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Song · XTC

“Dear God” by XTC

Released 1986

“Dear God” by XTC appears on 92 radio countdowns from 24 stations between 1986 and 2026. It was first released in 1986. Its best result is #1 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #3 alternative song of 1987, #52 alternative song of all time and #2 of the '80s.

92countdowns
24stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
5top 10 finishes
1986–2026years charted

Watch

Dear God

Video from YouTube (XTC - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Dear God" first slipped out as the flip side of XTC's "Grass" single, a song Andy Partridge had written for the album Skylarking and then pulled over worries that both he and Virgin Records shared. It's a letter to a God he isn't sure is there, wrestling with how so much suffering squares with a loving creator, and Partridge took the title from a series of books of the same name that he felt exploited children.

Todd Rundgren produced and engineered it, and he lets it build from a hush to a full-blooded roar, Partridge's lead vocal turning from wounded to furious along the way, with a guest vocal from Jasmine Veillette giving it a second voice.

Then American college radio DJs got hold of it, and the response was loud enough that Geffen Records, XTC's US distributor, recalled Skylarking and pressed it again with the song added. Partridge himself was never happy with it, feeling the words didn't really speak for his beliefs. Nick Brandt's video, one of the first he directed, won Billboard's best video award for 1987.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 20 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107
1987 7 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1987 107
1987 14 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987 91
1987 8 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1987 105
1987 11 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 99
1987 1 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1987 29

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 135 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 22 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) 496
1988 40 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1988 18 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) 200
1989 83 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 13 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 7 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 19 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 87 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1990 72 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1990) 100
1991 32 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 40 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 157 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1991 76 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1991) 100
1991 93 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1991) 100
1992 334 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 30 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1992 80 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1992) 100
1993 63 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1993) 100
1994 181 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 98 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 42 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1994 59 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1994) 100
1995 81 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1995 283 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1995 92 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1995) 100
1996 80 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 105 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 26 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1996 58 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1996) 100
1997 76 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1997) 100
1998 84 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 67 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 166 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 33 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 186 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 218 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 23 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 296 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 109 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1999) 150
2000 16 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 17 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 1380 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2001 205 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 26 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 2 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 85 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 91
2003 51 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 25 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 193 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 501 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 670 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) 885
2005 66 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 498 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 744 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 26 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 70s & 80s 96
2006 228 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 159 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 48 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2006 26 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Resurrection Songs (December 2006) 107
2007 440 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 281 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 444 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 458 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 414 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 469 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 465 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 190 WYEP WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown 500
2013 476 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 484 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 70 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2019 509 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 509 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2021 22 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 153 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2022 95 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 312 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 417 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 484 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2026 470 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 315 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1987

Best songs of 1987 →
  1. 1Girlfriend in a ComaThe Smiths
  2. 2With or Without YouU2
  3. 4Why Can't I Be You?The Cure
  4. 5StrangeloveDepeche Mode
  5. 6Lips Like SugarEcho and the Bunnymen
  6. 7Need You TonightINXS

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