"God's Song"...by Randy Newman

[mopaul]

Cain slew Abel Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

Man means nothing he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
'Cause he thinks that's where I'll be
That's why I love mankind

I recoil in horror fro the foulness of thee
>From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why I love mankind

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, "Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please, please let us be?"
And the Lord said
And the Lord said

I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why I love mankind
You really need me
That's why I love mankind

[Ian David]

1. More about Randy Newman

November 28

Randy Newman (1943)

It was on this date, November 28, 1943, that American songwriter and singer Randy Newman was born Randall Stuart Newman in Los Angeles. In his youth, he spent time in New Orleans with his mother's family, and was influenced by the music there. He is the nephew of Al Newman, who wrote classic movie scores for How The West Was Won, Airport, and How Green Was My Valley, as well as the 20th Century Fox fanfare).

Composing may not have been in the blood, but Newman's heart was in it for years before he hit it big. Besides charting his own recordings, such as "Short People" (1977) and "Baltimore" (1978), Joe Cocker covered his song "Guilty" and "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (from The Full Monty, 1997); Tom Jones and Three Dog Night covered "Mama Told me Not to Come."

And Newman wrote songs for such films as "Something Special" from Overboard (1987), "Falling in Love" from Her Alibi, "Burn On" from Major League (1989), "I Love to See You Smile" from Parenthood (1989), "Mr. President — Have Pity on the Working Man" from Forrest Gump (1994), "That'll Do" from Babe: Pig in the City (1998), and "Lonely At The Top" from You've Got Mail (1998). In spite of that distinguished list, it wasn't until his 16th songwriter nomination that Randy Newman took home a gold statue for the song "If I Didn't Have You," from the 2001 film Monsters, Inc.

Newman speaks of his atheism in many interviews. In one, Newman said, "I never had faith. ... But I have respect for the idea. There's no joy being an atheist."* Some of his lyrics, especially from his 1972 album Sail Away, tell the same story:

More:
http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/1128almanac.htm

Also:

* Houston Chronicle Interactive interview by Mark Evangelista, n.d., but referenced on the Celebrity Atheists website.
http://www.celebatheists.com/

** Jim Coan's Randy Newman website contains detailed biographical information. Mention of Newman's atheism can be found on this page.
http://www.randynewman.com/goldmine/la.html

[markus]

2. Some of those film songs were from earlier albums

And of course you left off the soundtrack for Toy Story.

God, I love Randy Newman. Louisiana (They're Trying to Wash Us Away) should be the state song for my natal place.