Godsong

"Godsong" (or "God Song") is a song by The Residents from their fourth studio album Fingerprince, released February 15th 1977 by Ralph Records. 
The song, which features vocals from The Residents' founding producer and composer Hardy Fox, is a surreal exploration of God and his relationship with man, a theme which would recur in later works by The Residents (most notably the 1998 concept album Wormwood).
Although it was rehearsed for the abandoned 10th Anniversary Show in 1982, "Godsong" had never been performed live by The Residents until their 50th Anniversary secret show at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on January 14th 2023, where it was performed with the conservatory's ensemble and guest vocalist Dren MacDonald.
==Lyrics==
 God never really did like man anyway
 At least not after they started walking around
 On their hind leg(s)
 And talking on the telephone
 Of course poor God's point of view wasn't easy now (to) understand
 He had invented man from dead things
 And at that time there were no graveyards to rob
 So He had been forced to use dead worms, some seaweed
 That had laid out on the beach for quite a while
 For quite a while.
 At that time man had four legs and no telephone
 A major mistake came when God decided that man should think
 (A trait that He'd long desired for Himself)
 What God no doubt intended was
 For man to think about Him
 And that was important because
 God just wanted to be
 Just another normal deity
 Deity, deity, ty ty ty ty ty
 All that God wanted to be
 Was just a normal deity
 All that God wanted to be
 Was just another normal deity
 All that God wanted to be
 Was just a deity
 Just a normal deity
 All that God wanted to be
 Just a normal deity
 All that God wanted to be
 Just a normal deity
 All went well for quite a while
 Man was a wonderful creature
 With long rich engraved face
 Four fine legs ending in five mini-legs
 And a coat of satiny hair
 And large genitals
 His thoughts were pure and
 Full of wonder
 The wonder part was God's favorite,
 (at least at first)
 Because that's the part that gave Him His
 Identity identity identity identity
 Oh, it was so wonderful for God
 Man's... Man's questions turned to visions
 And visions gave God
 All kinds of exciting things to do
 Someday He would be a God of wrath
 Reeking havoc upon undisciplined mankind
 And at other times He'd be a God of love and compassion
 Of course these were all things that man had invented
 So God had a hard time getting the full grasp
 But...
 One of His favorite things
 Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
 One of His favorite things
 Was man's believing in Him, and then not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Believing in Him, not believing in Him
 Like some hide and seek game
 Over
 And
 Over
 And
 Over again
 Believing in Him
 Believing in Him
 Believing in Him
 Not believing in Him...
 Not believing in Him?!?
 I think He liked believing in Him much better...
 But I'm not sure...Ima Buddy, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992
==List of releases==
*Fingerprince (1977) Grove Street studio recording, ca. 1976 (3:41)
*Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993) Grove Street studio recording, ca. 1976 (extract)
*In Memoriam Torso (1994) 
*Assorted Secrets CD reissue (2000) Grove Street live studio rehearsal, fall 1981 (1:33)
*Petting Zoo (2002) 
*Fingerprince pREServed CD edition (2018) Grove Street live studio rehearsal, ca. March - April 1982 (1:33)
*Fingerprince pREServed vinyl edition (2023) Grove Street studio recording, ca. 1976 ("RDX" mix)
*Secret Show Live in San Francisco (2024) 50th Anniversary secret show live recording, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, California, January 14th 2023 (3:47)
===List of versions===
==See also==
*God
*Fingerprince
*The 10th Anniversary Show
*50th Anniversary secret show
==External links and references==
*Fingerprince at The Residents Historical
Category:Fingerprince
Category:Assorted Secrets
Category:The 10th Anniversary Show
Category:50th Anniversary secret show
Category:Petting Zoo
Category:Songs