What God Wants, Part I

Roger Waters' song 'What God Wants, Part I' is a provocative exploration of the contradictions and complexities often attributed to divine will. The lyrics present a series of paradoxical desires, suggesting that what is often claimed to be 'God's will' encompasses both the virtuous and the vile, the peaceful and the violent. This duality is emphasized through the repetitive refrain, 'What God wants, God gets,' which serves as a critique of how religious dogma can be used to justify a wide range of human actions, both good and bad.

The song opens with a child observing a priest, who lists a series of conflicting desires attributed to God, such as goodness and mayhem, peace and war. This juxtaposition highlights the often contradictory nature of religious teachings and the way they can be interpreted to support various, sometimes opposing, agendas. The presence of the 'alien prophet' and 'alien comic' adds a layer of surrealism, suggesting that these divine proclamations are as absurd and otherworldly as they are authoritative.

Waters uses a variety of metaphors and symbolic characters, such as the monkey writing in a book and animals interacting with religious texts, to underscore the absurdity and arbitrariness of these divine demands. The song's tone oscillates between serious and mocking, reflecting Waters' critical stance on organized religion and its role in shaping human behavior. By listing desires like 'sedition,' 'sex,' 'freedom,' and 'semtex' (a type of explosive), Waters points to the dangerous and often hypocritical nature of claiming to know and act upon 'God's will.'

'What God Wants, Part I' serves as a powerful commentary on the manipulation of religious beliefs to justify a wide range of human actions. It challenges listeners to question the validity and morality of attributing such diverse and often conflicting desires to a divine entity, urging a more nuanced and critical approach to understanding faith and its impact on society.