A simple but beautiful ten-minute jam, “God Is In The Rhythm” speaks of the cycles of life on Earth, the changing of seasons and our place in the universe at large. Rarely played but a fan favorite, “God Is In The Rhythm” demonstrates the band’s affinity for the natural.
The song was recorded at Daptone Studios in Brooklyn on November 3rd, 2014. In the documentary BOOTLEG HOLIDAY FROM HELL the band is seen playing the song in studio and listening to the tape afterwards, with Stu telling engineer Wayne Gordon to crinkle the tape to make it more distinct. “If it sounds really crazy then it sort of, like, makes it more important.” The result is audio cutting out and shifts in tempo, which the band likes. Interestingly, Stu mentions that “it might be like the last track on the album where it all falls apart.” This implies that “God Is In The Rhythm” was a contender for the closer. Quarters! was largely improvised on the spot, even down to its track listing as seen here. Another noteworthy aspect of the song is that it was slowed down after being recorded. The BOOTLEG HOLIDAY FROM HELL footage shows it being played in the key of G while the version heard on Quarters! is in F#.
The song was first heard on March 24th, 2015 when Flightless uploaded a cut down radio edit of the song with a runtime of 3:45 (later put on promo copies of Quarters!). The full track would see a release on May 1st. The song is depicted on the cover of Quarters! with a rising star on a black, green and red background. This would be referenced in the music video for “The River.”
The earliest footage of the band playing the song comes from BOOTLEG HOLIDAY FROM HELL where we see the band rehearsing it at The Knitting Factory on an unknown date (potentially 2014-10-22). The earliest known performance of “God Is In The Rhythm” happened on 2015-06-24 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. Stu played the song by himself with a looper pedal, footage of which was also put in BOOTLEG HOLIDAY FROM HELL. No other performances of the song from this era have been documented, though Stu mentioned that the band would play a shortened version of the song during an interview with Hero Magazine.
In the following years it's unclear if “God Is In The Rhythm” was ever played by the band, though it reappeared for a short run in 2018. Starting on 2018-02-23 at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin and ending on 2018-03-16 at the Fuzz Club in Athens, “God Is In The Rhythm” was shortened, slowed down and played as a show closer. These versions, rather than having any lyrics, featured a monologue from the confused cyborg Han-Tyumi who thanked concertgoers for showing up while sharing a poignant message about unity. Transcribed from a performance on 2018-03-01: “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is a true pleasure to be here. I am humbled and honored to be in your country playing to your beautiful faces. True happiness is found when we, as human beings, are brought together. Together we send vibrations out into the cosmos. Together we sing into the vacuum. Together we smile wide within our faces. inaudible I wish you safe travels home. Be careful as you exit, the air is cold. Remember to tell the people that you love how you adore them. Humanity is fragile as is Mother Nature. Be safe and once again, thank you. Thank you. Thank you…” The “thank yous” at the end of the song continued after the band had finished playing. Since March of 2018, the song has disappeared from setlists entirely, though it was soundchecked on 2024-11-02, as evidenced by the the pre-roll footage shown before that day’s stream.
“God Is In The Rhythm” is played in its original key of G live.