# Overtly religious Top 40 hits. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130 "2019-11-07T16:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/81 "2019-11-08T06:57:19Z")
> [@](#): > > One toke over the line sweet Jesus > One toke over the line > Sittin’ downtown in a railway station > One toke over the line On second thought, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/82 "2019-11-08T09:36:34Z")
Jimmy Little got to [No. 1 in Sydney and No. 3 in Melbourne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Little) with ‘[Royal Telephone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVjJaa8fXI)’, previously done by Burl Ives. ‘You may talk to Jesus on this Royal telephone’. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/83 "2019-11-08T09:46:12Z")
The Highwaymen’s rendition of “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” made #1 on the Hot 100 in 1961, and “Dominique” by The Singing Nun topped the chart in 1963. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/84 "2019-11-08T09:55:12Z")
Louis Armstrong - “[When the Saints Go Marching In.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA)” Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/85 "2019-11-08T10:40:45Z")
Does [**Fire** by **The Crazy World of Arthur Brown**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en1uwIzI3SE) count? I mean, he does claim to be the “God of Hellfire”. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/86 "2019-11-08T10:52:17Z")
Paddy McAloon of “Prefab Sprout” contemplated Love, Elvis and God in one of my favourite albums. “[Jordan, the comeback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan:_The_Comeback)”. Religion was woven right through it and there were several top 40 hits from it but the most overtly religious songs are album tracks such as “[doo wop in Harlem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7lKTVF7P-Y&list=PLLqSiyDwUx1o-gaoamsgbCgt0rfWNbm9f&index=18)” [“one of the broken”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQiBDnxu-bA) [“mercy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StTYET71jDQ&list=PLLqSiyDwUx1o-gaoamsgbCgt0rfWNbm9f&index=16) Now I don’t give a fuzzy bollock for religion per-se but happy that great art gets prompted by whatever people feel deeply about. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/87 "2019-11-08T10:56:44Z")
I was going to make everyone vomit and mention [Dear Mr. Jesus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aiYg0BOsOs). But a check of Wiki says it only made it to #61, thus disqualifying it for this thread. You’ve all been spared! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/88 "2019-11-08T11:08:26Z")
Apparently **“Pray”** by **MC Hammer** made it all the way to #2 in some charts. Unequivocally religious. Less clear: \*\*“God Only Knows” \*\*by **the Beach Boys** ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/89 "2019-11-08T12:47:59Z")
U2 actually has a few of these. In addition to ‘40’ and ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ we could include ‘Gloria’. It sounds like a song about a girl but it’s Latin. > [@](#): > > Gloria in te domine > Gloria exultate > Oh Lord, if I had anything > Anything at all, I’d give it to you ‘Pride (In the name of love)’ references Christ, Jonah and Judas in a verse. > [@](#): > > One man caught on a barbed wire fence > One man he resist > One man washed up on an empty beach > One man betrayed with a kiss A very catholic young man, our Bono. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/90 "2019-11-08T13:38:05Z")
If you want to marvel at how much the UK charts of changed over the years, check out Lena Martell at number 1 in 1979, with One Day At a Time. [Lena Martell on Top of the Pops](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGd2kuMIJIo) Look at that studio audience, awkwardly shuffling around. They’d been hoping for The Jam or The Police… and they got Lena Martell. It doesn’t get much more religious than that. Until, of course, twenty years later, along came [Cliff Richard with his Millennium Prayer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL9yDb134Rk) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/91 "2019-11-08T14:21:32Z")
_[Heart Like Mine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyL78Jy867Q)_ by Miranda Lambert was number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and 44 on the Hot 100. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/92 "2019-11-08T15:14:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Louis Armstrong - “[When the Saints Go Marching In.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA)” > > Does that count? If it does, then every recording of **Dem Bones** should count, too. In case you don’t know, this is the song with the verse with all the “—bone connected to the — bone”: > [@](#): > > Head bone (dis)connected from the neck bone > Neck bone connected from the shoulder bone > Shoulder bone connected from the back bone > Back bone connected from the hip bone > Hip bone connected from the thigh bone > Thigh bone connected from the knee bone > Knee bone connected from the shin bone > Shin bone connected from the ankle bone > Ankle bone connected from the heel bone > Heel bone connected from the foot bone > Foot bone connected from the toe bone I was surprised to learn that the song is a spiritual, with biblical roots: > [@](#): > > The lyrics are inspired by Ezekiel 37:1-14, where the prophet Ezekiel visits the “Valley of Dry Bones”[2] and prophesies that they will one day be resurrected at God’s command, picturing the realization of the New Jerusalem > **[Dem Bones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dem_Bones)** > > "Dem Bones" (also called "Dry Bones" and "Dem Dry Bones") is a spiritual song. The melody was composed by author and songwriter James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. It was first recorded by The Famous Myers Jubilee Singers in 1928. Both a long and a shortened version of the song are widely known. The lyrics are inspired by Ezekiel 37:1–14, in which the prophet Ezekiel visits the Valley of Dry Bones and prophesies that they will one day be resurrected at God The c... > [@](#): > > Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians recorded the song on 30 April 1947 and released it on the 78 rpm record Decca 23948.[3]. It is used in the 1986 BBC television serial The Singing Detective. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/93 "2019-11-08T15:37:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If it does, then every recording of **Dem Bones** should count, too. > > In case you don’t know, this is the song with the verse with all the “—bone connected to the — bone”: > > I was surprised to learn that the song is a spiritual, with biblical roots: > > [Dem Bones - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dem_Bones) How many recordings of **Dem Bones** hit the Top 40? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/94 "2019-11-08T15:40:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If it does, then every recording of **Dem Bones** should count, too. > > In case you don’t know, this is the song with the verse with all the “—bone connected to the — bone”: > > I was surprised to learn that the song is a spiritual, with biblical roots: > > [Dem Bones - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dem_Bones) I first heard it on _ **The Munsters** _. [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=herman+munster+sings](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=herman+munster+sings) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/95 "2019-11-08T15:42:27Z")
BTW, Louis Armstrong’s version of “When The Saints Go Marching In” hit the Top Ten. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/96 "2019-11-08T15:49:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How many recordings of **Dem Bones** hit the Top 40? I have no idea how high Fred Waring’s version charted. But the criticism is irrelevant to my comment. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/97 "2019-11-08T15:51:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I have no idea how high Fred Waring’s version charted. > > But the criticism is irrelevant to my comment. I believe the request is for _overtly_ _religious_ songs that hit the _Top 40_. ---
**Author:** ![Taesahnim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taesahnim/32/84_2.png) [@Taesahnim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taesahnim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/98 "2019-11-08T15:52:15Z")
TEEN ANGEL, from back in the 60s. And how about JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL, by Carrie Underwood. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/99 "2019-11-08T15:59:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I believe the request is for _overtly_ _religious_ songs that hit the _Top 40_. I was commenting on the suggestion that “When the Saints go Marching In” being eligible by virtue of being religious. I had no idea that any version might have broken the top 40. I figured Dem Bones was as familiar a song as Saints, and was commenting on that basis. I was unaware that Armonstrong’s version broke the Top Ten. I still haven’t verified this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130/100 "2019-11-08T16:07:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Louis Armstrong - “[When the Saints Go Marching In.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA)” > > Does that count? I thought that was about an NFL team. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtly-religious-top-40-hits/843130.md?page=6)