Songs About Religion & This Week's Statistics

Easter is upon us: it’s a week from now in the Western world and in a couple of weeks in the Eastern world. So, I thought that today we could look at songs dealing with religion. Spoiler alert: some of the songs will certainly not please the devout. But, hey, they exist and are part of our cultural heritage. Let’s go!

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Many have found similarities between the hippie movement in the late 60s – early 70s and early Christianity. Also, it was the time that many rock stars were influenced by the sayings and writings of Eastern religious leaders, mainly Indian. So, it was only natural that this was the period that many such – not necessarily conventional - songs would surface. For example, Pete Townshend of the Who was so influenced by Indian spiritual master Meher Baba that he dedicated to him his monumental rock opera, Tommy (1969). The whole concept of the album is spiritual – and that is particularly evident at the end, with the 

See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You finale. This is the version from Ken Russell’s 1975 film of the same name:

Their next album, Who’s Next (1971) was also influenced by Pete’s spiritual quest. The opening track, Baba O’Reilly, quite obviously references Meher Baba, while Bargain is a love song to God:

“I'd gladly lose me to find you

I'd gladly give up all I had

To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad”

The Who’s next rock opera, Quadrophenia (1973), is also influenced by spirituality. What else is the closing track, Love Reign O’er Me, if not a prayer:

To finish with The Who, even their collection of mostly previously unreleased tracks, Odds & Sods, contains Faith in Something Bigger:

While the Rolling Stones were busy singing about the devil (naturally) – the Beatles were having a complicated relationship with God. George Harrison was the Beatle that was affected by the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the most – but John Lennon was the first to incorporate Eastern spirituality in Tomorrow Never Knows:

George Harrison followed soon after with Within You Without You:

After the Beatles broke up, Harrison returned to the subject with My Sweet Lord. Harrison wanted to write a religious song that would fit in both his original as well as his adopted religion, so shouts of “Hare Krishna” were interspersed with shouts of “Hallelujah”.

Meanwhile, a disillusioned John Lennon gave us his own version of God:

“God is a concept

By which we measure our pain”

The Weight by The Band is not a song about religion per se, yet its theme is mystical with many religious allusions: Nazareth, the Devil, the Judgement Day, and the mysterious Miss Fanny “Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.”

Soon after Tommy, another rock opera was born. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Tim Rice’s best work, Jesus Christ Superstar. Staying faithful to the main story, the opera emphasizes the human side of Jesus and the people around him. The original Jesus and Judas on the 1970 concept album were Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan and Sunday Bloody Sunday’s Murray Head, respectively. The 1973 Norman Jewison film starred Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson as Judas. The movie was filmed in Israel – and during the overture we see the cast, dressed as hippies, traveling through the desert. They exit the bus and put on the Biblical robes. It’s eerily effective:

Judas separates himself from the others right away and voices his doubts on the direction they are heading to:

… He even criticizes Mary Magdalene’s use of expensive ointment for Jesus’ feet and hair:

The Priests, led by Caiaphas and Annas, decide that Jesus Must Die:

… And they involve Judas in their plan:

During the Last Supper, Jesus and Judas get real with each other:

… Later, at Gethsemane, Jesus has a conversation with his father – one of the highlights:

Judas’ Death is another highly dramatic scene:

In the presence of Pilate, Jesus says little. It is Pilate that we see unwinding before us:

… While Superstar is a fantasy number, in which Judas confronts Jesus, in the absence of the latter:

… Finally, the cast pack up, get on the bus and leave. They are sad. Jesus is not among them.

The play was recently remade for TV with John Legend in the role of Jesus. It received good reviews but I haven’t seen it, so I’ll stick to the one that I’ve repeatedly seen and has hugely influenced me.

In 1971 there was another successful musical on the subject of Jesus. It was composed by Stephen Schwartz and called Godspell. Day By Day, a song from the play, was a #13 hit in the US:

Also in 1971, Puerto Rican legend Jose Feliciano came up with a poignant song called Come Down Jesus, in which the singer is appealing to Jesus to return in order to fix what is wrong with the world today:

Also in 1971, Judee Sill sang Jesus Was a Cross Maker:

Freddie Mercury wrote and sang the song, Jesus, in Queen’s debut album in 1973. It was a celebratory song:

Then came punk rock, which considered organized religion as one of the forces of the establishment that were “the enemy” so it wasn’t too kind to it. Patti Smith opens her magnificent version of Van Morrison's Gloria with the words: “Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.”

When Johnny Rotten left the Sex Pistols he assumed his given name, John Lydon, and formed Public Image Ltd. Their song, Religion, was a direct attack against Christianity:

“Stained glass windows keep the cold outside
While the hypocrites hide inside
With the lies of statues in their minds
Where the Christian religion made them blind
Where they hide
And pray to the God of a bitch spelled backwards is dog
Not for one race, one creed, one world
But for money
Effective
Absurd”

The Pet Shop Boys’ It’s A Sin was a huge hit in 1987. The song is a description of Neil Tennant's Catholic upbringing and education, implying that everything that is perceived to be pleasurable in life is regarded as sinful.

Two years earlier, Kate Bush released one of her best songs, Running Up That Hill, originally titled A Deal With God:

In 1985, Kris Kristofferson released They Killed Him. It is a tribute to his martyred personal heroes: Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1986, XTC released Dear God, in which a child writes a letter to God, and says:

“Dear God, hope you get the letter and
I pray you can make it better down here
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat from God
I can't believe in you”

Two years later, Midge Ure released a song of the same title. It was considerably less caustic but still questioning:

“Dear God, can you hear me crying
A whole world crying
Looking for something to say
We had it all and we threw it all away
Is there somebody watching
Somebody watching over the mess that we've made
We're lost and alone and afraid”

Also in 1988, came Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds masterpiece, The Mercy Seat. The song is about a criminal convicted to die. The man has religion hallucinations, seeing “The face of Jesus in my soup” and he also makes this wry comment:

“I hear stories from the chamber
How Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
Died upon the cross
And might I say it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that's what I'm told”

Johnny Cash’s cover was as good as the original:

Then, in 1989, Madonna released one of her best and most successful songs, Like a Prayer, about a passionate young girl in love with God, who becomes the only male figure in her life.

Also in 1989, Depeche Mode released one of their best songs, Personal Jesus, inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley:

This is a great cover version, again by Johnny Cash:

In 1994, Tori Amos asked God, “God sometimes you just don't come through, Do you need a woman to look after you?”:

In 1995, Joan Osborne wondered, “What if God was one of us?” and had a big hit with it:

In 1996, George Michael released the tender ballad Jesus To A Child, a melancholy tribute to his late lover Anselmo Feleppa:

In 2004 Morrissey released I Have Forgiven Jesus, in which he said:

“With God's help, I know,
I'll always be near to you
But Jesus hurt me,
When he deserted me, but,

I have forgiven you, Jesus,
For all the desire,
You placed in me when

there's nothing I can do

with this desire”

There are thousands of songs on the subject: religion is the second most potent generator of songs after love and its consequences. There is a category of its own, the Christmas song – but since we’re near Easter, I don’t think it’s the appropriate time to examine this genre. Requiems, however, are very suitable for Easter, so let’s listen to a part of one of the greatest, Mozart’s Requiem. The part is called Lacrimosa:

I have not forgotten gospel songs. Most, if not all, great black musicians have their roots firmly planted on the church music that they grew up with. So, here’s a list of great gospel songs:

Mahalia Jackson, a singer with one of the finest voices in this history of gospel music, did full justice to this joyous spiritual from 1927. Her moving version of He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands even reached the 1958 Billboard charts, a strong showing for a gospel single at the time when Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis were dominating the rankings.

You could fill a whole list of the best gospel songs just with Mahalia Jackson’s music, so a special mention also goes for her 1958 version of Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho, sung with such feeling and gusto.

… Also, His Eye Is On The Sparrow:

Move On Up A Little Higher was another seminal hit for Mahalia Jackson. However, there is a striking version of the song, written by the Baptist minister William Herbert Brewster in the 40s, which was recorded by Marian Anderson, the celebrated contralto singer from Philadelphia. Since I couldn't find Anderson's version on YouTube - and since listening to a fourth song by Mahalia Jackson would be too much - here is another great gospel song that Marian Anderson sang, Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child:

Many of the best gospel songs lent themselves to jazz interpretations. This famous spiritual, Down By The Riverside – also known as Ain’t Gonna Study War No More and Gonna Lay Down My Burden – has its origins in the American Civil War (1861-65), though it was not actually published until 1918, when it appeared in Plantation Melodies: A Collection of Modern, Popular And Old-Time Negro-Songs Of The Southland, Chicago. The song, which is full of searing Biblical imagery, has been recorded by hundreds of leading musicians, including Bing Crosby, Johnny Cash, and Van Morrison. Nat King Cole sang it regularly at concerts.

This 1956 modern gospel gem easily makes the list of Best Gospel Songs Of All Time and was penned speedily while soul singer Sam Cooke was on his way to a recording session with his group The Soul Stirrers. Their majestic harmonizing on Touch The Hem Of His Garment is a lovely example of male quartet singing from that period in American music when vocal groups were so popular.

Morning Has Broken is a hymn written by the English children’s author Eleanor Farjeon in 1931. Cat Stevens’ almost reverential arrangement of the song – featuring the expressive piano playing of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman – was recorded in 1971 for his album Teaser And The Firecat. The single reached #6 in the US charts. Stevens later admitted: “I accidentally fell upon the song when I was going through a slightly dry period. I came across this hymnbook, found this one song, and thought, ‘This is good.’ I put the chords to it and then it started becoming associated with me.”

“God’s not into pop music,” joked Paul Simon recently, “he likes the gospel shows.” This modern classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was written by Simon and recorded in 1970 by him and Art Garfunkel. A year later, Aretha Franklin noted its potential to stand alongside some of the best gospel songs and released a more overtly gospel version.

This is the original version:

This is Aretha Franklin’s version:

This haunting gospel spiritual tells the biblical story of Mary Of Bethany and her pleas to Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. Springsteen said that the challenge of singing gospel music is that “you have to find your individual place in it”. O Mary Don’t You Weep, which was an inspiration for Bridge Over Troubled Water, is a song that has also been widely recorded, including versions by Pete Seeger and Burl Ives.

Louis Armstrong brought emotion and depth to this powerful spiritual song, Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen, written during the period of slavery and published in 1867. The song has been popular with other jazz musicians, and among noted cover versions are those by Harry James and, more recently, Dr. John, in his tribute album to Satchmo.

Proving that the best gospel songs truly span genres, in 1994, country singer Alison Krauss teamed up with The Cox Family (who later appeared in the Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou?) to record the album I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. Among the range of fine songs on the album is the gorgeous I’d Rather Have Jesus, written by the gospel star George Beverly Shea. Shea appeared live in front of hundreds of millions of people in his career as a singer with preacher Billy Graham. Krauss and The Cox Family won a Grammy for Best Southern, Country Or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

Country singer Patty Griffin has written two fine modern gospel songs, Heavenly Day and Up To The Mountain (MLK Song), the latter of which was covered by Susan Boyle. Griffin went on to make a gospel album with The Staple Singers, called Downtown Church, which was recorded in the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville. This is Up To The Mountain:

Speaking of The Staple Singers, they were an amazing family group that bridged the gap between gospel and R&B. I'll Take You There, which features lead singer Mavis Staples inviting her listeners to seek Heaven, was a #1 pop hit in the US:

Some of what we think of as the best gospel songs actually began life outside of the church. Sinnerman, one of my favorites, was based on a traditional African-American spiritual, which started life as a Scottish folk song. It was a tune Nina Simone would have heard at her local church, where she was the pianist from an early age. She would sometimes perform live versions of the song that lasted nearly 15 minutes.

Aretha Franklin was only 14 when she recorded the 1956 album Songs Of Faith (later reissued in 1983 as Aretha Gospel) at the New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father was the reverend. Among the remarkable performances is her version of There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood by the English 18th-century hymn writer and poet William Cowper.

What A Friend We Have, a gospel standard, which was written by the influential gospel composer Thomas Andrew Dorsey, has been covered by numerous leading musicians, including Little Richard and Elvis Presley. In 1960, country music singer Tennessee Ernie Ford had a hit with it for Capitol Records.

This may be one of the most beloved hymns/spiritual songs of the past two centuries. The soaring words and melody, describing a profound religious joy, strike a chord around the world, and Amazing Grace is estimated to have appeared on more than 11,000 albums, including one featuring a version by Ray Charles with the London Symphony Orchestra.

There are also terrific versions by Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, and Willie Nelson. Among them, my favorite by Judy Collins:

Fanny Crosby, who was known as the Queen Of Gospel Song Writers, wrote Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour in 1868. More than a century later, it was recorded by Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan, who is thought to have learned his version from The Stanley Brothers. In the late 70s and early 80s, Dylan also released a so-called “Christian Trilogy” of albums, including Saved, which features his own songs, such as Precious Angel.

Robert Plant and Randy Travis have both sung versions of this traditional spiritual called Jesus On The Mainline - but the finest version is the tour-de-force live one by Ry Cooder And The Chicken Skin Band. A haunting example of roots music gospel.

Written by noted gospel songwriter Albert E Brumley, I’ll Fly Away was recorded by close-harmony specialists and identical twins The Kossoy Sisters in 1956. A sublime version by Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss was later used by the Coen Brothers in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Kanye West has even recorded a version.

My God Is Real (Yes, God Is Real) is from Johnny Cash’s 1962 album Hymns From The Heart. Arkansas-born Cash said that when he was 16, he came in from working in the fields where he used to sing gospel songs he had heard on the radio. He recalled: “I sang those old gospel songs for my mother, and she said, ‘Is that you?’ And I said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ And she came over and put her arms around me and said, ‘God’s got his hands on you.’”

Oh, Happy Day is a 1967 gospel arrangement of an 18th-century hymn, and it was another song to reach the mainstream charts. The version by Edwin Hawkins Singers reached #4 on the US singles charts, #2 in Britain and Ireland, and was #1 in France and Germany. The band won a Grammy for best soul gospel performance in 1970.

A favorite of vocal groups since The Fisk Jubilee Singers’ version in 1909, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is sung regularly in churches and has also become a favorite at sporting venues around the globe. There is a remarkably affecting version by blues legend Big Bill Broonzy on his Last Sessions album, recorded in 1961, shortly before his death.

This celebrated feel-good song (with lyrics that take much of their inspiration from the Book Of Revelations) became something of a jazz-gospel standard after Louis Armstrong’s impressive 1938 version. However, When The Saints Go Marching In also features in a brilliant instrumental version by the New Orleans legend Sidney Bechet.

Give Me That Old Time Religion, a traditional gospel song from 1873 is thought to have its roots in English folk music. It has proved popular with country music singers – Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, and Charlie Rich have covered it – but perhaps the pick is a vibrant version by Etta James.

“It’s my goal to try to lead people to the manufacturer of their souls,” said Kirk Franklin, who won the 12th and 13th Grammy awards of his career in 2017 for his comeback album Losing My Religion. The track Wanna Be Happy? includes a portion of Tired Of Being Alone sung with Al Green, the veteran soul singer who also has a distinguished gospel pedigree, winning eight Best Soul Gospel Performance Grammy Awards.

The best gospel songs continue to enthrall, as Chance The Rapper shows with his 2016 song Blessings. This intense and moving song features gospel singer Byron Cage and is built on the sound of a full gospel choir.

Doris Day cut a sweet version of Abide With Me for her 1962 album You’ll Never Walk Alone, but there is a very striking interpretation of the gospel classic by Thelonious Monk. His jazz instrumental take, for his 1957 album Monk’s Music, features jazz giants John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins and drummer Art Blakey.

Finally, these are our statistics; It was a good week, a 14% increase in visits over the previous week. Last week’s story did well but the story with the most visits has been the one concerning Alicia Bridges from 16 months ago. In fact, I googled to make sure she’s still alive. Thankfully, she is.

As far as countries are concerned, most major players kept their percentages stable. Minor gains for the United States, Australia,  the Netherlands, Brazil, and Ukraine and minor losses for France. Otherwise, no changes.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. the United Kingdom

3. Russia

4. Australia

5. Canada

6. the Netherlands

7. Germany

8. France

9. Ukraine

10. Brazil

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, and Zambia. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 33.9%

2. France = 16.1%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.3%

4. Greece = 7.6%

5. Russia = 2.8%

6. Canada = 2.0%

7. Germany = 1.99%

8. Australia = 0.97%

9. Italy = 0.87%

10. Cyprus = 0.77%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!