Mighty Clouds Of Joy B.J. Thomas
Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Bobby Bare
Plastic Jesus, King Earl Boogie Band
Hosanna, from Jesus Christ, Superstar
Lazarus, Buffy Sainte Marie
Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side
Bathory - Valhalla
Mercyful Fate - The Oath
Venom - Welcome to Hell
…hey, you didn’t specify which gods.
Jisas Yu Holem Hand Blong Mi; the Coptic Golgotha hymn; various Gregorian chants; “The Fight Song” by Marilyn Manson.
To be clear: I love this song. It’s angry spit, and incisive take-no-shit attitude, complete with a child’s voice making it clear what the stakes are; doesn’t get any better.
But come on, I would prefer to try to honor the intent of the OP.
I am not a believer, but an obvious choice comes to mind that unfortunately I can’t link to: The Cross by Prince, off Sign O’ the Times. Simple, two-chord structure. Acoustic strummy simplicity for a long time. Then it adds layers and layers and just builds with choir/gospel singing, a great hook and more and more and more. It captures me.
[quote=“Wesley_Clark, post:8, topic:727926”]
P.O.D. - Alive (I’m not sure this song is about spirituality, but it seems to be about an existential crisis)
[/QUOTE]It’s about being a newly born-again Christian. So is Kansas’ “The Wall”.
Since the OP already said “One of Us” (which is what I thought of, yeah)…
“Bus Stop” by David Bowie & Reeves Gabrels (played 2x at this link: once country-fried and once tin-machined, and I dunno which I like better)
Mr Mister had several good ones, inluding “Power over Me”
Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins singers is my all time fave.
Speaking of townshend I just listened to molto versions of Pure and Easy today. It’s so great. The lyrics and the tune. Great spiritual statement.
I’m not religious but I do enjoy these.
“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” - Led Zeppelin (adaption of Blind Willie Johnson’s “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine”)
“Sinnerman” - Nina Simone (cover of gospel standard)
“Wade in the Water” - Eva Cassidy (jazz vocal cover of African-American spiritual)
King Missile, Jesus Was Way Cool. It’s a silly song, but we always used to fall quiet at the end of it with the sentiments and the lovely piano outro.
Kind of old and obscure. But I’ve liked “The Bells of Christmas” - Julie Andrews 1965 since I was a kid. She had such a beautiful voice. (P.S. I don’t go back to 1965. I think my father got the album at a garage sale or something.)
American Pie? Other than the lyric near the end, I didn’t think it that spiritual…
Barclay James Harvest “Hymn” is rather beautiful.
Also Prefab Sprout’s “Jordan: the comeback” is a meditation on religion and matters biblical and is one of my favourite albums. “one of the broken” is a great song.
FTR I’m utterly without spiritual beliefs of any kind, always have been, but I’m happy whenever anyones strong feelings create great art.
Steven Curtis Chapman-The Great Adventure. It makes religion sound so… fun.
Madness Wings of a Dove
Clapton - Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Yes, Mr. Mister had a few good ones. Always liked Kyrie.
Iron & Wine - Freedom Hangs Like Heaven
Nickel Creek - You Don’t Have To Move That Mountain
Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You
Twothirtyeight - Modern Day Prayer
Old 97s - Here’s To The Halcyon. A song about a man bargaining with God for survival after his boat sinks.