Songs the Lord Taught Us

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Songs the Lord Taught Us

| type = Album

| artist = the Cramps

| cover = Songsthelordtaughtus.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1980

| recorded = 1979–1980

| venue =

| studio = Phillips Recording, Memphis, Tennessee

| genre = {{Flatlist|

• Garage rock{{cite web|last=Heller|first=Jason|date=March 30, 2015|title=Where to start with the primal sound of garage rock|url=https://www.avclub.com/where-to-start-with-the-primal-sound-of-garage-rock-1798278168|access-date=July 4, 2022|website=The A.V. Club}}
• garage punk{{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=October 12, 2020|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/blog/archives/2891-Music-Week.html|title=Music Week|website=Tom Hull – on the Web|access-date=November 17, 2022}}
• psychobilly
• neo-rockabilly

}}

| length = 37:53

| label = I.R.S. (original US release)
Illegal (original UK release)
Zonophone (1998 European CD reissue)
ViNiLiSSSiMO 2011 Spanish vinyl reissue)

| producer = Alex Chilton

| prev_title = Gravest Hits

| prev_year = 1979

| next_title = Psychedelic Jungle

| next_year = 1981

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Songs the Lord Taught Us

| type = studio

| single1 = Garbageman

| single1date = 1980

}}

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/songs-the-lord-taught-us-mw0000201325 |title=Songs the Lord Taught Us – The Cramps |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=September 10, 2011 |last=Raggett |first=Ned}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = B−{{cite book |chapter=The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us |chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=4595 |access-date=January 17, 2014 |title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=1990 |isbn=0-679-73015-X}}

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 8.7/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-cramps-songs-the-lord-taught-us/ |title=The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us |website=Pitchfork |date=October 25, 2020 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |last=Gaca |first=Anna}}

| rev4 = Record Mirror

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=A Dose of the Cramps |magazine=Record Mirror |date=March 8, 1980 |last=Westwood |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Westwood (author) |page=12}}

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=The Cramps |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor-last=Brackett |editor-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA197 197–98]}}

| rev6 = Smash Hits

| rev6score = 7½/10{{cite magazine |title=The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=2 |issue=6 |date=March 20 – April 2, 1980 |last=Hepworth |first=David |author-link=David Hepworth |page=31}}

| rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev7score = 8/10{{cite book |chapter=Cramps |last=Berrett |first=Jesse |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor-last=Weisbard |editor-first=Eric |editor-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=95–96}}

| rev8 = Tom Hull – on the Web

| rev8score = B+ ({{Rating-Christgau|hm1}}){{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=October 12, 2020|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/blog/archives/2891-Music-Week.html|title=Music Week|website=Tom Hull – on the Web|access-date=October 14, 2020}}

}}

Songs the Lord Taught Us is the debut album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1980 on I.R.S. Records in America and Illegal Records in England. In 2020, Rolling Stone included Songs the Lord Taught Us in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for its "psychobilly sound that went way beyond the kitschiest moments of the Ramones or Blondie and into a whole new realm of garage-trash novelty".{{cite web|date=11 November 2020|title=The 80 Greatest Albums of 1980|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-1980-1075743/79-the-cramps-songs-the-lord-taught-us-1078509/|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Rolling Stone}}