Father John Misty seems like that kind of arrogant artist that would fancy himself a god, (e.g. Kanye West). But, it turns out he's not much of a believer at all as he covered John Lennon's "God" at the fourth annual Merry Minstrel Musical Circus in Los Angeles.
J. Tillman joined the Jonathan Wilson Band at the pre-Christmas concert for a modern day take on the depressingly real song, according to Consequence of Sound. For those unfamiliar with the tune, the original is basically John Lennon singing about how he doesn't believe in God, Jesus, the Bible or a whole host of other pop cultural icons and things.
Tillman updates this a bit by sticking to the overall religious message but adding in some pop culture references from the year including his non belief in Star Wars, Barack Obama, Facebook, Tom Petty, Elvis and Christmas. He delivers the lines with such passion, at times screaming the lyrics at audience members all while finding the perfect moments to pause and let the empty space fill the room.
In the original song, Lennon comes out of this rant with a heart-warming message that all he can do is believe in himself and his love, Yoko Ono. But somehow, it just comes off as pretentious and arrogant coming from Tillman, especially since he doesn't have an Ono equivalent in his life to share his experiences with.
Still, there's no denying that his music is beautiful and resonates with a lot of people. Surely this cover will rank right up there with other fan favorites such as his stripped down cover of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs," Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" and of course the infamous Taylor Swift via Ryan Adams covers.
Watch his cover of "God" below.
Father John Misty has been dominating critics end of the year lists this year with plenty of praise for his album I Love You, Honeybear.
