Sacred Music

For many people today, the only real taste of the sacred they've experienced is through music. There are many different types of music, but there are certain forms, and certain particular pieces, in which I recognize a certain refinement of feeling. This is the music that is featured here.

The quality that I find of particular interest may be dismissed by some as "sentimental," but this is because many people have given up on emotional authenticity, just as many who would work hard for a trip to paradise if they believed the teachings of religion dismiss the wisdom contained in spiritual teachings because of excesses like the Inquisition and the "Christian" Right.

It is my experience that listening to this music with a sincere wish to be relieved from one's hard-heartedness produces results.

There could as easily be many more listings of baroque music and listings of the music of the Near East and India, but I do not have the same familiarity with these forms as I do with contemporary popular music. In the case of classical music it is unfortunately the case that I know many names and the sound of many pieces but in most cases I am unable to associate the one with the other. I think that that is the case for many people.

The rock/pop and country songs listed below contain a great deal of feeling. One remarkable fact is the very close correlation between the depth of feeling in the lyrics and in the music; the best songs tend to excel in both.

There are also some very good songs in the Christian rock genre, but I'm less familiar with that also. The new music of which I write is an English-language phenomenon. It has migrated successfully only into Spanish. There are many beautiful popular Spanish-language songs, but my limited command of Spanish makes it difficult for me to compile a list of them. The listings on this page will grow as I have more time to listen to and write about music.

Links below are to lyrics pages.

The Religious Impulse in Baroque Music
(nowhere near a complete list)

Johann Sebastian Bach

• Air on a G String
• Brandenburg Concerto #5
• Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Giulio Caccini

• Ave Maria

Georg Friednich Händel

• Hallelujah Chorus from the "Messiah" <http://ingeb.org/spiritua/halleluj.html>

Johann Pachelbel                         

• Canon

Antonio Vivaldi

• Winter Movement from "The Four Seasons"
  

The Religious Impulse in Rock 'n' Roll

The Band

• The Weight (Music from Big Pink) <http://theband.hiof.no/lyrics/the_weight.html>

The Beatles

• All You Need Is Love <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/29349.htm>
• Let It Be <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/29344.htm>
• The Long and Winding Road <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/29490.htm>
• We Can Work It Out <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/29412.htm>
• Yesterday <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/29343.htm>

Stephen Bishop

• It Might Be You (Alan Bergman/Marilyn Berman/Dave Grusin) <http://www.geocities.com/lyricalmusings/lyrics/it_mightbeyou.htm>

Michael Bolton

• Soul Provider (Soul Provider, 1989, Michael Bolton/A. Goldmark) <http://www.geocities.com/notlobwjk/gh.htm#Soul%20Provider>

Jackson Browne

• Fountain of Sorrow (Jackson Browne) <http://www.thepeaches.com/music/reviews/tracks/758/758FountainofSorrow.txt>
• I Thought I Was a Child (Jackson Browne) <http://www.yimpan.com/Songsite/Lyric/index.asp?sid=1092>
• Jamaica, Say You Will (Jackson Browne) <http://giblins.net/SingerSongwriter/Lyrics/Jamaica.html>
• Late for the Sky (Late for the Sky, Jackson Browne) <http://www.thepeaches.com/music/reviews/tracks/758/758LateForTheSky.txt>
• Running on Empty (Jackson Browne) <http://www.thepeaches.com/music/reviews/tracks/758/758RunningOnEmpty.txt>
• Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate (Jackson Browne)
• These Days (Jackson Browne)

The Byrds

• Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan)
• Eight Miles High (Eight Miles High, 1964; Gene Clark/David Crosby/Roger McGuinn) <http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/kadler/public_html/rmcguinn/eightab.html>
• 5D (Fifth Dimension, 1965; Roger McGuinn) <http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/kadler/public_html/rmcguinn/5d.html>
• Turn! Turn! Turn! (Eight Miles High, 1964; Pete Seeger) <http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/kadler/public_html/rmcguinn/turntab.html>

Chicago

• The Glory of Love
• Hard to Say I'm Sorry <http://www.hmg.hu/rock/rithm&blues/chicago_lyrics.htm>
• You're the Inspiration <http://www.laplazavirtual.com/disco/chicago/y1.htm>

Eric Clapton

• Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton/Will Jennings) <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/eric-clapton/72778.htm>

Kelly Clarkson

• A Moment Like This (Thankful, 2003) <http://www.readlyrics.com/lyrics/display.php?ID=3287>
• Think Twice (American Idol) <http://www.lyrics.jp/lyrics/K012900020001.asp>

Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

• Up Where We Belong (Will Jennings, Jack Nitzche, Buffy Sainte-Marie)

Paula Cole

• I Don't Want to Wait

Phil Collins

• Every Day
• I Can't Stop Loving You
• One More Night
• True Colors (Phil Collins) <http://www.com-www.com/musiclyrics/collinsphil-truecolors.html>

Celine Dion

• It's All Coming Back to Me Now (J. Steinman) <http://www.powerofthemusic.com/t%20its%20all.html>

Bob Dylan

• Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan)
• Don't Think Twice (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan)
• A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)
• Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)

The Eagles

• Desperado
• Take It Easy (Jackson Browne/Glenn Frey) <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/eagles/23227.htm>

Everything Is Everything

• Witchy-Tai-Toe (Jim Pepper)

Five For Fighting

• 100 Years

Dan Fogelberg

• Part of the Plan (Souvenirs, 1974; Dan Fogelberg)

Dobie Grey

• Drift Away

Heart

• These Dreams <http://www.afn.org/~afn30091/songs/h/heart-these.htm>

Don Henley

• The End of the Innocence
• The Heart of the Matter <http://www.nanuq.com/ashleigh/lyrics/h/heart_of_the_matter.html>

Whitney Houston

• Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

Enrique Iglesias

• Hero

Michael Jackson

• The Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson) <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html>

King Harvest

• Dancing in the Moonlight

Klymaxx

• I Miss You

Gladys Knight and the Pips

• Midnight Train to Georgia

John Lennon

• God (John Lennon)
• Mind Games (John Lennon)

Kenny Loggins

• For the First Time

Richard Marx

• Hold on to the Night
• Right Here Waiting (Repeat Offender, 1989; Richard Marx)

Matchbox 20

• If You're Gone

Sarah McLachlan

• I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan/Seamus Egan/Dave Merenda)

Don McLean

• American Pie (American Pie; Don McLean)

George Michael

• One More Try

Bette Midler

• From a Distance (Julie Gold) <http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/snd/fromadistance.html>

Mike and the Mechanics

• In the Living Years

Mandy Moore

• Have a Little Faith in Me (John Hiatt) <http://www.lyricsdomain.com/lyrics/34785/>

Anne Murray

• A Little Good News

Rick Nelson

• Garden Party

Procol Harum

• A Whiter Shade of Pale

Mike Reno and Ann Wilson

• Almost Paradise

Lionel Richie

• Say You, Say Me
• Stuck on You

Simon & Garfunkel

• America (Paul Simon) <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon-and-garfunkel/6790.htm>

Rank Sinatra

• Cycles
• That's Life

Cat Stevens

• Father and Son (Cat Stevens)

James Taylor

• Carolina in my Mind (James Taylor)
• Shower the People (James Taylor)
• Up on the Roof

Luther Vandross

• Dance with My Father (Dance with My Father, 2003; Luther Vandross/Richard Marx) <http://www.songexpressions.net/father.html>

Various Artists

• We Are the World (1985; Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie)

John Waite

• Missing You (No Brakes) <http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/m/missing_you_john_waite.html>

Dionne Warwick

• That's What Friends Are For (Carole Bayer Sage/Burt Bacharach)

Vanessa Williams

• Save the Best for Last (The Comfort Zone; Wendy Waldman/Jon Lind/Phil Galdston)

Steve Winwood

• The Finer Things (The Finer Things; Steve Winwood/Will Jennings) <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/w/winwood-steve/952.htm>

The Religious Impulse in Country Music

Alabama

• Song of the South (Bob McDill) <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/alabama/5166.html>

Jessica Andrews

• Who I Am

Clint Black

• Life Gets Away (One Emotion, 1994; Black/Nicholas/Schuyler)
• State of Mind (No Time to Kill, 1993; Clint Black)

Paul Brandt

• It's a Beautiful Thing (That's the Truth, 1999; Steele/Wiseman)

Brooks and Dunn

• Only in America
• Red Dirt Road (Red Dirt Road, 2003) <http://www.anysonglyrics.com/lyrics/b/brooksanddunn/reddirtroad.htm>

Garth Brooks

• The River
• Unanswered Prayers

Kenny Chesney

• The Good Stuff (No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem)

Vince Gill

• If I Had My Way (When Love Finds You; Vince Gill/Amy Grant)
• When Love Finds You (When Love Finds You)

Pat Green

• Wave on Wave (Wave on Wave, Pat Green/David Neuhauser/Justin Pollard) <http://www.reallyrics.com/Lyrics/P016800010001.asp>

Lee Greenwood

• God Bless the U.S.A. (God Bless the U.S.A., 1984; Lee Greenwood)

Faith Hill

• Breathe (Breathe, 1999; Holly Lamar/Stephanie Bentley)
• It Matters to Me
• Love Ain't Like That (Faith, 1998; Tim Gaetano/A.J. Masters)
• The Secret of Life (Faith, 1998; Gretchen Peters)
• When the Lights Go Down

Buddy Jewell

• Sweet Southern Comfort (Buddy Jewell) <http://www.dapslyrics.com/display.php?sid=3509>

The Judds

• Love Can Build a Bridge

Alison Krause

• Forget About It (Forget About It, 1999; Robert Lee Castleman)
• You Say It Best When You Say Nothing At All

Tracy Lawrence

Paint Me a Birmingham (Buck Moore/Gary Duffey) <http://www.geocities.com/countrylyric/Top_40/paintmeabirmingham.html>

Lonestar

• I'm Already There (I'm Already There, 2001; McDonald/Baker/Myers) <http://www.lyricstime.com/lyrics/10173.html>
• Not a Day Goes By (I'm Already There, 2001; Maribeth Derry/Steve Diamond) <http://www.lyricstime.com/lyrics/10169.html>
• Walking in Memphis

Martina McBride

• Blessed
• Concrete Angel
• Independence Day (Gretchen Peters)
• Love's the Only House (Emotion; Douglas/Carson)
• This One's for the Girls (Other Songs; Bob Gifford) <http://www.geocities.com/sarahmfisher/mmlyrics.html>

Tim McGraw

• Grown Men Don't Cry (Set This Circus Down, Tim McGraw)
• Live Like You Were Dying (Live Like You Were Dying, 2004, Tim McGraw)

Jo Dee Messina

• Burn
• Is This My Life?

John Michael Montgomery

• Home to You
• Life's a Dance (Life's a Dance, 1993)

Juice Newton

• Old Flame

Rascal Flatts

• I'm Movin' On (Rascal Flatts, Phillip White/Vincent Williams) <http://www.geocities.com/islandlyrics/rascalflatts/flatts11.txt>
• These Days

Collin Raye

• I Can Still Feel You (The Walls Came Down)

Blake Shelton

• The Baby (The Dreamer, 2002)

Shenandoah

• Sacred Sundays in the South

Tommy Shane Sneider

• What If She's an Angel?

Doug Stone

• I Never Knew Love

George Strait

• Carried Away (Blue Clear Sky, 1996)

Travis Tritt

• I'm Gonna Be Somebody
• The Love of a Woman

Shania Twain

• Forever and for Always (Up)

Phil Vassar

• Just Another Day in Paradise

Clay Walker

• A Few Questions (A Few Questions, 2003; Ray Scott/Phillip Moore/Adam Wheeler) <http://www.geocities.com/islandlyrics/claywalker/cw68.txt>

Mark Wills

• Don't Laugh at Me (Wish You Were Here, Allen Shamblin/Steve Seskin) <http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?hid=1Q5668NIC%2Fs%3D>
• Wish You Were Here (Wish You Were Here, Skip Ewing/Bill Anderson/Debbie Moore)   <http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?hid=muDUD7XorPc%3D>

Lee Ann Womack

• I Hope You Dance (I Hope You Dance, Mark D. Sanders/Tia Sillers) <http://arose4ever.com/roses/ihopeyoudance.htm>
• I'll Think of a Reason Later
• Something Worth Leaving Behind
• Why They Call It Falling

Darryl Worley

• I Miss My Friend

Wynonna

• She Is His Only Need

Trisha Yearwood

• The Woman Before Me (Trisha Yearwood, 1991)

Consciousness and Mind

Polymath Systems Home Page