From An Unexpected Place:

Songs About God And Faith

_{Photo credit: Logan Sekulow}

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If you weren’t familiar with these songs before and have a basic impression of who recorded it, hearing the subject matter may come as a surprise, coming from that particular artist.

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Black Sabbath

Right down to its name, the band was and will always be associated with the occult and darkness. Then on their third album, Master of Reality, appeared this song, with lyrics by bassist Geezer Butler, which was basically a no-holds-barred argument for believing in God, all leading up to the final lines:

Perhaps you’ll think before you say that God is dead and gone
Open your eyes, just realize that he’s the one
The only one who can save you now from all this sin and hate
Or will you still jeer at all you hear?
Yes! I think it’s too late.

It is one of the more glaring reminders that whatever one thinks they know about a band, there is usually more to them than meets the cursory glance.

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Twisted Sister

Known for their outrageous glam look and videos which encouraged rebellion against authority figures, these guys were a chief target of the PMRC in the mid-eighties, which sought to prevent children from having access to music the PMRC deemed harmful to them.

Perhaps if they had heard this song, which appeared on Twisted Sister’s second album, You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tipper Gore and the rest of the committee would have loosened their grip on the pearls just a bit.

Can’t believe I saw the light Never thought I’d see the day
So filled with wrong I couldn’t see right
Almost lost the way
I was headed down Taken by the tide
I was lost at sea
Missing in action Taken for a ride
Now I’ve got the power and the glory
I’ve got the power from above
I’ve got the power and the glory
I’ve got the power, power of love

Throw in a direct reference to Jesus and this could have easily appeared on any Christian rock album.

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The Velvet Underground

Appearing on their third album, the entire song is a heartfelt prayer to Jesus, seeking guidance and strength:

Unexpected? Being that Reed was Jewish, and then add to it the whole countercultural Warhol scene, well yes. The fact that the same band has a song that graphically describes what it is like to be on heroin, without condemning it could also be seen as a contradiction.

Those in recovery who have found God might say it’s more of a direct connection.

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Queen

Most folks wouldn’t expect to hear Queen singing about God, but the fact remains that this is just one of a number of times that they did.

It then depicts Jesus’ birth and destiny as “a leader of man”. It sounds like it could have been a perfect centerpiece for a rock opera in the same vein as Jesus Christ Superstar.

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Rick Springfield

His stint as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital was essentially a launchpad for a successful career as a pop star in the 80s, notching five top ten hits, which included the chart-topping “Jessie’s Girl”. What few of us knew at the time was that he had already been on the U.S. charts about a decade earlier.

Recorded in his native Australia,“Speak to the Sky” got up to #14 on the Hot 100 in 1972. A mix of country and Dixieland, complete with a tuba doubling the bassline, the song is not only musically worlds apart from his 80s output, but lyrically as well. It serves as a testimony to the power of prayer, with lines such as this:

Speak to the sky whenever things go wrong
And you know you’re not talkin’ to the air, to the air
And the world will look better from up there
Speak to the sky ’cause things can get ya down
And you know when you’re talkin’ to the Lord, to the Lord
The world will look better than before.

Imagine the narrator in “Jessie’s Girl” suddenly turning to prayer in the final verse, asking to be freed from the obsessive and jealous spirit that’s eating him alive. Enough said.

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Sam Smith

Smith takes the same vulnerability that comes through on topics such as relationships, and turns it toward spiritual reflection on this song, released as a single. It vividly captures the inner struggle that many people in today’s world are grappling with, expressed with such a succinct honesty. Whatever you think you knew about this artist, there are more layers, friends:

I′m young and I’m foolish, I′ve made bad decisions
I block out the news, turn my back on religion
Don’t have no degree, I’m somewhat naïve
I′ve made it this far on my own

But lately, that s** ain’t been gettin’ me higher
I lift up my head and the world is on fire
There′s dread in my heart and fear in my bones
And I just don’t know what to say
Maybe I’ll pray, pray
Maybe I’ll pray
I have never believed in you, no
But I’m gonna pray

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Iron Maiden

Probably by the title and cover art alone, Iron Maiden’s third album, The Number of the Beast, caused them to be labeled Satanic by Christian groups. In reality, the title track begins with a spoken quote from the book of Revelations and none of the subsequent lyrics glorify Satan whatsoever.

Those who jumped to conclusions would have been well served by actually listening to the song, as well as taking a look into “Hallowed Be Thy Name” off of the same album. Told from the perspective of a prisoner about to be executed, it offers thoughts on the afterlife as a greater truth that is not clearly revealed in this life.

Mark my words, believe my soul lives on
Don’t worry now that I have gone
I’ve gone beyond to seek the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll begin to understand
Life down here is just a strange illusion
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Hallowed be Thy name
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Hallowed be Thy name

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The Electric Prunes

Their highest charting hit, “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” is an early example of psychedelic rock and one of the most definitive. What was unexpected was that just two years later, they would release an entire album of the Catholic mass, sung in Latin and Greek, done in the same psychedelic style.

It was impossible for them to perform live. One by one, the members quit, but a second and similar project using a new version of the group, as well as session musicians, was recorded.

Neither album would be what one would have ever expected from The Electric Prunes, but they do indeed exist and are quite spiritually moving in their own unique way.

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Lene Lovich

With her quirky music style and fashion sense, Lene Lovich stood out in the early days of new wave. Never one to follow the norm, one thing likely not expected from her was a sincere song about being watched over by angels, delivered in her typical offbeat style.

Confused and lost, like there’s no way out
Till I see a light, shining from above
So I raise my head, to salute the sky
And I feel that light, take my spirt high
The angels are watching over me, constantly they say
The angels are always close to me in every game I play
And if I win or lose…I know they’ll see me through
The angels watch my every move

Released as a single, it predated Amy Grant’s song “Angels” (1984), which expressed a similar sentiment with more words and more scripture.

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Dave Matthews Band

Written from the perspective of someone contemplating the end of their life, it features this chorus:

Pretty heavy Christian imagery from a jam band led by an agnostic.

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Godsmack

I will admit I don’t know too much about this post-grunge band, but they tend to give off a dark vibe and what I do know of them would not have prepared me to expect these lyrics in one of their songs.

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Bob Dylan

Even if it wasn’t already familiar, “Every Grain of Sand” would not come as a surprise to anyone who knew of Dylan’s “born again” phase, during which time he released three albums which were heavily spiritually themed, and at times blatantly Christian in their outlook.

As someone who has heard songs about faith practically every day of my life for as long as I can remember, I can easily say that this one expresses it more eloquently and beautifully than just about anything I’ve heard. I can’t single out one specific lyric. The entire song needs to be experienced as a whole.

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