Freethought Music for Freethought Groups: A Preliminary Assessment

 

By Paul Heffron

 

1. Defining Freethought Music

 

To assess the status of freethought music I first need to clarify the use of the word freethought. I’m using it, as is often done now, to refer to all the secular or nonbeliever viewpoints—atheists, humanists, skeptics, etc. So, the music I’m concerned with here can be found under such headings as atheist music and humanist music as well as freethought music. It follows that the freethought groups I’m concerned with are groups of atheists, humanists, and other seculars.

 

Another thing I need to clarify is that I regard a song as freethought music because it has a freethought message, and of course it follows that this would include atheist and humanist messages. There are songs that are secular in the sense of being worldly, as distinct from sacred music. But being worldly doesn’t necessarily make them part of freethought music. There are no doubt instances that are debatable as to whether songs are simply worldly or have freethought messages. Freethinkers enjoy various kinds of music, but the songs they select for their programs or celebrations generally relate to their world view and values.

 

One other thing to clarify: I deal with the popular music field in this article. A separate treatment of classical and semi-classical or what is sometimes called serious or art music needs to be done. Also there is jazz music which overlaps popular and art music. This would raise the question of whether instrumental pieces could be viewed as freethought music by virtue of the titles and the intent of the composers. My definition of freethought music necessitates lyrics to have a message, and of course that may be debated.

 

Audrey Fernandez-Fraser of the Harvard Humanist Community wrote “The Need for Humanist Music” (Feb. 2, 2012) to start a conversation on how to get music for humanists. Jon Dreyer, a musician, responded (http://music.jondreyer.com) mentioning the Darwin Song Project in the UK. He addressed the question of whether the humanist communities should focus more on serious music and asked whether humanism could inspire serious music. This article can be regarded as a response to the call for a conversation and an attempt to explore where we are in popular and folk music.

 

2. Freethought Songs in the Older Standards of Popular Music

 

There are many freethought songs by well known composers and musicians in various folk and popular fields of music. However, there’s not much in the older standards. “It Ain’t Necessarily So” comes to mind. Dan Barker found an Irving Berlin song (“Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil,” performed on his Beware of Dogma CD) and a Cole Porter song (“Experiment,” performed on his Adrift on a Star CD), both of which have Freethought themes. But that’s about it. Through his research he discovered that many, if not most, of the famous composers of the standards were freethinkers. But they didn’t write songs to express their disbelief or distinctively humanist values. They wrote a lot of songs about romantic love and often used religious language in a wholly this-worldly, romantic way, using words like angel, divine, heavenly, ecstasy, being worshiped and adored, and praying for a dream to come true, all to express romantic love. This might have been viewed as irreverent by the pious, but it generally wasn’t regarded as irreligious or godless.

 

3. Emergence of Freethought Songs in Popular Music

 

It isn’t until you get to folk, blues, and rock music, especially from the 60s on, that you get songs which express freethought ideas and values. John Lennon’s “Imagine” comes to mind, and as you move forward in time, more and more freethought songs emerge in various kinds of modern music. Dan Barker’s albums in the 1980s and 90s marked a milestone in the creation of freethought songs by a gifted freethought musician-composer (available now in a double CD (Friendly Neighborhood Atheist, FFRF, 2000). His second and third CD releases (Beware of Dogma, FFRF, 2004 and Adrift on a Star, FFRF, 2012) continued the building of a diverse collection of freethought songs. Barker’s songs might have reached a larger popular market. They were that good. But by being classified as freethought song they reached only a market of freethinkers drawn to his kind of music

 

4. Some Contemporary Composers and Performers of Freethought Music

 

Dale McGowan, former college professor of music and composer of “The Periodic Table of Freethinkers,” (performed on the Freethought Band CD) briefly addresses freethought music in his new book Atheism for Dummies. He praises the freethought songs of Tim Minchin, the British-Australian atheist composer, pianist, and vocalist.  He also cites the music of Roy Zimmerman, whom I had the pleasure of hearing at the AHA conference in Cambridge. He has done a number of CDs, containing his original and often satirical freethought-progressive songs. McGowan also plugs The Atheist Album by the Australian composer-singer-guitarist Shelly Segal. I heard her at a FFRF convention where she did her signature freethought song, “I Don’t Believe in Fairies” along with other songs and some with Dan Barker. As McGowan puts it, “She does songs of hope, anger, and joy from an atheist perspective.” Also at the convention was singer-guitarist-composer Jill Sobule, adding new freethought songs to Julia Sweeney’s monologues in the Jill and Julia Show.

 

There are other bands and musicians creating new freethought songs. Taylor Muse of Quiet Company (We Are All Where We Belong CD) was interviewed in the American Atheist journal (Second Quarter, 2013). Quiet Company was also featured and Muse was interviewed in the March/April, 2012 issue of The Humanist. Words Such As Burn is the name of another band creating new freethought songs. The new FreeThought Band in Australia doesn’t intend to be a freethought band in our sense, even though three of the four members are atheists and their first release is a new freethought song (“Faith in the Faithless”). The leader of the group told me they just thought the name sounded cool.

 

5. Folk, Blues, and Other Sources

 

Of course there are many folk and blues freethought songs and others that can be made into freethought songs. Songs by Bob Dylan come to mind. Malvina Reynolds, a kind of female counterpart to Pete Seeger, wrote a lot of songs in a humanist vein. The original folk-rock songs of talented freethought composer-musician Barry Leonard are particularly noteworthy. Click here to gain access to his private song-videos.  The original freethought songs of freethinker Jim Corbett should also be noted. You can catch him performing his songs on YouTube. Michael Newdow did a CD (Liberty and Justice For All, visit restorethepledge.com) of his original songs. I heard him sing his songs and accompanying himself on guitar at a FFRF convention. The songs flow right from the experience of this remarkable doctor/lawyer and his advocacy for church/state separation. Tom Neilson (www.soundclick.com/tomneilson), a touring folk song musician-composer, performed for the Treasure Coast Humanists of Florida and was urged to compose a new song about atheist vets (See News page for a report on his song,“The Atheist in the Foxhole.”)

 

Most folk songs lend themselves to group singing and guitar strumming with a song leader.  For example, Holly Near has contributed a significant folk style song titled “I Ain’t Afraid”.  The song has the potential to become one of several freethought anthem songs.  It is easily done as a sing-along for the choruses, and may be played with just two chords, Cm and G7.  You can listen to it here.

 

There are a variety of local or regional individuals and groups contributing to the growth of freethought music. For example, Ken Lonnquist is a composer-singer-guitarist who has performed for freethinkers in Madison, WI. Bang, a humanist musical debuted at the CFI in Portland, OR. This listing of songs and sources could go on and on, but you get the idea. There has been a dramatic growth of freethought songs in various kinds of popular music.

 

 

6. Lists of Freethought Songs

 

Brian Magee of the AHA’s Humanist News Network (hnn@americanhumanist.org) compiled a long list of freethought songs under the title of “Atheists Do Got Songs” (an allusion to Steve Martin’s celebrated atheist song) in the HNN issue of 9/13/12. Many readers sent in additional names of songs, and a top ten of AHA staff favorites was subsequently run on HNN by Erin Williamson and a top five of humanist hip hop songs followed. This demonstrated that there are indeed a very large number of freethought songs in popular music. Many top ten, twenty, or thirty lists may be found on the Internet through separate searches of freethought, atheist, or humanist songs.  Eric Jayne, president of Minnesota Atheists did his well-considered top thirty list in the August 13, 2013 issue of the MNA newsletter, and there are no doubt other such lists by freethought activists and leaders. The AHA’s program for youth (kidswithoutgod.com) listed ten top rock songs for kids. The Australian atheistfoundation.org did a long list of freethought songs in its forum on music and included the songs on the Dan Barker CDs and those on our Freethought Band CD. Humanists of Canada did a Free Thinking Composers list, which included “Scientific Gospel” by Dr. Stephen Baird (bluegrass) and “Symphony of Science” by John Boswell. There are no doubt more lists, more songs, and more sources that should be recognized. I don’t mean to slight anyone or any song that should be included. I just hope that readers who get familiar with the lists will send in titles and names they think should be recognized. We especially need to hear which songs freethinkers think are best and most useable for freethought groups.

 

7. Tasks and Problems in the Use of Freethought Songs

 

We have a large number and variety of songs. We need to carry on with the task of classifying and evaluating them and determining which ones can be used for various functions of freethought groups. Do we have songs on a par with Lennon’s “Imagine” for being useable with freethinkers generally? Do we have songs like “De Gedanken Sind Frei” that work for group singing among freethinkers? And so on.

 

There are problems to overcome in the use of freethought music in freethought groups. One is the diversity of musical preferences in our groups. The generation gap is very pronounced in music and makes it difficult to appeal to young and old with the same music. Whatever type of music you use some people are not going to like it. So, it seems advisable to use music that will appeal to most of our people but at the same time to do different types of music so that various members will enjoy some freethought songs in their preferred types of music. As the secular movement and our communities grow, we may have age-based subgroups and use music accordingly. There could even be music festivals geared to younger and older generations.

 

Another problem is the decline of group singing and the sing-along. In the civil rights movement and other social movements there were songs that expressed certain views and values, and almost everybody joined in singing these songs at meetings and demonstrations. It seems most people now just don’t do group singing, and it may be that many freethinkers are hesitant to sing along because they associate it with the congregational singing of hymns. However, we find that young people at Camp Quest readily participate in group singing. Also I’ve noticed that fans at concerts will often sing along with the performers. They’ve heard the songs many times and know all the words.

 

So I am not ready to give up on group singing. Maybe we could revive it. It has to be voluntary and well led. Song sheets can help. Having the group join in only on the refrain often works with certain songs. There is something stirring about the singing of a song like “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” (My Thoughts Are Free) by everyone at a freethought gathering, but most of our people don’t know this freethought anthem from the Peasants’ Revolt that was so widely used by European freethinkers and in the World War II Resistance.

 

Some songs from folk and popular music and even some from some religious music can be adapted and made into freethought songs that are usable in groups by performers and sing-along leaders. The repertoire of the Freethought Band is a demonstration of that method. John L. Perkins (alphalink.com.au), an Australian freethinker, has experimented with this approach. I think there are many others who have done this. Song parodies and new lyrics for old tunes, as well as adapted songs, add many titles to what is already a substantial and growing list of original freethought songs.

 

Postscript: Additional Song Lists, Etc.,  Aug. 16, 2015

 

1. In our national freethought media: AHA’s “Humanist Network News” in Feb., 2011 listed ten “Humanist Anthems” and in April, 2012 listed music selections for humanist funerals. AAA’s Secular Nation (Summer, 2014) carried an article about Jim Lundy, a Bob Dylan inspired singer-songwriter-guitarist based in Charleston, SC, whose songs include freethought messages.

 

2. Some local group websites: Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association (Montana) provides lists of artists and songs at its website (flatheadssecular.com). The Cleveland Freethinkers (wow.com) lists new rap freethought songs. Atheists and Other Freethinkers (Sacramento, CA) provides an Atheist Music Guide with lists of musicians, bands, and songs, covering rock, folk, and pop in the later 20th century to present at its website (AOFonline.org).

 

3. Websites by individuals: Lists of freethought songs may be found at soundcloud.com, atheistsongs.blogspot.com, thethinkingatheist.com, AtheistNexus.org, atheistmusicblog.blogspot.com, and scopesmonkeychoir.com. Mark Vandebrake has placed much of his book Freethought Resources Guide: A Directory (2013) online at freethoughtguide.com. Skip to the section on music and find freethought music lists under various genre. A “death metal band” called Atheist, reunited in 2006, is discussed at sputnickmusic.com. The personal playlist at christhehumanist.com includes some songs with freethought messages. There is a funeral playlist for secular humanists at scicommbobulate.blogspot.com. There are suggestions and comments on songs for humanists at reddit.com. There is some interesting info on what humanists listen to at last.fm (cited by thishumanist.wordpress.com). Also you can just enter freethought, humanist, or atheist music at YouTube and Facebook and get many selections.

 

4. A good resource: FFRF covers freethought songs and artists in its Freethought Today, Freethought Radio, and Freethought of the Day.

Results of Freethought Music Survey

by Paul Heffron and Jerry Rauser

 

This article describes results of a national survey on the use of freethought music by atheist and humanist organizations in the United States.  The following article below shows the results graphically.

 

We sent the survey to 400 groups. 83 responded.  Almost half of the groups who responded include music to some degree in some of their meetings and the music almost always has a freethought theme. About half of the groups have musically talented people who provide or could provide music.

 

We were happily surprised by the extent of music in local groups that responded. If we had done this survey 15 years ago, we suspect there would not have been much happening musically in the groups. The results from the current survey may reflect the growth that has taken place in our groups in the last fifteen years and the general increase in songs with freethought messages.

 

Many responded with details of the music and musicians in their groups. We did not include that in the results reported in the attachment because we promised names would be confidential. Instead we are providing the following summary of the remarks.

 

The quality of the reported examples of music and musicians was impressive. There were of course limitations on how much the musicians in the group would continue to keep something going on a regular basis. Not all musicians or song leaders are good at engaging a crowd, it was pointed out. Also there was mention of bringing in top-notch performers, but that was limited by the budget. Some groups use both live and recorded music.

 

There was interesting feedback on how music was used for certain venues. Some experimented with regular meetings. One example was having a spot in the meeting where music and other kinds of entertainment were done by members. Many groups have music only at social meetings or celebrations. There was an instance of performers shifting from regular freethought group meetings to musical venues. An open mic event for music was tried in one group. Some reported Sunday assemblies that included music.

 

According to the feedback and the results there is a difference of opinion on the role and importance of music in a freethought group. Because a fair number of members don’t care to have music, groups are probably inclined to limit music to special celebrations or parties. The different musical preferences people have also may limit the use of music for group meetings.

 

Group singing has not caught on much in our local groups. Those who do it apparently have someone capable of leading a sing-along who are aware of some suitable songs.

 

A noteworthy survey result was that half reported that their groups wanted to start having music and a fourth said they already do. That would seem to be a fairly strong endorsement of including freethought music in local group programs.

 

About half also reported that they need resources and ideas for having music. At the same time, about half reported that music is moderately or not especially important for a local group. The fact that over three fourths of the groups contacted didn’t respond to the survey may reflect a more widespread view of the minimal importance of music in freethought groups.

 

Ten percent of the groups reported a connection to a Camp Quest. Music and group singing is usually a feature of these camps for the children of freethinking families. So that may be somewhat important for the future of freethought music.

 

In sum, it seems there are a fair number of local groups that have or want to have music and would appreciate some help. At the same time there are many local members who don’t think music is important in their groups, and that has to be recognized. Nevertheless, we think there is enough happening and enough interest to encourage more experimenting with music.