Music Monday: Etta James – “God’s Song”

Curiously subtitled “That’s Why I Love Mankind,” Etta James soulfully questions the benevolence of God in a rendition of Randy Newman’s “God’s Song”. The words of the subtitle serve two purposes in the song. The first as a snarky retort from a power hungry, malevolent god that revels in the futile praise and sacrifice of humankind. The second use at the end of the song, I like to believe, is a call to all humans to treat each other better, with tolerance and respect, if only because we are our only hope to build a better future. In other words, we must love mankind, because God clearly doesn’t.