The Power of Crackpot #3: "God's Children"

For the third entry in my "Power of Crackpot" series, I offer you the Kinks' "God's Children," one of Ray Davies' most beautiful songs, a rough gem much loved by those who go beyond the surface of the Kink's greatest hits. I chose this version because it features an image of the 45 RPM single, magically nostalgic for us boomers. I would get them at the five and dime and spin them on my GE Wildcat.

At any rate, this song was from a now obscure movie called Percy, which, as things would go in 1971, had a storyline about a penis transplant. No doubt a bunch of guys were really stoned and thought this would be a great idea; even the guys with money agreed. I tell you, all bets were off back then.

Wisely, Ray makes the song one that rails against transplants in general, which is nevertheless where the crackpot comes in. I mean, I won't be refusing an organ transplant if it ever comes to that. But more critically, it praises that which wasn't made by man, an attitude we could use more of, even as it becomes more scarce.

Man made the buildings that reach for the sky
And man made the motorcar and learned how to drive
But he didn't make the flowers and he didn't make the trees
And he didn't make you and he didn't make me
And he's got no right to turn us into machines

As with most crackpot songs, much of the power hinges on the use of a generic, all-encompassing pronoun. If we opted for something more specific than "he," we would start diluting our Bad Guy, who could be your next-door neighbor. And the whole thing begins to break down under the weight of logic.

Oh, he's got no right at all
'Cause we are all God's children
And he got no right to change us
Oh, we gotta go back the way the good Lord made us all

I don't want this world to change me
I wanna go back the way the good Lord made me
Same lungs that He gave me to breathe with
Same eyes He gave me to see with

Even those of us who have our doubts about the existence of "God" as implied in these passages acknowledge that a seductive trap of the modern world is our emphasis on and faith in our power to control. Actually, I doubt that Ray Davies himself even believes in this God. On the other hand, religious conservatives in the US actually believe the sentiments in this song in a more literal sense, which is often unwise, such as when it urges inaction in the face of climate change. But in a way they are closer to something important than those who believe we can just engineer our way out of our problems.

So, if it comes time for me to receive an organ, I will gladly accept. But I also will always believe that the most beautiful things in this world are those things not made by man.

Oh, and play it loud to get the full impact of it's ragged glory! You will sing along, even if you are an atheist. I guarantee it. That's the power of crackpot.

View previous entries in the Crackpot series: The Pretenders' Back On the Chain Gang and Bob Marley's Redemption Song.