I believe that this song has nothing at all to do with god, instead it has everything to do with people - Christians in particular!
It's "Just trying to make his way home, back up to heaven all alone. Nobody calling on the phone, 'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome." line in the song that does it for me. How do people see god, who is he, what is he? That is the question.
During the times of the plague columns of people would walk through the streets whipping themselves, trying to atone for the sins of the masses with their own pain, as if that would give god some sick satisfaction and make him lift the curse. But what would god really have thought of this public spectacle? During the inquisition people were tortured and burned for not believing. Would god have enjoyed this?
We humans are very good at justifying just about anything to ourselves. I can have that piece of cake if I go for a walk. I can lie on my tax return because the government isn't using the money properly anyway. I can kill these people because GOD told me to. But what would he really think?
What if the guy on the bus was god? How would you treat him? Would you set up a fancy formal function with priests and choirs - removing yourself and hiding away because he is the BIG GUY? How about just talking to him? "What would you ask if you had just one question?", how about 'How are you'?
Ultimately I think the point of the song is if god was just a guy on the bus, would you get to know him? Or just stick with what the church (whichever denomination you identify with) tells you? Maybe god is alone, nobody calling on the phone, because nobody can be bothered getting to know him anymore.
Thank you. This is the best interpretation of the song that I found. Even though this seems like a Christian song, it is equally applicable to other religions if we replace the references to Jesus and Pope with similar instances from other religions. The central message of the song is:
Thank you. This is the best interpretation of the song that I found. Even though this seems like a Christian song, it is equally applicable to other religions if we replace the references to Jesus and Pope with similar instances from other religions. The central message of the song is:
What would you do if God was standing right next to you ("a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus...") and you did not know? Would you just ignore him and go about your everyday life, as many of us would? Would you run...
What would you do if God was standing right next to you ("a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus...") and you did not know? Would you just ignore him and go about your everyday life, as many of us would? Would you run back to your church/mosque/temple and seek him there, even though he was standing next to you? The greatest saints in every religion, like Mother Teresa, are those who found God in "one of us" and devoted their life to serving this "God" rather than the God in the churches, temples, etc. According to the Christian faith, Jesus became "one of us" to serve us. Can we do the same for "one of us"?
I love this song. Mainly because of the uplifting lead guitar line but the words are good too. And I like your thoughts. Like you I am an atheist mainly because of the great historic evils like the inquisition which you allude to. But I don't think all Christians are bound to be bad just because they believe. There are some good ones.
I love this song. Mainly because of the uplifting lead guitar line but the words are good too. And I like your thoughts. Like you I am an atheist mainly because of the great historic evils like the inquisition which you allude to. But I don't think all Christians are bound to be bad just because they believe. There are some good ones.
The crux of this song is the same as the Jesus myth: a being fully a man and fully a god at the same time. An impossibility because man is flawed and god is perfect. ...
The crux of this song is the same as the Jesus myth: a being fully a man and fully a god at the same time. An impossibility because man is flawed and god is perfect. This is a really clever ethical paradox and probably the crux of my own belief. I like the idea.
Being good (or trying to be) for me grows out of really perceiving that we are all just human beings: flawed and pitiful but capable of kindness and compassion. In the song this is the way god is portrayed just a sad lonely guy going home on a bus. Jesus was that guy. Even Christians have to accept that. So this song at the same time challenges Christians. It criticises the pomposity of the Christian hierarchy (saints prophets etc.) by comparing it to the humble man (god) on the bus. But at the same time it asks you to feel sympathy for him. Sympathy is a form of love. To a Christian having sympathy for God has to precede having sympathy for a human (you cannot love man or yourself without first loving god.) But the song seems to put it the other way round. You are asked to think of god as a man not man as a reflection of god. I love this. And the last lines about no-one calling him on the phone (except the pope) are both poignant and witty. It pokes fun at the same time as inviting sympathy.
I would add a little bit to your conclusion. I agree that this song is challenging the listener to think how they would treat god if he was just like another guy and they met him on the bus. But it could also be challenging us to query the existence of god himself. Is 'god' actually immanent in humanity ? What if god is nothing more than looking with compassion on another human being?
You may well know the saying 'God is love' I have often seen this incorrectly construed as 'Deus est Amor.' The correct translation is 'Deus est Caritas.' The latin caritas is the word which gives us the modern 'charity' it means love but love in the sense of sympathy/compassion. For me both the soaring music and the tone and sense of the words give rise to feelings of sympathy hope and faith in humanity. Because I too am an atheist I find that very uplifting. I also really like that it presents Christians with the conundrum of deciding whether they feel sympathy for the guy because he is human or because he is divine. I can say both. They can't.
I believe that this song has nothing at all to do with god, instead it has everything to do with people - Christians in particular!
It's "Just trying to make his way home, back up to heaven all alone. Nobody calling on the phone, 'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome." line in the song that does it for me. How do people see god, who is he, what is he? That is the question.
During the times of the plague columns of people would walk through the streets whipping themselves, trying to atone for the sins of the masses with their own pain, as if that would give god some sick satisfaction and make him lift the curse. But what would god really have thought of this public spectacle? During the inquisition people were tortured and burned for not believing. Would god have enjoyed this?
We humans are very good at justifying just about anything to ourselves. I can have that piece of cake if I go for a walk. I can lie on my tax return because the government isn't using the money properly anyway. I can kill these people because GOD told me to. But what would he really think?
What if the guy on the bus was god? How would you treat him? Would you set up a fancy formal function with priests and choirs - removing yourself and hiding away because he is the BIG GUY? How about just talking to him? "What would you ask if you had just one question?", how about 'How are you'?
Ultimately I think the point of the song is if god was just a guy on the bus, would you get to know him? Or just stick with what the church (whichever denomination you identify with) tells you? Maybe god is alone, nobody calling on the phone, because nobody can be bothered getting to know him anymore.
Just my thoughts.
I like your thoughts :)
I like your thoughts :)
Thank you. This is the best interpretation of the song that I found. Even though this seems like a Christian song, it is equally applicable to other religions if we replace the references to Jesus and Pope with similar instances from other religions. The central message of the song is:
Thank you. This is the best interpretation of the song that I found. Even though this seems like a Christian song, it is equally applicable to other religions if we replace the references to Jesus and Pope with similar instances from other religions. The central message of the song is:
What would you do if God was standing right next to you ("a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus...") and you did not know? Would you just ignore him and go about your everyday life, as many of us would? Would you run...
What would you do if God was standing right next to you ("a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on the bus...") and you did not know? Would you just ignore him and go about your everyday life, as many of us would? Would you run back to your church/mosque/temple and seek him there, even though he was standing next to you? The greatest saints in every religion, like Mother Teresa, are those who found God in "one of us" and devoted their life to serving this "God" rather than the God in the churches, temples, etc. According to the Christian faith, Jesus became "one of us" to serve us. Can we do the same for "one of us"?
I love this song. Mainly because of the uplifting lead guitar line but the words are good too. And I like your thoughts. Like you I am an atheist mainly because of the great historic evils like the inquisition which you allude to. But I don't think all Christians are bound to be bad just because they believe. There are some good ones.
I love this song. Mainly because of the uplifting lead guitar line but the words are good too. And I like your thoughts. Like you I am an atheist mainly because of the great historic evils like the inquisition which you allude to. But I don't think all Christians are bound to be bad just because they believe. There are some good ones.
The crux of this song is the same as the Jesus myth: a being fully a man and fully a god at the same time. An impossibility because man is flawed and god is perfect. ...
The crux of this song is the same as the Jesus myth: a being fully a man and fully a god at the same time. An impossibility because man is flawed and god is perfect. This is a really clever ethical paradox and probably the crux of my own belief. I like the idea.
Being good (or trying to be) for me grows out of really perceiving that we are all just human beings: flawed and pitiful but capable of kindness and compassion. In the song this is the way god is portrayed just a sad lonely guy going home on a bus. Jesus was that guy. Even Christians have to accept that. So this song at the same time challenges Christians. It criticises the pomposity of the Christian hierarchy (saints prophets etc.) by comparing it to the humble man (god) on the bus. But at the same time it asks you to feel sympathy for him. Sympathy is a form of love. To a Christian having sympathy for God has to precede having sympathy for a human (you cannot love man or yourself without first loving god.) But the song seems to put it the other way round. You are asked to think of god as a man not man as a reflection of god. I love this. And the last lines about no-one calling him on the phone (except the pope) are both poignant and witty. It pokes fun at the same time as inviting sympathy.
I would add a little bit to your conclusion. I agree that this song is challenging the listener to think how they would treat god if he was just like another guy and they met him on the bus. But it could also be challenging us to query the existence of god himself. Is 'god' actually immanent in humanity ? What if god is nothing more than looking with compassion on another human being?
You may well know the saying 'God is love' I have often seen this incorrectly construed as 'Deus est Amor.' The correct translation is 'Deus est Caritas.' The latin caritas is the word which gives us the modern 'charity' it means love but love in the sense of sympathy/compassion. For me both the soaring music and the tone and sense of the words give rise to feelings of sympathy hope and faith in humanity. Because I too am an atheist I find that very uplifting. I also really like that it presents Christians with the conundrum of deciding whether they feel sympathy for the guy because he is human or because he is divine. I can say both. They can't.