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what god wants 1 2 and 3

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  #1  
Old 04-30-2003, 01:33 AM
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what god wants 1 2 and 3

I know the meaning of the other song on album but I cant see what relevance these songs have with of the album except being great song,so can somebody tell me the meaning of this song.
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  #2  
Old 04-30-2003, 01:16 PM
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Part One is, as far as I can tell, about how preachers and other religious leaders use the "word of God" to reinforce their own agendas. The line "God wants sedition, God wants sex, God wants freedom, God wants semtex" presents four conflicting messages which different people (new-agers, freedom-fighters, fundamentalists, terrorists) have claimed were the actual wishes of whatever God they were worshipping... Part Two is the same idea, but this time the only thing on the preacher/leader's mind is getting money from his followers... Part Three is about how, in a society so consumed by greed, money itself has become God and the persuit of it is akin to worship.

Pretty basic ideas... you can work the rest out yourself...
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  #3  
Old 05-01-2003, 01:36 AM
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thanks for that but what does it have to do with tv? does it mean there using the tv to spread these evil messages thuss making greed across the land?
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  #4  
Old 05-02-2003, 07:50 PM
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Yes, in part.
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  #5  
Old 06-11-2003, 12:00 PM
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Botley ,Did They Really understand the album?

If you understood other songs but failed What God Wants(1,2,3) then i'm sorry ro inform you that you really did not understand any of the songs !Anyway I will post the complete essay about your request/query.And Botley 's response is same albeit a brief description.

Last edited by Thursday'sChild; 06-11-2003 at 12:06 PM.
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Old 06-14-2003, 04:43 AM
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Post The "WHAT GOD WANTS 1/2/3 explained in full.

"WHAT GOD WANTS 1,2 v&3 Explained for all fan's sake!
<begin essay>
Amused to Death starts starts with the song "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard", which is a monologue by Alf Razzell. In "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" Alf Razzell talks about one of his most haunting experiences in World War II. His monologue is about how he finds Bill Hubbard wounded in no-man's-land, and has to leave him behind. This sets the scene for the rest of the album. The combination of soft melodic music and Alf Razzell's "grandfatherly" English voice in contrast with the violence of the scene accentuates the horror of the story. The music also peaks and falls with the drama of Alf Razzell's monologue. In the beginning of this song the sound of a television changing channels foreshadows one of the themes of the album, how television alters our perception of reality. Alf Razzell's monologue is concluded by the sound of changing channels, and we briefly hear a girl saying "I don't mind about the war, that's one of the things I like to watch, if it's a war going on, 'cause then I know if our side's winning, if our side's losing," before the channel changes again.The second song "What God Wants, Part I" starts by telling us how the will of the controllers of the mass media is imposed on the individual. This is made very clear by the repetition of key lines. The first of these lines is: "What God wants God Gets" which tells the listener that regardless of the choice of the individual the outcome will be the same. The second repeated lyric is: "God wants ..." which is followed by things both positive, negative. God is impartial, and does not abide by any morals. This is most obvious at the end of the song: "God wants good/God wants bad". The line " Don't look so surprised/It's only dogma" shows that it is not necessary to abide by what God wants, because if you don't, God will still get what he wants. "'I'm very upset by religious dogma,' reveals Waters. 'I get angry, gobsmacked in fact when I hear George Bush saying that God was on their side during the Gulf war. It's amazing that in 1992, one of the most powerful men in the world can reduce political rhetoric to that level. But that's what he has to do, to get votes and maintain power and then use that power to help the American automobile industry.'" The line:
" The monkey in the corner/Wrote the lesson in book" refers to how the monkey (which is used as a metaphor for the human race throughout the album) accepts the dogma without question. "... which is this idea of a gorilla who is a metaphor for the human race sitting watching television and trying to work out what his relationship is with all the other gorillas..." Musically the "What God Wants, Part I" contrasts with "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" because of it's much heavier sound. The song opened by the sound of pigs, birds, and what seems to be the roar of a tiger. The song accentuates the line: "What God Wants God gets God help us all" with a chorus, sound of a barn door opening, and by what sounds like a sea of people. This song concludes with the sound of a channel changing."What God Wants, Part II" is very similar to "What God Wants, Part I" in that it portrays what God wants as not only good but bad as well. The song starts with the sound of a television evangelist preaching the word of god.
"Do you believe in a better day
Do you have faith in a golden way
If you do then we must come together this day
Come together as one united
Television audience
Brought together by the sound of my voice
United united financially united socially
United spiritually and all possible ways
Through the power of money
And the power of prayers"
The evangelist in this song has replaced the church with the "Television audience". "Through the power of money" seems to suggest that God is money, because the word money replaces God, or faith. This also seems to say that although the evangelist twists the meaning of God's words for his own personal gain, his words are the words of God. The lyrics "God don't want small potatoes" and "God wants small towns" seem to clash. However this fits in very well because god not only wants large amounts of money, but small towns which are associated with rednecks and rightwing conservative people. Later in the song the line "God wants his secret/ Never to be told" links well with "God wants to cover himself", because both lyrics say that God has fears that the people will find that his motives are not so pure. "What God Wants, Part III" expresses a hope that the human species will escape the influence of the media. The song still says our world is consumed by money through lines like:
"And in banks across the world
Ch
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Old 06-14-2003, 04:59 AM
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Exclamation WHAT GOD WANTS continued from previoius post

....
"What God Wants, Part III" expresses a hope that the human species will escape the influence of the media. The song still says our world is consumed by money through lines like:
"And in banks across the world
Christians Moslems Hindus Jews
And people of every
Race creed colour tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray".
Towards the end of the song while the television is pumping out propaganda as in:
"And the bullets fly
And the rivers run dry
And the fat girls sigh
And the network anchor persons lie
And the soldier's alone
In the video zone",
the line "But the monkey's not watching" seems to express a hope that the monkey, a metaphor for the human species, will overcome the influence of mass media which is TV.
In all three "What God Wants" songs an alien tells animals "don't look so suprised"; as if the message is obvious. Following this two animal embodyments of either religon, laughing, or thievery do what they are told. The last animal, a monkey, writes in his book as if he's not learning anything only absorbing the alien's words.
<end of article>
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Old 06-14-2003, 11:27 PM
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Re: WHAT GOD WANTS continued from previoius post

Quote:
Originally posted by Thursday'sChild
....
the line "But the monkey's not watching" seems to express a hope that the monkey, a metaphor for the human species, will overcome the influence of mass media which is TV.
Actually I didn't think it expressed hope at all...the fact that the Monkey is missing the whole she-bang seems to suggest that most people (symbolised by a Monkey...an animal associated with training / brain-washing) are oblivious to the issues Waters is raising (which you have...in the main...already mentioned).

This is further demonstrated when the Monkey hangs up the telephone on an old fellow singing a song that is about hope (the Monkey obviously doesn't see that)...written during the last world war I think. I think we are meant to see the Monkey as being unfeeling / stupid / unaware (and presumably that's what Roger feels the majority of the population is like, unaware that God is being used to justify all sorts of deeds...all the monkey cares about is "when there's a war on...cause then I know if our side is winning, or our side is loosing").

Anyways, that's my little spin on things.

I love Jeff Beck's solo in WGW III
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Old 06-14-2003, 11:50 PM
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BTW, Alf Razzell and Bill Hubbard were WWI veterans, not WWII. You know, with the "no man's land", trenches and all.

Minor point, I know.
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  #10  
Old 06-15-2003, 03:11 PM
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thanks for that
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  #11  
Old 06-17-2003, 11:00 AM
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Smile Well, Thanx 2 All 4 pointing out...

Thank You DRIVEN,Chilhood's End and STratMan 4 pointing the petit mistakes in my review,by the the song playing on the phone is"Sunshine Nellie" sung by ??,but any way I think we are free to intrpret it as long as its not a prank or some shumck with his wisecracks,but i dont mind about the war ,As ....losing,And who s the strongest ,Whose the Best ?Who owns the ACES in The EAST or The WEST?This is the crap our children r learning....
Did You know that the lines in the song "WATCHING TV"--"They built Dark satanic ...hell on earth!" IS taken from the poem " o jerusalem by WILLIAM BLAKE(17th/18th century I think?).
Well i do love folks who are indeed into discussion and xchanging ideas,like this posts u r posting,R.ASAP.
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Old 07-08-2003, 04:03 AM
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Re: Well, Thanx 2 All 4 pointing out...

Quote:
Originally posted by Thursday'sChild
I think we are free to intrpret it as long as its not a prank or some shumck with his wisecracks,
Amen.
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Old 07-11-2003, 04:31 AM
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Re: Re: Well, Thanx 2 All 4 pointing out...

Quote:
Originally posted by Driven
Amen.
SURE, AGREE ,atleast we're honest .AND THANX 4 all the posts.

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  #14  
Old 07-11-2003, 06:07 AM
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Cheers mate...you're a breath of fresh air.

Don't be a stranger.
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