Not liking certain songs because they question God.

Aloha !

I initially wanted to reply in the These Days ratings topic but considering how replies rarely lead to anything in those topics as everyone's way too busy rating This Ain't A Love Song with a 2 or 3, I figured I'd open another topic for it.

There've been discussions about this before with religious nutcases thinking that as soon as the word believe or God is mentioned a song is a religious song. "I pray to God, for one more chance girl...YES IT'S A SONG ABOUT GOD". No it's not, derp. It's not just on here, it's with many other artists as well. Mention God once and people will go insane, which is why I doubt Jon will ever mention those things ever again in his songs.

None of Bon Jovi's lyrics are overly religious though and Jon doesn't practice any religion at all anymore. I doubt he'd admit it considering he doesn't want to lose fans over it (the political way etc.) It's funny how the closest Bon Jovi has come to writing a gospel song is Lay Your Hands On Me, and that one's pretty much a song about temptation, sex and doing everything the Bible forbids you to do. Funny how the two of them meet, right?

For me, it's quite clear how I Believe and Something To Believe In aren't religious songs, they're just songs about believing in either yourself or something/someone else. Keep The Faith isn't about you continuing to go to church every Sunday either. I can see how a religious people can take them as great inspiring songs that support religion, but even Jon himself admitted back in 1993 that he'd seriously started to question the existance of God. Lyrics are open for interpretation, it's a thing that's obvious. With that said, when Jon sings "I lost faith in God" he's not saying he stopped believing. Those are two different things, yet a persons interpretation might make him jump to conclusions that don't really add up.

What I don't understand though is that if you can't like a song as Hey God simply because it questions God's motives, how can you like other songs coming from the same hand? I'm not talking about the writer "writing from another perspective", it's quite clear when Jon does this and when he doesn't. So in other words, if the writer feels he can question Gods beliefs, and you dislike those songs, how can you support such the writer when he writes songs about subjects you like? Wouldn't that go against your own personal beliefs and ideals, and therefore against your God's wishes?

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I would say "Bang A Drum" is a borderline gospel song. Also, there's a fair bit of Christian influence in Lost Highway. Not saying it's a Christian album by any means, but there are spots here and there throughout the album.


Also, I completely agree with all of your points. The best songs are songs where lyrics can be interpreted in so many different ways. I love liking a song and having an idea in my head about what the song is about and then reading up on what the artist actually wrote it about and being surprised. I am Christian myself, but keep that to myself for the most part. I still love "Hey God".. It's not like Jon is slamming God and the people who believe in him - He's just struggling with poverty and sickness and how a loving God would allow something like that. However, that's another discussion for another time. Basically what I;m trying to say is to not like those songs because they have hints of religion in them, completely baffles me.

Great post Seb! Enjoyed reading it and agreed with you on all points!

People have their own beliefs and interpretations. Who am I to say that mine is 100 right and the rest of the world who doesn't believe in exactly what I believe in is wrong.

Jon (or anyone) has the right to express how they feel. I don't judge anyone as long as they are not offending me or preaching to change my belief. If Jon says something in a song or interview that I don't agree with, I accept that as his opinion / belief and overlook it. That goes with anything... Politics, religion, or how he pours a glass of wine.

Tom Cruise gets the most flack because of his Scientology belief. Regardless if I agree with it or not, I'm not going to dislike him as an individual because my beliefs wouldn't want that. That's just an ignorant as disliking someone because of their sexuality.

I think religious beliefs should be kept private and practiced with others who believe the same. I'm not saying not to wear a cross but preaching to someone who doesn't believe the same is offensive.

Back to Jon, I don't know his religion. He could be a closet scientologist for all I know and I honestly don't care. As long as I don't interpret his lyrics as offensive, he could say what he wants.

His preaching on stage is all part of his act. Bruce does the exact same thing.

Johnny’s church of rock and roll is a joke in my opinion. I really don’t think when Jon says that, he’s trying to suck anyone into his colt. If he was serious, I’d take offence. Because he’s not, I’m able to overlook it.

Good post. I'm a Christian, I believe in God. I don't care if others do. It doesn't matter what THEY believe in, to me. It's what I believe in.

And even though I completely believe in God, I still think that, (to quote myself from the rate These Days thread)...

Like Richie says on Backstreet driver,"Say what you wanna say,really don't matter to me"

That was a truly excellent post Seb, and I totally agree with you on that account.

I'll admit I do listen to Hey God and Something To Believe In a little less than the normal person would because I don't 100% agree with the lyrical content. I am a christian and while I think both songs are fantastic musically (especially Hey God), I just dont feel right singing the lyrics (again, especially Hey God).

But that's just me. I can still appreciate the music of the songs (Hey God has one the greatest guitar riffs!).

Having said that, I think that the lyrics in both songs can be relevant to any person, both people who believe and who dont. There are times in most people's lives where there comes a point where you just ask "Why?".

They are the only two Jovi songs I consider to be about religion/God. Something to Believe In is more about life in general I guess. Everyone percieves lyrics differently, and that's the beauty of it.

On the other hand, while I think Keep the Faith has some elements of religion, I dont think it has much to do with it overall. And I've never ever thought of I Believe to be about faith/religion/God.

As for Jon and religion. You can never take him too seriously when he brings it up in lyrics. There are so many mentions of God/religion throughout the band's catalogue that are both con and pro. Just a few that spring to mind...

- "Lord we got to Keep the Faith"
- "No time for praying get up off your knees"
- "I call it love, they call it living in sin"
- "God are you listening, or have you just given up?"
- "When I was just a boy, the devil took my hand"

And I'm pretty sure there is a song by the band that has something to do with a prayer or something.

Like Seb said, you can't take every mention of God/religion in a song and claim it as a religious song or a direct message about God. Most of the time I see it used as a metaphor more than anything.

I pretty much agree with what Rdkopper has said above.

As a side note, what annoys me a little is when people put other people down for not listening to a certain song because they don't agree with the lyrics. So many people have mentioned how the songs on These Days are so relatable and what not, which is why they love it so much. So why is it not ok for it to be the other way around? - Not listening to a song because you can't relate to the song or dont agree with it.

That's my 2 cents on the matter anyway.

"Remember that you're perfect, God makes no mistakes"

The dumbest and cheesiest lyrics ever written.

I am a Christian. I believe in God 100% and always will. However, I love songs that speak like that and always will. I'm not sure if I could put it into words but I think it's healthy maybe to let these feelings out (similar to what is spoken in 'Hey God'/'Something To Believe In').