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A Miscellany 120
Promoting Larry Gallagher

by Rob Riddell

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Greetings,

Forgive the randomness here (found you via Google), but I might just have your theme song for you. Not that you necessarily need or want one. To be brief, my friend Larry Gallagher[1] is a songwriting genius here in San Francisco, USA, and I'm trying to spread his music far and wide. His song "I Am Better Than Your God" puts the atheist case forcefully, humorously, and poetically (and despite the title, humbly), and I think nearly any atheist or agnostic with a sense of humor would like it. You can hear it exceprted at www.larrygallagher.com (on the Can I Go Now? album[2]), it's available on iTunes, and here are the lyrics below. If you like it and/or have any idea how to spread the music or want to buy a CD, please email me. Thank you!

-Rob Riddell

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I Am Better Than Your God

There's an old guy with a beard
Whining in the sky
Picking through his fan mail as we live and die
He's watching our every move
From the cradle to the tomb
Who is righteous, who is lame
And who is poking whom
While infidels broil in hell like so many cod
Don't want to be crucified
But if God is on your side
Then I am better than your God

I am not fully formed
I'm petty and I'm vain
Driven by fear
And susceptible to pain
But I'm trying to be fair
And I'm trying to give a shit
And I'm trying to keep on trying
Though it's trying I admit
I'm a bumbling brute in a monkey suit
A spinning, grinning clod
It's funny and it's sad
But you know things are bad when
I am better than your God

Nothing I have heard
Nothing I have seen
Nothing so absurd
Nothing so obscene
As taking a love so deep
And free, and whole
And twisting it into something
That is smaller than your soul
Load your guns, chosen ones
Does that strike you as odd?
I'll gamble on his wrath
Cause if you do the math
I am better than your God

Footnotes:

1. Bio: Larry Gallagher was raised Catholic -- always an excellent preparation for atheism -- and spent a couple years as a Buddhist monk in the nineties. "I decided to cut out the middleman," he explains. While he still practices meditation, his very secular life in San Francisco revolves around music ("Can I Go Now?" is his second album), writing for magazines, green living, and building your next deck
2. Album blurb: Larry's first album, An Endless Chain of Accidents, was called "one of the best albums of 2003, period" by the current music editor of the Village Voice. "Can I Go Now?" presents thirteen more smart, finely-wrought songs from Larry's fertile brain, ranging from sad ("Tired of Me") to hilarious ("Try Not to Think About Bugs," a lullaby) to satirical ("I Am Better Than Your God"). All the songs can be sampled at www.larrygallagher.com; the album costs $14.99 and can be purchased at CDBaby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/larrygallagher2) or from the website -- or at iTunes.