XTC – Dear God
Description
“Dear God” is a song by the English rock band XTC that was first released as a non-album single with the A-side “Grass“. Written by Andy Partridge, the song lyrics grapple with the existence of God and the problem of evil. Partridge was inspired by a series of books with the same title, which Partridge viewed as exploitative of children. The song was originally intended for the album Skylarking, but left off due to concerns from Partridge and Virgin Records. After college radio DJs across America picked up the song, US distributor Geffen Records recalled and re-pressed Skylarking with the track included.
Partridge was dissatisfied with “Dear God” as he felt the lyrics were not representative of his views on religion, which was partly the reason it was left off Skylarking. The song’s anti-religious message ultimately provoked some violent reactions. In the US, one radio station received a bomb threat, and in another incident, a student forced their school to play the song over its public-address system while holding a faculty member hostage. Partridge also received a plethora of hate mail. He stated that he “felt sorry” for whoever he upset, however, “if you can’t have a different opinion without them wanting to firebomb your house then that’s their problem.”
The music video for “Dear God”, one of the first to be directed by photographer Nick Brandt, received the 1987 Billboard Best Video award and was also nominated for three categories at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2009, the song was ranked at No. 62 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s, despite the fact that XTC had higher charting singles in the decade. In 2011, Todd Rundgren, who produced the original XTC recording of the song, recorded a cover version for his album (re)Production.
