On the first Thursday of each month we have a meeting that is geared at people who haven't been to SofaChurch, or any church for that matter, before. We ran a series called Modern Day Prophets where we looked at four unlikely people who might be speaking for God in today's culture, whether they realise it or not. See here for more details:
Banksy
Borat
Scroobius Pip
Mr Benn
However, all good things must come to an end, and our new series starting in June will be called Songs of Praise?
The idea is that each month we will listen to mainsteam songs from a different decade, looking for ways in which they might speak of God. For example... Madonna's Like a Prayer.
Sixties - 5th June
Seventies - 3rd July
Eighties - 7th August
Nineties - 4th September
Noughties - 2nd October
Each evening one person with a special interest will MC, but it would be great if people brought along CDs of tracks that mean something to them. There will be some postcards soon that can be given out to people who might be interested in coming along, or click here to download an image that can be emailed to people.
In the meantime, it would be good to brainstorm a list of songs - please leave your suggestions in a comment for this post.
57 comments:
For starters...
1991 - Jesus Loves You (Boy George ensembles) - Bow Down Mister
80s - U2 - Guess they might feature a lot - Still haven't found..."
I like the YouTube video idea, TIm.
00s - Fatboy Slim - Praise You (funniest video I have ever seen btw)
00s - Kanye West - Jesus Walks
00s - Black Eyed Peas - Where is the love?
00s - Groove Armada - My Friend
70s (just) - Beatles - Let it Be
60s - Bob Dylan - The times they are a-changin
70s - Cat Stevens - Morning has broken (check out the pianist)
00s - Lemon Jelly - Spacewalk
00s - Chad Kroeger et al - Hero (Spiderman Theme - listen to those lyrics...)
90s
Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs (inspired by ASBO Jesus - 'Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock')
Bryan Adams - Everything I Do
90s - Joan Osborne - One of Us
90s - R.E.M. - New Test Leper
80s - U2 - When love comes to town
My Songs of Praise are all based on the same theme: anti-materialism. It's a subject which has been on my mind recently, as since having Kitty, I've felt pressure (real or imagined) to aspire to better: a bigger house, a posher lifestyle, smarter stuff.
I think these pressures fly very much in the face of the gospel; Jesus didn't come to give us better lives and more money and it's really not what we should be about as Christians.
So I think the following lyrics are in some way spiritual, in that they shine a light on the emptiness of acquiring more and more stuff.
Beautiful Day by U2
"What you don't have you don't need it now..."
Walk On by U2
"The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind...
Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, can't buy it."
Little Boxes by Pete Seegers
"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same..."
Way Beyond by Morcheeba
"Oh we're way beyond our means
To buy these crazy things
Oh we're wasting our whole lives
In a struggle to survive.
Oh we're way beyond our means
We love these spending sprees
Oh we're wasting all our time
On some production line."
00s (just) - Travis Driftwood
90s - Portishead - Sour Times
90s - The Shamen - could do a number of tracks - real spiritually relevant songs, albeit with a psychedelic trance drug dance twist - Move Any Mountain probably among their better known tracks.
1999 - Savage Garden Affirmation
1993 - (could do this for 70s as well, originally by Harry Chapin - but the 90s cover arguably has more bite)- Ugly Kid Joe - Cats in the Cradle
90s - Genesis Jesus He Knows Me
Elton John Healing Hands
80s - The Police Every Breath (Psalm 139)
00s - Eminem Without Me - warning strong language and provocative lyrics (what do you expect?!)
90s - Billy Joel River of Dreams
90s - Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek), backing vocals by all male cast of TNG, and featuring Patrick Stewart - It's a sin to tell a lie
80s - Pet Shop Boys It's a Sin
70s - Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays
70s - Pink Floyd - Brick in the Wall - Longer Version from film, Shorter Music Video
(to cheer things up after those gloomy songs...)
90s - The Muppets - It Feels Like Christmas (song starts 2:06 mins)
80s - Howard Jones - New Song (listen to those so sensible lyrics... I feel 11 again!)
00s - Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten could choose several of hers - very intelligent lyrics. love it
00s - Keane - Everybody's Changing (not sure how that fits, but I reckon it does somehow...)
80s - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power of Love
70s - Roxy Music - Stick Together
80s - Steve Arrington Feel so Real - pay close attention to the lyrics!
90s - Meatloaf Anything for Love
00s - Evanescence - Bring me to Life (apply those lyrics to faith) and Everybody's Fool (just love the acting and message in this video)
90s - MC Hammer Pray
90s - Queen - The Show Must Go On
80s - The Housemartins - Caravan of Love
80s - John Farnham - You're the Voice (you just got to sing along with this... all together now... "whoa..!"
80s - Labi Siffre - Something Inside
90s - Garth Brooks - The River
00s - Johnny Cash Hurt (I find it hard to get to the end of this without tears in my eyes; very deep stuff)
90s - Chris Rea - Tell me there's a heaven
80s - Mike and the Mechanics - The Living Years
90s - Voice of the Beehive - Monsters and Angels
80s - Depeche Mode Blasphemous Rumours
90s - REM - Everybody Hurts (this was the first song my mum heard on the radio getting in the car when she'd left her mum for the last time after a hospital visit...)
90s - Brian May -Too Much Love Will Kill You
90s - Freddie Mercury - Living on my Own
If you need some cheese after those sad songs, here's some vintage 70's cheese - The Carpenters - Top of the World
90s - Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
90s - The Levellers - One Way
80s Carly Simon
and I just love this song... great climax... really emotive. God says, "I will try to Fix You"...
00s Coldplay Fix You
oops... Carly Simon - 80s - Let the River Run
Two more, and there was another which has escaped me...
Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer (yes really; I'll explain if necessary!)
Heaven 17 Temptation.
those were for 80s just in case of any doubt!
I would hope to be able to lead the noughties one in October; should be back in plenty o' time.
I GOT ONE!!!
90's- The Waterboys,The whole of the moon.
At least,I THINK so.
00s - Lamb - Gabriel
00s (I think) Anastacia Left Outside Alone
One for the noughties, inspired by this lovely weather...
Rihanna - Umbrella
(won't link to the vid as it's a bit on the sexy side)
"You can run into my arms
It's okay don't be alarmed
Come into me
There's no distance in between our love
So go on and let the rain pour
I'll be all you need and more
Because
When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella"
awww shame - that video is a wonderful bit of burlesque choreography ;o)
You're right; she looks fantastic, but hey, this is a church group and all that ;o) Can't lead the little ones into sin or whatever the verse is.
Interview with Jarvis Cocker following his stage interruption of Michael Jackson's performance at The BRIT awards here. Very interesting, great guy.
Also, have a look at John 7 especially verse 8 in the NRSV here - was Jesus dishonest here? (Sorry, for people who weren't at the 90s evening we discussed lying - let me know if you want the background to this explaining...)
Umbrella
Fantastic song, and fantastic video. Powerful driving feeling to it.
In context of what she does at times with that umbrella, and some of the lyrics (at 3 mins and 4 mins), the disguised theme of the song is about an advanced state of female sexual arousal...
I don't see that, Tim. Which lyrics do you mean? From reading them, it seems to me to be a song about people taking care of each other, albeit with some rather sexy dancing in the video - always good for record sales.
Andy, any excuse to watch Emma Forbes...;o)
I'll not say anymore in a public (Christian) forum! I'll leave it there then. Perhaps it's just being a bloke :oD
00s
Nickleback Rock Star
Pink (Bit rude - but a good message) Stupid Girls
Mike Oldfield Our Father (Largely instrumental)
The beautiful song from Shrek, Hallelujah.
I love the line "It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah".
U2 - Sometimes you can't make it on your own... I don't know if it's myth, but I believe Bono sang this at his dad's funeral. A beautiful song, one that makes me well up. Not many son - father songs out there.
00s
Delta Goodrem - Lost Without You and Innocent Eyes
*sighs* what a lovely lady...
Keane - Everybody's Changing
Athlete - Westside
Appleton - Don't Worry
Natasha Bedingfield - Size Matters (have the CD if necessary!)
Sophie Ellis Bextor Mixed Up World
Ann Lee - Voices
Lyrics:
From time to time there's an emptiness
a little something I surely miss
say what it is and will it ever pass
Sometimes it flows over me so strong
my heart is saying there's something wrong
to get along make me understand
Voices speak of loving
voices in my mind
voices tell me something
I can understand
Sometimes I move in a open space
have I deserved it to feel like this
I really miss something to ever last
Sometime it runs over me so wild
it makes me feel like a lonely child
to get on by got to understand
Voices speak of loving
Can you hear them running around in my mind
running around in my brain
you know I don't sleep at night they're always in my
head they're everywhere
time after time and all over again
and they tell me that I'm empty inside so deep inside
Voices speak of loving
DJ Sammy - Heaven (Cover of Bryan Adams song)
Robbie Williams - Feel
Fragma "Toca's Miracle" (I need a miracle) - having trouble finding a video version that's not too raunchy!
Moby - Why does my heart feel so bad?
Ian Van Dahl - Castles in the Sky
(Fantastic trance anthem... good song & vid...)
Got to have some EMO
Avril Lavigne - I'm With You
Dustead Always Remember(To Respect and Honour Your Mother)
Beautiful animated video which is well worth viewing, and packs its greatest punch in the last 20 seconds...
Pushes many of my buttons.
There are dance versions out there, but this is the original and most chilled.
I think I've exhausted my list now...!
Green Day Boulevard of Broken Dreams
I'm travelling back from giving a talk at Rugeley tomorrow afternoon, likely going straight to SC before home; if there's any problem I'll let you know ASAP!
Hiya,did a bit of research re the bible quote on the cover of 'All that you can't leave behind' by U2.
J33.3 does stand for Jeremiah.Bono refers to it as God's telephone number 'Call unto me and I will answer you'.
Stopped for lunch in the Salvation Army international HQ in London yesterday - very nice. Though was emotionally ambushed by "Fix You". Has kind of been locked in my head since...
When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
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