G.O.D.

"G.O.D." was released as a single and is the fourth track on Manuscript.

Lyrics (spoken)

My Take

The song opens with a supernatural-sounding electronic soundscape, the sustained chords moving very slowly up and down as if played on a funeral organ. It sounds both airy and dark at the same time, and then Dave's voice comes floating in, laced with a deep echo. The voice seems to speak with some weariness and seems to cut out a couple of times towards the end as if some external interference is breaking in. Then it closes out with what sounds like breaths taken through a ventilator as there is a gradual updrift in the music. I really love Kurt's soundscapes; they are very dreamy and rich and alone can evoke so many different emotions. The combination of Dave's seductive vocals and Kurt's heavily atmospheric soundscapes have consistently enraptured me (see "Love Will Leave (Kap10kurt Remix)", "Where I Wait", and "Nothing Else Matters").

Even though the words are spoken by 1 person (Dave), it almost sounds like a dialogue spoken between 2 parties. The reason why I see this more as a dialogue rather than a monologue is because of verses like "I feel restless today" and "I stood at your gates". For the former, restlessness does not seem much like something an omnipotent and benevolent divine being would experience and for the latter, standing at the gates (of heaven, perhaps) seems like something a mortal who has died or approached near-death would experience rather than a deity. Thus, I view this whole song as a dialogue between a mortal and a deity who are trying to reach out to each other and not having much success. The deity says that they feel the mortal's struggle and is trying to reach them but has yet to hear them respond. The mortal says that they are feeling restless and that they feel that it's "too late" to be reached because they are already standing at the gates of heaven and awaiting a response. At the end it almost seems as if the mortal is taken away from this dialogue and the characteristic sounds of breathing through a ventilator of some kind might indicate that the mortal is being revived and returning to the mortal plane. All of this could very much be a description of what Dave had personally experienced and maybe even heard when he was pronounced dead for two minutes after his drug overdose on May 28, 1996. Is it then a coincidence that this song lasts not too much more than 2 minutes in length? Hmmm...I also wonder what the significance of the song title is...notice that it is an acronym rather than the word "god." Is there a secret meaning behind the acronym, perhaps? One (unproven) theory that I have is that it could stand for "Gahan Over-Dosed," simply because of my interpretation of the words. But it could mean anything.

Music Video

There is no music video for this song.