifixions, and we're not setting people on fire simply because they don't agree with us.

Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I'm unworthy. Doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don't pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn't presume on our friendship. It's not polite."

In an interview it was mentioned that many of the songs on this CD were heavily influenced by a botched leg surgery that Josh had that left him dead on the operating table for a small amount of time (obviously he recovered) and then many months bed-ridden. After knowing this information, go through all of the lyrics on this album and you can start to make connections to this surgery, his doctors ("baboons off playing god") and all that sort of related crap.

Josh Homme has stated that he was legally dead after a mess up in surgery. This song is relating to what he experienced on the operating table.

"Far beyond the desert road Where everything ends up So good, the empty space, mental erase Forgive, forgot"

This is where he was during the moments when he was "dead" and the feeling of elation he had being there. The chorus is when he was brought back by the doctors, and the second verse is the feeling afterwards.

So I was listening to my mix-CD I made that is all QotSA (mostly the fist album) and I was sitting in a parking lot finishing a smoke and finishing "Suture Up Your Future" and someone came up to my window. He said, "You know Queens is coming out with a new CD right?", I said "NO WAY!", He nodded and I was ecstatic and looked it up on my phone. I can't wait to hear the new album and this song already makes it sound promising.

Love Queens of the Stone Age!