"Dear God" is a song by American heavy metal band

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

. It was released as the fourth single from their self-titled fourth studio album.

Overview

"Dear God" was released as the fourth single from the album. The song was a notable deviation from the band's usual heavy metal style, taking on more of a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

feel. Johnny Christ has stated that the inspiration for the song came from the band's friendship with country act

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a solo ...

. Their influence can be heard in the background vocals of

MuzikMafia The MuzikMafia was an informal collection of American country music artists, founded in October 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee by Big Kenny and John Rich (musician), John Rich (who compose the duo Big & Rich), along with Jon Nicholson and Cory Gierma ...

member Shanna Crooks.

Track listing

Chart positions

Personnel

All credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;Avenged Sevenfold *

M. Shadows Matthew Charles Sanders (born July 31, 1981), known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2017, Shadows was voted third in th ...

– lead vocals, backing vocals *Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

The Rev James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name the Rev (shortened version of ''the Reverend Tholomew Plague''), was an American musician, best known as a member of the heavy metal music, heavy metal ...

- drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals *

Synyster Gates Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Johnny Christ Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals ;Session musicians *

Lap A lap is a surface (usually horizontal) created between the knee and hips of a biped when it is in a seated or lying down position. The lap of a parent or loved one is seen as a physically and psychologically comfortable place for a child to ...

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can p ...

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

by Greg Leisz *Additional vocals by Shanna Crooks ;Production * Produced by Avenged Sevenfold * Engineered by Fred Archambault and Dave Schiffman, assisted by Clifton Allen, Chris Steffen, Robert DeLong, Aaron Walk, Mike Scielzi, and Josh Wilbur * Mixed by Andy Wallace *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...

* Drum tech by Mike Fasano *Guitar tech by Walter Rice *'Fan Producers for a Day' ( MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn

References

{{Authority control 2008 songs Avenged Sevenfold songs American blues rock songs Country rock songs