Saturday Night At The Liberal Curmudgeon: Regina Spektor’s “Laughing With”

Regina Spektor’s “Laughing With” points out people’s often contradictory relationship to religion: frivolous when things are fine, serious when trouble strikes: “No one laughs at God in a hospital, no one laughs at God in a war… But God can be funny at a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke.” Spektor's lyrics also depict simplistic conceptions of God as a magician or grant-wisher, “presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus.”