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Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers -Atheists Don't Have No Songs -funny!
Organist1 8 Mar 4
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2

Camp songs are hilarious. No religion there.

In the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, Karen and I climbed up to a high alpine meadow.

A huge steaming pile of fresh bear poop stopped us in our tracks. "Make noise to let the bear know you are there," experts advise. Immediately I burst into song. Loudly singing, we marched away.

A call-and-response song:

The Bear in Tennis Shoes

The other day
I met a bear.
In tennis shoes
A funny bear.

He looked at me.
I looked at him.
He sized up me.
I sized up him.

He said to me
"You'd better run
"Cause I can see
"You've got no gun."

And so I ran
Away from there.
But right behind
Me was that bear.

(Look up "The Bear in Tennis Shoes" on YouTube. )

Most of my songs are folk songs with no reference to religion. I live in bear country and am not afraid of them. I shared my land with a grizzly bear from 1991 through to 2014. It really was his land, not mine. We left each other alone.

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There are so many beautiful songs that uplift the human spirit or make us feel good to be alive that don't mention religion references. Many of the most popular songs throughout history were composed by non-religious folks. I think that because atheists are pretty confident in our world view, we simply don't need to harp on and on about it with songs.

The religious songs have a purpose, and that is to indoctrinate, or support the indoctrination, to foster worship and following rules without question. (Maybe they are a sign of insecurity!) I'm good with having the millions of beautiful songs that don't include religious references.

I use to play banjo in a jug band and we never did any gospel even though we played a few bluegrass tunes. To this day I can barely stand most bluegrass music.

@ADKSparky We have a wide variety of music where I live, but I don't seek out the bluegrass music. I go out listening and dancing to music fairly regularly, and NONE of it has religious references, just having fun and enjoying life. I think I've learned to avoid the bands who have religious singers - small enough place to know who the religious folks are.

I don't think this song is supposed to be taken seriously. That's why I posted it under the category I did. As a professional musician, I play lots of music from the Renaissance period through contemporary and folk, rock, etc., which isn't religious, but is uplifting. However, I can't resist Steve Martin. He's a very good musician besides being funny.

@Organist1 Yep, he's hilarious and knows how to deliver the humor. I remember seeing this song on SNL or somewhere years ago!

@Organist1 I love Steve Martin. . I didn’t take it seriously. It just reminded me of the reasons I left bluegrass.

@ADKSparky I'm not a big bluegrass fan either, though there are some respectable people playing it, like Billy Strings. There's just something about the genre, like country, that rubs me the wrong way. IDK what it is, although the vocals really bug me because they're twangy and irritating! I can't stand show music either, and I'm not a big opera fan, though there are some exceptions. Steve Martin can sing or play anything, as far as I'm concerned, though. 😀 BTW, regarding the banjo, have you ever heard of Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton? He plays blues banjo, among other instruments, and is really good.

@ADKSparky

@Organist1 I've never seen anyone play the banjo so well.

@rogerbenham If you like his banjo playing, he plays guitar, violin, and piano equally well. He was the last person I saw in concert before the pandemic. He came with his musical friend Jontavious Willis. They were very entertaining, told stories and jokes. It was a wonderful evening.

@Organist1 As I am about to enter my 2nd half of my seventies, I find my musical tastes move away from Rock, I still am a traditional folk singer though recent events in a hospital have destroyed my voice. My composing is all in the Baroque style.
One thing I have discovered about you is that you have a great interest in American politics, which I do not share. I liked Jimmy Carter, even more now, and like Bernie Sanders though he is a bit right wing for me. Your two political parties are both far too right wing and racist for my liking and polarisation is destroying your country. It might destroy mine.

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One could argue a case for Rudolf and F. Christmas, but an atheist can sing any song. The question is "who actually believes the words of the song"? Who believes that they matter?

I agree on that . Any music that gets the blood moving and lifts your spirit is ok with me. I love some of the gospel music especially what Ernie Ford sang. In this case it's the messenger and not the message, the messenger being the uplifting music.

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