Part 2 of 5:
"Presence of the Lord," Bind Faith. Clapton, never much of a spiritual sort in the 1960s and 1970s, did sing these lyrics while part of Blind Faith: "I have finally found a place to live / Just like I never could before / And I know I don't have much to give / But soon I'll open any door. / Everybody knows the secret, / Everybody knows the score. / I have finally found a place to live / In the presence of the Lord. Later in life, Clapton talks openly of his 12-step experience and the beginning of his prayer life following the death of his son, in 1987. Read Christianity Today's piece on Blind Faith's "Presence of the Lord" here.
"Gotta Serve Somebody," Bob Dylan. "Slow Train Coming," Dylan's "Christian album" is chock full of songs fitting of the season, and this one cuts right to the point.
"Roll Me Away, Bob Seger." OK hang with me on this one it may be a stretch. We were made to be free, and given a freewill ... and Seger's anthem to personal freedom is as close to being spiritual as any song that's not actually a spiritual song. The melody itself will lift you up. There ... I'm stickin' with it.
"Shenandoah," Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Sometimes (many times even) words aren't needed and the melody alone is enough to move the spirit.
"The Rising," Bruce Springsteen. If you don't get a cold chill considering the meaning of these lyrics, wow ... not sure it's possible not to feel it. Miami Steve's chlling slide guitar work mixing with the choral vocals tell the story of the firemen who ascended the Twin Towers on 9/11 ... only on subsequent listens those lyrics could just as easily pertain about the first responders' climb up a stairway to heaven. One of the most emotional, spiritual rock and roll songs ever written.
"Love is the Answer," England Dan and John Ford Coley. John Ford Coley told me a couple of years ago when he and former singing partner, the late Dan Seals, wrote the song, they were practicing a non-Christian religion. You wouldn't know it listening to this timeless message of how love makes everything right.
"Jesus Was An Only Son," Bruce Springsteen. "Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands / Whispered, "Mother, still your tears, / For remember the soul of the universe / Willed a world and it appeared." Springsteen alludes to his Catholic upbringing often throughout his career -- so often you could probably make a half a lenten song list composed of nothing but Springsteen songs. Nowhere is he more direct in his religiosity than in this from "Devils and Dust."
"A Ride Back Home," John Mellencamp. The song's narrator is as down on man's inhumanity to man as you can get, but he still has hope of getting through the pearly gates -- if only Jesus will give him a hand up.
Extra credit:
Thanks to Lisa for submitting Radney Foster's "A Little Revival"
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