My God Lyrics
Locked Him in His golden cage.
Made Him bend to your religion
Him resurrected from the grave.
If that's all that you can see.
You are the god of everything
He's inside you and me.
And don't call on Him to save you
From your social graces
And the sins you used waive.
In chains of history
Requests your earthly presence at
The vicarage for tea.
With his plastic crucifix
He's got him fixed
Confuses me as to who and where and why
As to how he gets his kicks.
The endless whining sounds.
You'll be praying till next Thursday
To all the gods that you can count.
At one point I started laying tracks to cover this song and then thought better of it. I thought that it might be misunderstood.
My take on it is that Anderson was referring to how we try to make God bend to our wants and needs, likes and dislikes. In other words, 'if you don't like what this part of the Bible says, create your own religious sect or denomination'. Twist what the scriptures say.... dupe and manipulate in the name of God.
Here's a classic example of the aforementioned and also supports what Anderson had to say about the Church of England. in order to achieve anullment of marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII took advantage of the Reformation to kick the Catholic church out of England and then appointed himself as head of the Church of England. The ruling monarch til this day still holds that position. What followed under his daughters Mary and Elizabeth I shows how bloody the Church of England's history is.. Of course, that's no different than how the Romans killed the Jewish Christians and then the Catholics hijacked Christianity and made it into the unholy Roman empire.
So I think that Anderson is saying that religion is man-made but that he is pro God, pro Jesus and anti-religion--especially abusive religion.
@darksongs I agree with your take. I feel that Ian Anderson still holds man's feet to the fire so his feet warm-up and he opens his eyes!
@darksongs I agree with your take. I feel that Ian Anderson still holds man's feet to the fire so his feet warm-up and he opens his eyes!
To me...this song isn't about religion or politics...rather the politics of religion. The way man has corrupted the pure and simple message of Christ. Used that "adaptation" to build an empire based of fear, not love.
@abnormltoy Christians break God's commandment with their plastic Idols, confessing to the endless sin. The song is not Christ friendly.
@abnormltoy Christians break God's commandment with their plastic Idols, confessing to the endless sin. The song is not Christ friendly.
Ian always introduced this song as "A blues for the man upstairs". Its very pro-god, but it criticized the corrupt organized religeon that fixes his image in a way that believing anything else is impossible. people can't formulate thier own opinions about god because they are brought up in thier specific religeon and are taught that "this is the way it is, no ifs, ands, or buts. If you don't agree, you are wrong, and you are going to be nice and warm in hell for all eternity." Ian felt that god was inside of all of us, and we should communicate with Him how we see fit, not how the church tells us.
Kick ass song, second best flute work in any of their songs behind the solo in Locomotive Breath. This one may even be better. Ian plays the flute so well, that I wish i had known about them about 6 years ago when i had a chance to learn an instrument in grade school.
Just a tinny little fact, Ian only learned how to play the flute 6 months before the bands 1st album came out.
PREACH IT YO! Jethro Tull..was before my time...my dad liked them alot. I started getting really into them not too long ago. This song is probably one of my favs. My band wants to cover LOCOMOTIVE BREATH!
good luck with that...two years later.. anyhow...this song is great..apparently about their discontent with religion as it was in england and everything it was based on....look it up...interesting history...
I think it's about how people have manipulated the concept of god to gain power and control people. The "God" and "He" in this song sounds more like a Deistic god.
My God is a very touching and personal song. Good music and message on the group's part.
The Aqualung album is a great achievement. It's kinda ironic how it is Jethro Tull's best album musically and commercially, yet frontman Ian Anderson though that it was a very immature and technically flawed album by his standards. Go figure.
A friend of mine had a bootlegged tape of a concert that Jethro Tull did prior to the release of "Aqualung." It included this song and instead of "you know who" Ian said "Catholics." This makes sense as it rhymes with crucifix. I have always been anti-catholic because they have many man-made rules that Ian was very much against. He did not want people to stand between him and "His God." Think about it...
That's interesting because the verse before is directed at The Church of England.
That's interesting because the verse before is directed at The Church of England.
We have all packaged God into a nice neat worshipping place This song reminds us that He is in all people, places and things and the we dont have to be in a particular place to worship Him. Part of the "Aqualung" conceptual album.
@wiclo6 Aqualung isn't a conceptual album. To put it in Ian's words it is just a collection of good songs. I think the lyrics are just a result of where he was in life when he wrote them. Ian didn't like it being called a concept album so he wrote thick as a brick to show everyone what a concept album really is.
@wiclo6 Aqualung isn't a conceptual album. To put it in Ian's words it is just a collection of good songs. I think the lyrics are just a result of where he was in life when he wrote them. Ian didn't like it being called a concept album so he wrote thick as a brick to show everyone what a concept album really is.
Aqualung is diefinately a pro-God, anti-church album, I will agree to that! This is such a great song, great band, Jethro Tull is very underrated. I love the fact that they have a flute.