Oh Happy Day
I typically stay away from any sort of religious discussion. Remember I follow the wise words of an elder, “Never argue Politics, Religion or Sex”. However when it comes to music I think I can hold my own in regards to the good holy stuff.
Since we are in the middle of Lent, the celebration of Ramadan and Passover is coming up, I thought I would bring back some great music that has some religious context.
First song is my all time favorite religious song, “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers featuring Dorothy Morrison. There is absolutely no reason to dislike this song and I will fight anyone who challenges me. What Would Jesus Do? I am sure he would be in my corner when I bounced the fool who doesn’t love this song. It is one of the most uplifting songs you will ever hear. Having gone to a couple of Baptist services down South I can tell you this song would fit right in with the spirit and joy of the moment. Religion would have more success getting young people back if they could reproduce what this song represents.
Next up is one of those classic 60’s songs that we all know and love, “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum. This song has one of the most recognizable opening riffs in rock and roll. It is a simple song about going to Heaven and to some it may have zero religious meaning but for most people it does.
This might be a stretch but I have always thought of “Lightning Crashes” by Live as a spiritual song. It juxtaposes the death of someone with the birth of a baby. In some metaphysical way it is about the transference of life. The mystery and magic of a baby being born could definitely take on religious overtones.
“Are You Ready” by Pacific Gas and Electric is another song that transcended religious rock and became a hit in 1970. The band was multicultural and they wanted to try and bring something more meaningful to their catalog. The longer album version is the one you should look for. Their lead guitarist played with Hendrix and Clapton over the years and you really can see why on the longer version.
I wasn’t going to include “Jesus is Just Alright” in this list because it is too obvious but either version by The Byrds or The Doobie Brothers is excellent. I have heard a live version by The Doobies somewhere and it was 15 minutes of the band just really getting into the song. You know me, I love a good 15 minute song.
While I don’t necessarily think that “I say A Little Prayer’ by Dionne Warwick is a rock song. I mean it was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for God’s sake, but it was more about praying for the kids that were fighting in Vietnam and any song about praying and protecting the soldiers in war fits on my list.
Speaking of the Vietnam War, I will put “Sky Pilot” by Eric Burden and The Animals on this list. It is the story of a man of the cloth praying for the soldiers before going to battle and seeing the results when they return to base. It got very limited airplay on AM radio but was an underground hit on FM.
I know this will be sacrilege but I don’t care. “Sympathy For The Devil” is the reverse of all this religiousness. It is the bad boy Rolling Stones at their best, lifting up the Devil and trying to say he should have a voice in all this too. Everyone by now knows how I feel about this song so I won’t get into that but we are talking religion and religious songs and Beelzebub does have a following. I will say it once again though, the video of this song is the best rock and roll videos you will ever see.
“Waiting for The Bus/Jesus left Chicago” by ZZ Top may not be a religious song per se but you listen to the lyrics and tell me that the band is not giving credit to Jesus for the music they know and love. Jesus may have left Chicago on a bus to New Orleans but he made stops along the way and those stops created the Blues as we know it today. Amen to that.
I am going to include “Jesus” by Queen for a couple of reasons. One, Freddie Mercury was as far from a religious zealot as you will ever find yet, this song, could be written by someone with deep Christian roots. I think it is amazing that a hedonist like Mercury could write a song about the virtues of a man like Jesus Christ. Second, it might be the worst song Queen ever did. It sounds like Freddie Mercury started with a great idea and then lost interest in making the music match the words in the song. Maybe that was the whole point.
“Baba O’Riley” by The Who was supposed to be about the Indian Guru Meher Baba who was for a time, Pete Townsends spiritual guide, but turned into something much more. It, as you know, was the first rock song to use a synthesizer to any extent and the stories about this song could fill a book. It became an anthem of sorts with most listeners never realizing the spiritual nature of its beginnings.
My last song is by Cat Stevens. No matter what anyone says, I love Cat Stevens and I think almost all of his music is simple and sublime. Born a Catholic, he converted to Islam in 1977 and if you really listen to his lyrics, most of his songs could have some religious connotation. One song that stands out is “Morning Has Broken”. This song is actually a Christian hymn written back in the 30’s. It is about giving thanks each day for the blessings we have. It doesn’t take a zealot to understand that sentiment.