secular songs of praise

[mandocrucian]

To qualify, in my mind, the song must also have some sort of anthemic quality. And I can't think of too many that have that in addition to the other "qualifiers".


"Salt Of The Earth" - Rolling Stones

"Crown Of Creation" - Jefferson Airplane (best sci-fi themed - evolution/natural selection - song ever written; actually most of the lyrics were lifted/adapted by Kantner from Brit sci-fi writer John Wyndham.)

"White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane (ode to chemistry)

"Everyday People" - Sly & The Family Stone

"Respect" - Aretha Franklin

"A Change Is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke

"Get Together" - The Youngbloods

and if you want to include "show tunes" (which are not of the "Born Free", "The Impossible Dream" kitsch ilk)
"Always Look On The Bright Side" - Monty Python (or..."The Lumberjack Song" - Monty Python)

[billkilpatrick]

anthems ... right. i think most of the what has been suggested so far have been particular songs relating to personal situations, specific to the artists. of course, if one of these were to suddenly become widely played, that would change. tavy's suggestion of the "one voice" song comes pretty close

another "qualifier" - i think - should be its playability. do religious hymns have a recognized formula?

not likely to be played on mandolin but this gives me goose bumps still:

[OldSausage]

Here's a new and rather good one from John D Boswell for PBS Digital Studios, this time featuring Bob Ross:

[Bill Stokes]

and if you want to include "show tunes" (which are not of the "Born Free", "The Impossible Dream" kitsch ilk)

I almost nominated "The Impossible Dream." I guess kitsch is in the ear of the beholder. The song may have been played to death two or three decades ago, but it is a secular song of praise. I recently heard it sung beautifully by a 10th grader, so that influenced my attitude here. I love that song.

So now we're adding new criteria. Qualifiers. I can't see the word "anthemic" without thinking of this bit:


Totally off-topic. Like I care.

[billkilpatrick]

Here's a new and rather good one from John D Boswell for PBS Digital Studios, this time featuring Bob Ross:

had to watch that all the way to the end - fab' - i thought all those paintings came from hong kong and were done by machines

[Gerry Hastie]

Here's a new and rather good one from John D Boswell for PBS Digital Studios, this time featuring Bob Ross:

I've been hypnotised several by Bob Ross...

[billkilpatrick]

[John L]

Here you go... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rVVnNMsDP0

http://www.youtube.com/embed/0QFxlp59sEY

[Astro]

To qualify, in my mind, is easy.

Its just qualifying in everyone else's that keeps stumping me !

Old Sausage, as usual, you nailed it (no pun intended).

We all were hypnotized by this guy as a kid. Art aside, you can tell he had a good heart. Happy Clouds and thinking like water, I'd say he's either on to something or on something.

I think the former.


Big grandiose anthems make me yawn.

Spirituality, amazement at the wonder, appreciation of the beauty, I relate more on a smaller scale...at least in my mind (pun intended).

[CelticDude]

"White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane (ode to chemistry)

LOL. I never thought of it that way. More of a "better living thru chemistry" in my mind.

[Bill Stokes]

Big grandiose anthems make me yawn.

Yeah, well. You and my friend the oboe player. She recently rattled off a list of the reasons she hates musicals. It was all the same reasons that I love 'em: They're corny and sentimental, people just randomly start singing in the middle of a sentence, they always include some epic grandiose bellow-fest, etc.

I'm surprised that there aren't more love songs being suggested. Praise of the sacred other, or whatever.

And if your list includes old chestnuts by the Byrds and Jefferson Hair Pie, why not throw in Stairway To Free Bird? (Or wait, wasn't that the title? My memory of that era seems a bit inexact, for some reason.)

[Paul Cowham]

I really like this song, and for me it is quite spiritual albeit in a secular way

[billkilpatrick]

selections tend to be subjective. hard to say what i'd call a "secular" song of praise but i expect it has a lot to do with tone. "oh what a wonderful world" is the closest - it's big, it's comprehensive, it's upbeat. oddly enough, if only the first verse were taken into account, "amazing grace" could be secular - grace through humanism.

[Astro]

Rocky Mountain High ?sort of?

[shortymack]

selections tend to be subjective. hard to say what i'd call a "secular" song of praise but i expect it has a lot to do with tone. "oh what a wonderful world" is the closest - it's big, it's comprehensive, it's upbeat. oddly enough, if only the first verse were taken into account, "amazing grace" could be secular - grace through humanism.

Been watching from the sidelines but I have to throw the instant replay flag here. No part of Amazing Grace is secular. Grace through humanism? Huh?

Call me old fashioned but I think secular and praise really don't belong in the same sentence describing music/songs. Total oxymoron IMO. Why not say 'feel good songs' or 'songs that make you happy'?

[CelticDude]

I don't think anyone's mentioned Dick Gaughan yet. Something like "Different Kind of Love Song", or his songs celebrating workers and the "common man", might fit the Bill.

Thanks for this thread, BTW, it's introduced me to all kinds of stuff I wouldn't find on my own.

[allenhopkins]

Secularized Quaker hymn, How Can I Keep From Singing:



Does still have the word "hymn" in the first verse, but you could put "song" in there instead.

Notice how many pages threads go to, when we're all posting YouTube vids?

[Beanzy]

This one always gets me smiling...

Today Is A Good Day - The Carrivick Sisters



I always thought this Dianne Reeves song with a similar name was 'secular' in Gospel style, but listening back it's not really.
Still a cracker though...


And the Ozark Mountain Daredevils were great for knocking out songs celebrating anything at all.

[Bill Stokes]

My wife and I just got home from a concert at Meadowmount. It's 20 minutes from here. We saw a performance of Mendelssohn's Octet, with Joseph Silverstein on 1st violin and students on the other parts.
Mendelssohn wrote this at age 16. It is secular; no religious dedication or programatic agenda. Is it a song of praise? I don't know. Hearing it performed by an 80-year-old master and seven teenagers caused my heart to fill up with joy.

Here is a sample of the 3rd movement. I don't know who these guys are, but the sound and skill level are comparable to what I just saw.

[Bill Stokes]

Re-reading this thread, I see that I suggested a song which had already been mentioned. (Greatest Love Of All.) Sorry about that.

Just wanted to add an "Amen" to It'll Shine When It Shines and Today Is A Good Day. Those Carrivick Sisters are dynamite. What a pair of pickers!

[Bill Stokes]

Call me old fashioned but I think secular and praise really don't belong in the same sentence describing music/songs. Total oxymoron...

Tsk, tsk. No name-calling. Perhaps "paradox" would be the thing to call it.

[OldSausage]

I don't know if this really belongs here, but 42 years later boy does it sound good:

[CES]

Supper's coming. so no time to really elaborate or read the thread, but. regarding medical advancements. Keller Williams' "Kidney in a Cooler" comes to mind

[Astro]

I'll sing a song of praise that fashion has changed since Mungo Jerry.

That doo, sideburns, fishnet shirt and pink scarf ...well I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Great song though.

[OldSausage]

I think Ray Dorset is still sporting the same look today.