Last week I wrote a post about how, though a lot of Christian music brings back memories of how much my total trust in God was betrayed, I still love the song "Oxygen."
Here are a few others I love:
"The Final Word" by Michael Card (full lyrics here)
"He spoke the incarnation and then so was born the Son
His final word was Jesus, he needed no other one
Spoke flesh and blood so he could bleed and make a way divine
And so was born the baby who would die to make it mine."
"Unconditionally" by Katy Perry (full lyrics here)
"Unconditional
Unconditionally
I will love you
Unconditionally."
Yeah, I know what Christian music sounds like, and this song is EXACTLY IT. The sound, the rhythm, the words, the fact that it's called "Unconditionally"- this totally belongs in the genre of Christian music. Oh but it's Katy Perry, the personification of all things satanic. The gatekeepers would tell us it couldn't possibly be Christian music.
Yeah, okay. Try to tell me this song doesn't sound exactly like everything on Christian radio, and I will laugh in your face.
Love that song.
"God is a Girl" by Groove Coverage (full lyrics here)
"God is a girl, she's only a girl
Do you believe it, can you receive it?"
Well this one pretty obviously would never be considered a "Christian song" by Real True Christians. Whatever. God is a girl.
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So, readers, what Christian/spiritual/religious songs do you like?
Michael Card is good. His songs are meatier than most of what's out there. I like most stuff by David Meece too, especially "By the Waters." But my favorite group is 10th Avenue North, especially "Hold My Heart" and "Love is Here." There's depth and soul to these songs that often times gets lost in the shallowness of Christian Pop.
ReplyDeleteOooh I forgot about Tenth Avenue North! I love "By Your Side."
ReplyDeleteI don't listen to much Christian music anymore either, but I'm a big fan of some of the more introspective singer-songwriters like Kevin Max, Derek Webb, Chris Rice (except for that goofy cartoon song which for awhile was all anyone knew him for) and Nichole Nordeman (though I prefer her earlier, darker stuff). But my absolute favorite religious song -- which was not written by a Christian -- is "Music of Heaven" by Jason Robert Brown, which describes a time when he worked with, IIRC, a gospel choir and found himself very moved by the connection they had to the deeply religious lyrics, and the song is about him standing on the outside looking in and kind of wishing there was a way for him to find that connection. I am big on needing to *mean* the lyrics I sing... so while I may not always be able to sing "You're all I want, you're all I've ever needed," in good faith, I can almost always earnestly sing, "Indifference upon my face, out of place, longing to feel what you feel like it was real, like there could be music of heaven to open a crack in my chest and let something glorious in."
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