Dear God

Partridge wrote it about an agnostic who writes to God questioning his existence. The title came from a series of Dear God books that Partridge saw as exploiting children, though he liked the title. He first imagined it as a skiffle song, then moved it toward the Beatles' Rocky Raccoon. Gregory arranged the strings, and Rundgren suggested a child sing the opening verse. Eight-year-old Jasmine Veillette, a friend's daughter, did so, although a boy lip-syncs her part in the video, directed by Nick Brandt.

It was missing from the first pressings of Skylarking. Partridge said Virgin told him the album was too long and the song might upset the American market, and that he agreed because he felt he had not written a strong enough take on religion. Rundgren has given a different account, saying Partridge "was afraid that there would be repercussions personally for him for taking on such a thorny subject." It appeared as the B-side to Grass, and after American college radio picked it up Geffen re-pressed the album with it. Reissued as an A-side in June 1987, it reached number 99 in the UK.

The song drew violent reactions. A Florida radio station received a bomb threat, and a New York student made his school play it over the public address system while holding a faculty member at knifepoint. Partridge said that if people cannot hold a different opinion without wanting to firebomb your house, that is their problem. The video received the 1987 Billboard Best Video award. Rundgren covered the song in 2011 on (re)Production.