Kiss Me, Son of God

I have asked that this song be played at my funeral.

Now I laugh and make a fortune off the same ones that I tortured.

I Built a Little Empire

In the mixtape of my life, Kiss Me, Son of God by They Might Be Giants can never wear out that little magnetic tape. It is the finale of the iconic Lincoln album and is packed full of powerful imagery, beautiful melodies, and striking harmonies. It is a simple piece of music for a complicated subject.

The first time I heard this song, I immediately fell in love. There could not have been a better song to end the 18 track sophomore album from the band. Leading off from the previous track Snowball In Hell, where we were treated to a 1960’s self improvement tape, Kiss Me, Son of God almost continues this tone of yesteryear with its simple orchestra.

Out of Some Crazy Garbage

Some violins, a cello, along with a tenor and alto sax join up with they keyboard to bring a heavenly sound for the Johns to harmonize with.

Click play to listen to one of the best songs ever recorded.

The song ends with a few solo strums of the cello as it and the album fade into silence. I love this song so much. The track on this album isn’t even my favorite version. There is a single version called Kiss Me, Son of God (Alternate Version) that I first heard on an album called “Miscellaneous T.”

Sans the strings, saxophones and keyboard, the version below features John Linnell, John Flansburgh and an accordion. That’s it. It is one of the most singular perfect pieces of music that I ever let pour into my ears.

Blood of the Exploited Working Class

Going back quite a ways into my childhood, mainstream/organized religion never sat well with me. This was especially the case with Catholicism and Christianity. The idea of this God in heaven that loves people so much but also is the direct cause of the atrocities among them was an hypocrisy of criminal levels.

Hey, all this God wants in return is to be the only thing that people idolize, worship, love, and devout their life to. In return, they get . . . heaven? And if you upset Him, you get more atrocities? Even hell? What an abusive, narcissist. And also what a scam of the millennia.

Despite the abuse, the narcissism, the children with cancer, the power imbalance, ad nauseam, people will follow anything or anyone that seems Godly for the promise of acceptance and fortune.

Can you spot the members of the exploited working class in this Photo by Kyle Smith on Unsplash?

They’ve Overcome Their Shyness

So much horror has been wrought upon this Earth in the name of religion - for a god - by groups of people who believed faithfully that they were the only righteous and true people by following their god. Very mortal men have weaponized organized religion to oppress, colonize, enslave, conquer, and torture anyone they perceived as below them in the name of an All Good Being. How can it be at all good?

When I listen to the lyrics of this song, sometimes I think of God as the narrator and other times I feel like the song is coming from someone with a massive god-complex sized ego. A budding cult leader or high ranking, I don’t know, Cardinal.

It takes on an almost fill-in-the-blank template for any self-centered narcissistic megalomaniac who craves praise and adulation from others on a highly spiritual level. Is there any better descriptor for God?

Now They’re Calling Me ‘Your Highness’

When I was a teen, I often felt like it was cool to want a following. To be admired for your brilliance and adored. A very adolescent way of thinking from a kid raised in a wiccan household by a pagan mom. I loved knowing about religions and seeing the similarities. Churches, to me, seemed like just another cult.

At a pivotal point in my life (after becoming a teen parent), I too fell pray to the cult of Christianity. Anyone can find themselves in a cult. The need for acceptance, friendship, and support came in the form of local church groups with other “young” parents. Next thing you know, you’re playing bass for the worship team and leading prayers.

Just over a decade later, I deconstructed or rather, dropped it all and just remembered what I knew to be true all along.

This wasn’t too much of a process for me because I really only ever had one foot in. I tried so hard to mold the parts of church that I liked around me while discarding the rest of it. Otherwise, I risked losing all those friends that I’d made. Also, speaking out against and writing publicly about my frustration with anti-gay sentiments from the church seemed to draw the ire of certain leaders.

One such leader even took me aside once to tell me that he felt I had rebellion in my heart and rebellion was a form of witchcraft. He said allowing even a tiny bit of witchcraft into my life can dig its claws into me and never let go.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that my whole life before that church was eastern philosophy and good ol’ fashioned witchcraft. Honestly, I was surprised that I never burst into flames when I walked into service every Sunday morning.

I look like Jesus, so they say

But Mr. Jesus is very far away

Now, you’re the only here who can tell me if it’s true

That you love me

and I love me.

Photo by Wim van 't Einde on Unsplash

Looking back, I realize what a subversive system God has created. Billions of people want to you to love God as much as God loves God (and the best way to show that love is by giving money to somebody else.) It’s served to you as a gift of unconditional love (except for all those pesky conditions and mental gymnastics you’ll do to ignore what an abusive example of love this God provides.) Have you ever left “the church?” I’d love to hear about it.

Back to this song.

And a World Screams

I spent no time outlining this post ahead of writing it today. I knew it was going to be complicated for me to explain. All this is to stay that this song has always resonated with me not just on a musical level, but on a spiritual and religious level as well. It resonates like a massive church tower bell, ringing out triumphantly with my disdain for both.

This masterpiece song begins and ends with the stanza below.

I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage

Called the blood of the exploited working class

But they've overcome their shyness

Now they're calling me Your Highness

And a world screams,

"Kiss me, Son of God."

If you love this song and want to share your feelings about it, please share them in the comments or feel free to message me anywhere. If you have a traumatic or frustrating experience with religion and want a safe place to vent about that as well, I’m all ears. You can comment, message or email me. I’ve got you.

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The Lincoln album is a complicated and beautiful work that I can’t imagine not having in my life. Next week, I’m going to tackle the futile task of ranking each track in a tier list for the sole purpose of fun conversations with other fans and not to pick fights. Please don’t fight me.

Then, we begin our journey into the album that many list as their first encounter with the band. A brand new record for 1990, They Might Be Giants’ FLOOD.