Comments on: Fifty Essential Religious Songs

By: Emil

Emil — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 01:01:45 +0000

Many of these are kinda entertaining, but really… Where’s Ave Maria? How Great Thou Art? etc. etc.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:02:05 +0000

any number of Mumford & Sons songs could make this list

By: bedefan

bedefan — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:18:50 +0000

For all you Christian hipsters and indie rock snobs out there I’d recommend four albums: Bill Fay’s “Time of the Last Persecution,” Sufjan Stevens’ “Seven Swans,” The Hold Steady’s “Separation Sunday,” and Danielson’s “Ships.”

(Of course any rock snob worth his salt will already be into old gospel and country.)

On a related note, we can’t forget the best pro-life pop song ever written, “Zion” by Lauryn Hill (with Carlos Santana for goodness sake).

By: Crowhill

Crowhill — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:00:01 +0000

“The Preacher and the Bear” by the New Christy Minstrels.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 20:57:18 +0000

1. Willie Nelson — “The Troublemaker,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” His version of “Uncloudy Day” is my favorite, but I like the Staples, too.

2. The Statler Brothers — “Just a Little Talk With Jesus”

3. Allison Crouch and others — “I’ll Fly Away” [from the “O, Brother, Where Aren’t Thou?” soundtrack.

4. Graham Kendrick — “Shine, Jesus, Shine.”

5. Jo Stafford — “Whispering Hope.”

6. Edwin Hawkins Singers — “Oh Happy Day.”

7. Elvis Pressly — “Peace in the Valley” and “Swing Down Sweet Chariot.”

8. Blackwood Brothers “Bosom of Abraham.”

9. Ladysmith Black Mombazo — “Amazing Grace/ Nearer My God To Thee.”

This is by no means a complete list.

By: Felapton

Felapton — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:35:55 +0000

Bach, "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme."

By: Craig Payne

Craig Payne — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:37:49 +0000

U2, of course. Thanks for the mention. Both “Gloria” and “40″ are much better on the live recording, “Under a Blood-Red Sky,” than on the original studio recording.

Bob Dylan, anyone?

By: peg

peg — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:46:28 +0000

“I am a Rock” and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, Simon and Garfunkel

By: A Rural Northern Baptist Preacher

A Rural Northern Baptist Preacher — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:34:46 +0000

These are all good (and the others in the comments) but any list like this should probably include “How Great Thou Art”, “In the Garden” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” for older songs. I do enjoy some newer stuff too, Maybe “Days of Elijah” by Robin Mark? It has a wonderful mix of Hebrew Bible and New Testament references, much like the old spirituals.

This would be a fun activity to have ongoing on First Thoughts, a list with many nominations and votes/views tallied for the top 50 (or 100 or 500). You could make divisions by type, but I wouldn’t since I find the distinctions (Hymn, Spiritual, Worship, Contemporary, etc.) to be unclear at best. Usually, they’re just based on what kind of instrument is accompanying. So Amazing Grace with an electric guitar and a drum set is a “Worship” song and on the pipe organ it’s a “Hymn”.

I’d also be interested to see what our Catholic and Orthodox siblings in Christ would add to the list. Ave Maria? Probably. Something by U2? Probably not.

By: Mike Melendez

Mike Melendez — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:32:02 +0000

Thank you, gentlemen, for my afternoon playlist.