"What God Wants, Part I" is the first song in a series of songs written and released by former

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

bassist,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

on his third solo studio album, ''

Amused to Death ''Amused to Death'' is the third studio album by English musician Roger Waters, released 7 September 1992 on Columbia. Produced by Waters and Patrick Leonard, it was mixed in QSound to enhance its spatial feel. The album features Jeff Beck o ...

'' (1992). "What God Wants" is separated into three parts, similar to Pink Floyd's earlier " Another Brick in the Wall". "What God Wants, Part I" was released as a lead single from the album b/w Part III.

Lyrics and music

"What God Wants, Part I" deals with the contradictory duality and

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

perceived by Waters in dogmatic

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and its power over man. The following parts, along with other songs on the album, deal with worship in religion and in regard to

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

and consumption. All together, its viewpoint is on the power of simplistic

conformity Conformity or conformism is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to social group, group norms, politics or being like-minded. Social norm, Norms are implicit, specific rules, guidance shared by a group of individuals, that guide t ...

; how people adhere to something, not entirely by volition, but out of submission. "I'm very upset by religious

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

," Waters remarked. "I get angry – gobsmacked, in fact – when I hear George Bush saying that God was on their side during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. It's amazing that, in 1992, one of the most powerful men in the world can reduce political

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

to that level." The song features the guitar playing of

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released, featuring gorillas watching TV, CGI and

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation of a frog skeleton picking at a piece of cheese on a mouse trap, only to be subdued by electrical wiring and fused with the cheese to create a small television set. The video was directed by Tony Kaye and produced by Sarah Whistler. Animation for the video was contracted out to several studios, including Pacific Data Images (CG) and Will Vinton Studios (stop motion). Crew members for Pacific Data Images include Raman Hui, the stop motion animation artists included Chuck Duke, Scott Nordlund, Webster Colcord and Schell Hickel. On July 21, 2015, Waters and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' premiered a remastered version of the original video, featuring updated computer graphics and an all-new transfer of the original 35mm footage of Waters in the studio with guitarist

. The video is being presented exclusively through ''Rolling Stone'' by

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Release

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

refused to play the single as it considered the lyrics controversial.

Personnel

– vocals, EMU synthesizer, bass *

– lead guitar *

Patrick Leonard Patrick Ray Leonard (born March 14, 1956) is an American songwriter, keyboardist, film composer, and music producer, best known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna. His work with Madonna includes her albums '' True Blue'' (1986), '' Who ...

– keyboards, choir arrangement * Geoff Whitehorn – "Arpeggio" guitar * Andy Fairweather Low – rhythm electric and acoustic guitars *

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

– "Chorus" guitar *

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

– bass * Graham Broad – drums * Katie Kissoon, Doreen Chanter, N'Dea Davenport, and Natalie Jackson – backing vocals * London Welsh Chorale conducted by Kenneth Bowen All credits are according to 2015 reissue liner notes.

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:What God Wants, Part I Roger Waters songs 1992 singles Songs critical of religion Songs written by Roger Waters 1992 songs Columbia Records singles