Archive for July, 2004

Year One

Posted by on Thursday, 1 July, 2004

In honor of my rebirth day, (which was yesterday, procrastinator that I am) I have been putting together a “Year One” list of songs that I heard a lot on the radio, in church (or both) or just in my head.

“Natural Blues”(Moby): At the time, I thought that the lyrics were, “Don’t nobody know my troubles WITH God,” and I identified it with my own, um, kicking against the goads, shall we say? It turns out, the lyrics are actually “Don’t nobody know my troubles BUT God,” which is not nearly as clever, nor original for that matter. Oh well, A fine song none the less. (Although, isn’t Moby a Buddhist?)

“Rest”(Skillet): This is one of the first songs I remember hearing early in my exploration of Christian music.

“He Reigns”(Newsboys): This song reminds me of the time I spent in Africa. (Perhaps it’s the first line: “It’s the song of the redeemed, rising from the African plains.”) This song is also just so… happy, in dramatic contrast to the dark music I was used to.

“Gone”(Switchfoot): This band sounds A LOT like Third Eye Blind, if the latter were to become a Christian band. I never particularity cared for 3EB, but this song is pretty catchy.

“Spirit in the Sky”: I always thought this was a cool song… if only it wasn’t about Jesus? … BUT being saved, I’m free to like it without reservation. Good deal. Originally by a fellow named Norman Greenbaum, but D.C. Talk does a nice little version.

“In Your Eyes”: I heard this a lot last summer. Without changing a word (as far as I know) some chanteuse turned this Peter Gabriel tune into a worship song. (Although, I don’t actually know who she is…?)

“Richest Man”(Dakona): Just one of those tunes that gets stuck in your head for days.

“O Praise Him”(David Crowder Band): As far as technical merit, I have nothing to say about this one, but for some reason I really like it.

“Grace Like Rain” (Todd Agnew): A very cool rework of a certain other song.

“Amazing Grace” (Traditional): That’s the one.

“Unchanging”(Chris Tomlin), “Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)” (Brown/Doerksen): Two songs often performed by the church band. I used to get a little confused between them, (“Your love is amazing, steady and Unchanging”) but they are both quite good.

“Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen): I have never actually heard this song all the way through, just clips of several versions by various artists. I learned how to play it (sort of) and, from the multiple versions of lyrics, compiled four verses that seemed appropriate to my particular situation.

“You Are My King (Amazing love)” (Newsboys): A good song to really drive the point home.