In 1989, an 18-year-old Binghamton high school student with a half-shaved head burst into his school’s administrative offices and held a jagged knife to the principal’s throat. The disturbed student demanded that the XTC song “Dear God” be played over the school’s PA system. For the next four minutes, every student and teacher heard a song that mortified Christians around the world. The student let the principal go then walked back to class as if nothing was wrong.
“Dear God” was originally intended to be included on XTC’s eighth studio album Skylarking in 1986. Because of the song’s anti-religious message, the band left it off the album. No one knew “Dear God” would ultimately save XTC’s career.
XTC was an English art band formed in 1972 by guitarist/singer Andy Partridge and bass player Colin Moulding. They initially called themselves the Helium Kidz and then changed their name to XTC in 1975. They gained renown in the wake of the 1970s punk movement even though Partridge hated punk rock. He’d grown up watching The Monkees tv show and loved The Beatles and the New York Dolls.
XTC’s early music was a pastiche of pop, ska, glam and avant-garde experimentation. They displayed chaotic energy on stage and were signed to Virgin Records in 1977. The band was compared to Elvis Costello and Squeeze and had their first hit in 1979 with “Making Plans for Nigel.” They peaked at #5 on the British charts in 1982 with “Senses Working Overtime.”
1982 was a crucial year for the band. Andy Partridge experienced panic attacks and severe stage fright. He’d been diagnosed with ADHD at 12 and had taken Valium for 17 years. His wife believed the drug was making Partridge paranoid and convinced him to flush all his Valium down the toilet. Partridge told Rolling Stone, “I thought you know, she’s probably right. I don’t need those things. They don’t do anything for me.”
Partridge’s cold turkey withdrawal wreaked havoc on his body. While touring for the album English Settlement, he collapsed on stage. He continued touring in America but just before a show at the Hollywood Palladium, he suffered a nervous breakdown. XTC cancelled their tour and returned to England.
Partridge later told Mojo, “My body and brain said you’re hating this experience, I’m going to make it bad for you. When you go on stage I’m going to give you panic attacks and stomach cramps. I’m going to mess it up for you.”
Partridge decided to stop touring and cease all live performances. Without the live shows, album sales slowed. By the time XTC was ready to record the album Skylarking in 1986, Partridge was on the verge of quitting music. Virgin Records decided this was the band’s last chance.
Virgin chose Todd Rundgren to produce Skylarking. Though Rundgren had produced the New York Dolls, the producer and Partridge had immediate creative differences. “Andy didn’t like being led,” XTC bassist Colin Moulding told Magnet magazine.
Rundgren recalled the period on the radio show Jonesy’s Jukebox. “The problem with XTC is that when Andy got stage fright and stopped touring, their entire musical life took place in the studio. They never wanted music to be finished because this meant the music stopped. As they got to the mixing process, they lost perspective. The songs lost their dynamics and became flat.”
While writing songs for Skylarking, Partridge recalled a book he’d read as a child featuring children’s letters to God. Partridge found the concept absurd but was intrigued by the idea of an atheist writing a letter questioning God’s presence.
Partridge told the XTC fan site Chalkhills, “I’d struggled with the concept of God and Man since I was a kid, even to the point where I’d got myself so worked up with worry about religion that around the age of 7 or 8, I saw the clouds part and there was a classic Renaissance picture of God surrounded by angels looking at me scornfully.”
The world Partridge witnessed with his own eyes was dark and filled with evil. He didn’t believe God was real.
Partridge told Spin, “Don’t get me started talking about religion. It plays on basic spinal column superstitions and fears, saying there’s an aging English actor up here in a sheet and he’s going to zap you with his rod if you don’t put something in the collection plate and behave yourself. God is man made. We invented this to keep other members of mankind and especially womankind under control. It’s a protectionist racket.”
Partridge wrote “Dear God” in a skiffle, folk music style with a simple two-chord verse and a subtle haunting bassline. Partridge was inspired by the Beatles’ “Rocky Racoon.” He told Chalkhills he “wanted the guitar to inspire a Gershwin bluesy Summertime feel.”
The lyrics offer a defiant dialogue with a deity Partridge doesn’t believe in.
Dear God, hope you got the letter,
and I pray you can make it better down here
I don’t mean a big reduction in the price of beer
All the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
’Cause they don’t get enough to eat from God
I can’t believe in you.
The song builds in intensity leading to a dramatic coda:
I won’t believe in Heaven and Hell
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well
No pearly gates, no thorny crown
You’re always letting us humans down
The wars you bring, the babes you drown
Those lost at sea and never found
By the end of the song, Partridge bares his anger toward God and his passionate disbelief of Biblical teachings.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Is just somebody’s unholy hoax
And if you’re up there, you’ll perceive
That my heart’s here upon my sleeve
If there’s one thing I don’t believe in
It’s you.
“Dear God” was recorded at Utopia Sound Studios in Woodstock, New York. The recording session was intense. Partridge and Rundgren immediately hated each other. Rundgren insulted Partridge for his childish lyrics and vocal stylings while Partridge referred to Rundgren as Herman Munster due to his prominent forehead. Partridge became so upset with the studio experience he flew back to England. This allowed Rundgren to mix the album himself.
Rundgren came up with the idea to have the opening verse sung by an eight-year-old girl. (In the video, the verse is lip-synched by a boy.) He asked a friend to bring his daughter into the studio and he barred XTC band members from witnessing the child singing the vocals. (Partridge was already in the UK.)
The choice of including a child’s voice was brilliant. It added to the earnestness and power of the song. Rundgren mixed the album in one week and then sent it to the band for approval. Upon hearing the child’s voice, Partridge became apoplectic. He also felt the song was mastered out of phase and “sounded like rubbish.”
Virgin Records also worried about the song. They feared the anti-religious message would cause controversy and protest. They questioned why a child would sing about “the price of beer.” As the October album release date neared, Partridge demanded the song be removed from the album. Rundgren told PopMatters that Partridge “was afraid there would be repercussions personally for him for taking on such a thorny subject.” Partridge denied these accusations telling the Chalkhills fansite, “if you can’t have a different opinion without someone wanting to firebomb your house then that’s their problem.”
Rundgren pleaded with Virgin to keep “Dear God” on Skylarking. Virgin removed the song from the album release fearing protest from the religious right. The label ultimately released the song as an unpromoted UK-only B-Side for the song “Grass.”
Then a funny thing happened. US college radio DJ’s played “Dear God” throughout the states. XTC’s American label Geffen Records and radio stations received thousands of calls about the song. Some listeners expressed support. Others were outraged. A Florida radio station received bomb threats after playing the song. Many stations pulled the song from their playlist.
Partridge later told MOJO that the band received tons of letters from fans. Half supported the song, half hated it. One person wrote, “Fantastic, you’ve voiced what I’ve been thinking for years.” Another wrote, “You’re going to roast in hell.”
Geffen re-released Skylarking with “Dear God” included. (It replaced a song called “Mermaid Smiled.”) The “Dear God” music video was featured on MTV’s “120 Minutes.” The controversy propelled the song to #70 on the American Billboard charts making Skylarking a hit. The re-released album sold three times more than all previous XTC albums combined.
Virgin reissued the album in England with “Dear God” on it. The UK reissue flopped.
“Dear God” became XTC’s most successful song in the US and propelled the band to commercial success. But Partridge and the band felt resentment toward Virgin. They believed their contract was unfairly structured and they sued the label causing their royalties to be frozen. This left band members broke. Guitarist Dave Gregory took a job at a car rental company. Drummer Terry Chambers sold paint at a building supply store.
XTC demanded to be released from their contract. Virgin put them off until 1998 when they reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the band. A year later, XTC started their own label Idea Records and released the album Apple Venus, Volume 1. This was their first record in seven years.
In 2006, XTC finally split up. That same year, Partridge had an audio accident in his home studio losing much of his hearing. His resulting tinnitus and a heart condition made Partridge suicidal. He stopped writing songs, telling The Guardian he’d “lost the anger and fight” to be creative.
Partridge is now 72. Reflecting back on “Dear God,” he told Chalkhills, “It takes more than a three-and-a-half minute song to do the subject of God justice. I don’t understand all the rumpus caused by the song. I find it so medieval. I really feel sorry for people who get so upset at someone expressing an opinion that might be contrary to their beliefs. How can that make them so violent? I’ve struggled with the idea of God since I was a kid. The song was just me trying to come to terms with this thing.”