# Rock Of Ages, or Holy $%#@ ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391 "2004-05-04T01:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/41 "2004-05-04T23:48:29Z")
_shudders_ P.O.D. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/42 "2004-05-05T00:13:39Z")
Try some Daniel Amos. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/43 "2004-05-05T01:03:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Sting ‘If I Ever Lose My Faith In You’ While IMHO not one of his best songs, it’s still a good one. I doubt very, very much that this is a song about Jesus. Sting has got some major issues with organized religion–he says as much in the second line of the song after all–and it’s a recurring theme in a lot of his music. I’m not saying it’s definitely not about God/Jesus…Just that the man who wrote **All This Time** doesn’t strike me as the sort to write a love song to God… ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/44 "2004-05-05T01:25:25Z")
…_Holy Nipple Clamps of Antioch_…? Seriously, though… think about this. There are a zillion garage bands that really really wanna release albums via major labels. There are maybe a hundred Christian garage bands that really really wanna release albums via major labels. There are a fair number of Christian bookstores and Jesus supply shops out there that require a more or less constant flow of Jesus stuff (at least, I assume as much). One presumes that this demand is met by Corporations That Manufacture Jesus Stuff, in this case, one of a few Jesus Record Labels. Therefore, only really good non-religious musicians release albums, as they are competing in a much larger field. On the other hand, durn near any idiot with the Holy Ghost and three chords can become a famous Christian rocker. Think about it. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/45 "2004-05-05T01:28:06Z")
My favorite Christian song has gotta be the oldie-but-goodie, Agnus Dei: [/QUOTE] Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem [QUOTE] Christian artists haven’t come up with anything this good in the last 1200 years! ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/46 "2004-05-05T01:57:38Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > My favorite Christian song has gotta be the oldie-but-goodie, Agnus Dei … Or, as it appeared in the program for my friend’s recent Catholic wedding, “Anus Dei.” ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/47 "2004-05-05T02:16:24Z")
**Rockle** I lived in Virginia from birth to age 16. I think I was in my twenties before I’d heard of Zipperhead or the Muttermuseum, or seen a Mummers string band live. **Eutychus** I prefer his relatives, Famous and Tori. I hope someday they collaborate on some type of musical cookie. **Pepperlandgirl** I could be wrong. I do remember part of the video involving a spinning coat rack hung with crosses. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/48 "2004-05-05T03:05:13Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > **Rockle** I lived in Virginia from birth to age 16. I think I was in my twenties before I’d heard of Zipperhead or the Muttermuseum, or seen a Mummers string band live. Ah. Forgiven, then. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/49 "2004-05-05T04:06:50Z")
There is good Christian rock, but unfortunately quality, originality, and depth are inversely proportional to commercial success, even more so than in “secular” music. Case in point: > [@Eutychus](#): > > Try some Daniel Amos. (I wonder if Kalhoun, the Doper, knows that she’s named after an [album](http://www.danielamos.com/da/kalhoun/) by this band.) Their alter egos, the Swirling Eddies, have an album called Sacred Cows on which they take bad Christian songs by the likes of Stryper, Amy Grant, and DC Talk and redo them as really really _really_ bad Christian songs. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/50 "2004-05-05T06:58:37Z")
But why listen to Christian Rock when we’ve got gospel and gospel/R&B? Give me some ‘John the Revelator’ or even Elvis doing ‘How Great Thou Art’. Then there are the gospel groups, like the Blackwood brothers. There’s plenty of quality Christian music. It’s not just Christian rock. Even though I’m agnostic, I love gospel. My grandfather used to play the Blackwood Brothers on our old RCA record player when I was a kid, and I loved it then and still do. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/51 "2004-05-05T17:26:01Z")
I’m with you, **Sam** , on ‘John the Revelator’ (I assume you’re referring to Son House’s version?) I also like Elvis’ version of ‘Peace in the Valley’. For more older blues-tinged gospel, one of my favorites is ‘Oh Death’ by Charlie Patton, and too many to name by Blind Willie Johnson. ‘Walking in Memphis’ by Mark Cohen had a very relevant verse: _Murial plays piano, every night at the Hollywood And they took me down to see her, and she asked me if I would Do a little number, and I sang with all my might, And she said, “Tell me are you a Christian, child?” And I said, “Ma’am, I am tonight”_ ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/52 "2004-05-05T17:58:13Z")
In my experience, there are two kinds of Christian rock: 1. Those written for non-Christians but generally only reach Christians 2. Those written for non-Christians and piss everybody off Mind you, my Christian rock experience is rather limited to DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Newsboys, Reliant K (ack), and POD (severe ack). As a pianist, and someone who gets tunes stuck in her head very easily, I get very annoyed at the repetitiveness of modern music. (I can’t quite bring myself to hate the Beatles, though. They’re so damn catchy.) But there are days when my mood can appreciate, say, Jars of Clay’s _Flood_, and I didn’t mind singing those occasionally cheesy “I love you Jesus” type songs with my Bible study. I think it was partially due to the infectious mood of the guitarist, though. I prefer the old school (and I do mean OLD) hymns any day. Singing “A Mighty Fortress is My God” still gives me goosebumps (in a good way), especially in the presence of a skilled organist. Those were the songs that even made an atheist stand up and take off his hat in reverence. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391/53 "2004-05-05T18:53:44Z")
Hopefully, Christian Rock will begin to you know, rock, since Prince became a Jehovah’s Witness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-of-ages-or-holy/243391.md?page=2)