The vocalist on Motörhead’s “God Was Never on Your Side” comes off a lot like an atheist. But it has been noted that said individual, Lemmy, was actually an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who feels that people who boast of a knowledge of God don’t really know what they’re talking about. 

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Or more specifically in this case, he’s bringing it to those who for whatever reason believe that God is on their side. And truth be told, classification would encapsulate innumerable people, as it is sort of a natural human tendency, if you will, for individuals or groups to respectively believe that they’re special in the eyes of God.

“God Was Never on Your Side”

Now in regards to such a thesis, a number of argumentative strategies can be used. But truth be told, outside of the chorus it’s only really the second verse that attempts to buttress this stance. The chorus itself, of course, centers on Lemmy flat out asserting that ‘God was never on your side’. And what he apparently means in that regard is that karma, i.e. “right or wrong”, rather decides our fates.

Organized Religion and God’s so called Protection

Then as far as the second verse goes, it becomes more apparent that this piece is actually an attack on, shall we say organized religion. And whom the vocalist seems to be most squarely criticizing are those who put their faith into such institutions, even though said organizations don’t yield the desired results. 

Or another way of interpreting this position is that if someone were truly close to God, then he or she should be able to manifest supernatural powers accordingly – some type of evidence that said holy man is in fact working with the Most High. But contrarily, such bodies rather just tax their adherents and send them on their way, never actually proving that they’re different from the rest of us non-holy people.

And relatedly going back to the first verse, what the vocalist seems to be saying is that misfortune is a universal experience. In other words, he operates under the disposition that catastrophe can visit any of us on any given day. Therefore, he does not perceive the actual existence of a power like supernatural protection. Simply put, he doesn’t subscribe to the idea of God favoring one man over the next.

In Conclusion

So yes, the lyrics do read as if the vocalist is in fact recognizing the existence of God. But his conclusion is that the Most High is a passive, not active entity. Therefore instead of relying on divine favor, the more logical modus operandi would rather dictate that it would be wiser for us to put our faith in good ol’ fashioned reason.

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The narrator is convinced that God is passive and therefore doesn’t warrant any form of commitment of faith.

Motörhead is one of the few musical acts from the UK who has really been able to make a name for themselves on the heavy metal scene. They have released over 20 studio albums between 1977 and 2015. On an international level, they have maintained more stable chart success in the 21^st century than in times prior.

This song is from one of those aforementioned studio outings, “Kiss of Death”, which a label known as Steamhammer put out on 29 August 2006. 

At that time Motörhead’s lineup consisted of frontman Lemmy (1945-2015) alongside the following:

The above are the same trio that held the band down from the early 1990s up until Lemmy’s passing in late 2015. Lemmy’s death resulted in the disbanding of the crew.

This track was written by the aforementioned individuals, with its producer being one Cameron Webb.