I like sacred music, such as hymns, but I also like secular music, such as pop, rock, classical and pretty much everything else.
It was always my goal to be into classical music more. The Inspector Morse soundtrack albums were very helpful in this respect, but I confess that I tend to focus on snippets rather than entire operas or symphonies 😀.
There’s an old expression “Why should the devil have all the good music.” Well, it’s not the devil’s music. Music and creativity are gifts from God. But the devil tries to poke his nose in everywhere and damage or ruin everything. But nowadays, rather than avoid secular music, I just ignore the bits I don’t approve of. I do the same with Christian books or sermons 😀.
I wouldn’t want to be unduly influenced by some secular stars. I used to like the Stranglers as a teen, but some of their lyrics were quite violent and misogynistic in tone.
I wouldn’t have wanted to follow their example, but I saw them as tough and macho, and that’s what I wanted to be. It was all a bit silly, but it’s better to prove that you’re tough by playing the guitar (or air guitar) than by joining the IRA or Hamas 😀.
Better still, follow the example of the Apostle Paul and commit your life to doing something useful. It doesn’t mean that you can’t play guitar. Maybe the Apostle Paul did – King David played the lyre.
Nowadays, I can listen to them without worrying about being influenced by them. For me, pop music is all about nostalgia now.
Here are some songs (in the last two columns) that bring me back to various points of my life. The first few would be from when I was a baby or a toddler. I do remember them, but probably from hearing them on the radio a few years later. And I asked Microsoft Co-pilot for Christian songs that were published over the last 63 years. I added these too. I don’t know all of them, but I am interested in Christian music. I probably like the old hymns best. But I do have fond memories of some of the modern ones. You’ll find many references to hymns and secular music on this blog.
The first pop song, Wonderful Land, was a big hit when I was born. I remember hearing it afresh some years ago, and it resonated with me in an amazing way. I wonder might I have even heard it in the womb. Who knows 😀. I don’t necessarily like or endorse all these songs but in many cases, I can remember where I was when I first heard them. Some of the early ones are Eurovision songs. That was my pop music before I started being a pop fan back in the summer of 1972.
Note: If you’re using a phone, you might need to flip it horizontally to see the table properly.
Christian
Secular
| Year | Hymn / Worship Song | Composer / Artist | Pop Song | Composer / Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Tell Out, My Soul | Timothy Dudley-Smith | Wonderful Land | The Shadows |
| 1963 | Lord of the Dance | Sydney Carter | Puff the Magic Dragon | Peter Paul and Mary |
| 1964 | Sent Forth by God’s Blessing | Omer Westendorf | Walk Tall | Val Doonican |
| 1965 | Sweet, Sweet Spirit | Doris Akers | Walking the Streets in the Rain | Butch Moore |
| 1966 | Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine | Charles Wesley (revived in 1966 Methodist Hymnal) | My Love | Petula Clarke |
| 1967 | Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart (Favorite Hymns of Praise) | Edward Plumptre | If I Could Choose | Sean Dunphy |
| 1968 | Great Is Thy Faithfulness (included in Great Hymns of the Faith) | Thomas Chisholm & William Runyan | Those Were the Days | Mary Hopkin |
| 1969 | Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow (Mennonite Hymnal edition) | Thomas Ken | Lonely Woods of Upton | Sean Dunphy |
| 1970 | He Is Lord | Traditional (popularized in the 1970s) | All Kinds of Everything | Dana |
| 1971 | I’ll Say Yes, Lord, Yes | Lynn Keesecker | My Heart Keeps Telling Me | Dickie Rock |
| 1972 | Majesty | Jack Hayford | Circles | New Seekers |
| 1973 | Because He Lives | Bill & Gloria Gaither | Drive in Saturday | David Bowie |
| 1974 | Seek Ye First | Karen Lafferty | Any Dream Will Do | Joe Cuddy |
| 1975 | There Is a Redeemer | Melody Green | Sing Baby Sing | Stylistics |
| 1976 | I Exalt Thee | Pete Sanchez Jr. | You Are My Love | Liverpool Express |
| 1977 | As the Deer | Martin Nystrom | Wondrous Stories | Yes |
| 1978 | Shine, Jesus, Shine | Graham Kendrick | Run for Home | Lindisfarne |
| 1979 | Our God Reigns | Leonard E. Smith Jr. | Outside My Window | Stevie Wonder |
| 1980 | El Shaddai | Michael Card & John Thompson | Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime | The Korgis |
| 1981 | Thy Word | Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith | All Those Years Ago | George Harrison |
| 1982 | How Majestic Is Your Name | Michael W. Smith | Ebony and Ivory | Paul McCartney |
| 1983 | He Is Exalted | Twila Paris | True | Spandau Ballet |
| 1984 | Give Thanks | Henry Smith | My Every Changing Moods | Style Council |
| 1985 | Hymn of Promise | Natalie Sleeth | Running Up That Hill | Kate Bush |
| 1986 | Lord, I Lift Your Name on High | Rick Founds | Rain or Shine | Five Star |
| 1987 | Awesome God | Rich Mullins | Once Upon a Long Ago | Paul McCartney |
| 1988 | Shout to the Lord | Darlene Zschech | Everyday’s Like Sunday | Morrissey |
| 1989 | I Could Sing of Your Love Forever | Martin Smith | You on My Mind | Swing Out Sister |
| 1990 | Come, Now Is the Time to Worship | Brian Doerksen | Praying for Time | George Michael |
| 1991 | The Heart of Worship | Matt Redman | Jacky | Marc Almond |
| 1992 | I Give You My Heart | Reuben Morgan | Out of Space | Prodigy |
| 1993 | Open the Eyes of My Heart | Paul Baloche | Glastonbury Song | Waterboys |
| 1994 | Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Hillsong version) | Paul Oakley | Anything You Need a Friend | Mariah Carey |
| 1995 | Draw Me Close | Kelly Carpenter | I’m in Chains | Tina Arena |
| 1996 | Above All | Lenny LeBlanc & Paul Baloche | Female of the Species | Space |
| 1997 | Here I Am to Worship | Tim Hughes | Only When I Sleep | The Corrs |
| 1998 | Trading My Sorrows | Darrell Evans | High | Lighthouse Family |
| 1999 | God of Wonders | Marc Byrd & Steve Hindalong | You Stole the Sun from My Heart | Manic Street Preachers |
| 2000 | Blessed Be Your Name | Matt Redman | Groove Jet (If This Ain’t Love) | Spiller feat. Sophie Ellis Bextor |
| 2001 | You Are My King (Amazing Love) | Billy James Foote | Shining Light | Ash |
| 2002 | Holy Is the Lord | Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio | In My Place | Coldplay |
| 2003 | Indescribable | Laura Story | Where is the Love | Black-eyed Peace |
| 2004 | How Great Is Our God | Chris Tomlin | Left Outside Alone | Anastasia |
| 2005 | Everlasting God | Brenton Brown | Speed of Sound | Coldplay |
| 2006 | Mighty to Save | Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan | Hips Don’t Lie | Shakira |
| 2007 | Hosanna | Brooke Fraser | Umbrella | Rhianna |
| 2008 | Revelation Song | Jennie Lee Riddle | The Promise | Girls Aloud |
| 2009 | You Alone Can Rescue | Matt Redman | Magnificent | U2 |
| 2010 | 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) | Matt Redman & Jonas Myrin | No Tears to Cry | Paul Weller |
| 2011 | Forever Reign | Reuben Morgan & Jason Ingram | Someone Like You | Adele |
| 2012 | Great Are You Lord | David Leonard, Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan | Somebody That I Used To Know | Gotye |
| 2013 | Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) | Hillsong UNITED | Get Lucky | Daft Punk |
| 2014 | This Is Amazing Grace | Phil Wickham | Uptown Funk | Mark Ronson |
| 2015 | Good Good Father | Pat Barrett & Tony Brown | Adventure of a Lifetime | Coldplay |
| 2016 | What a Beautiful Name | Brooke Ligertwood & Ben Fielding | Black Star | David Bowie |
| 2017 | Reckless Love | Cory Asbury | Symphony | Clean Bandit |
| 2018 | Who You Say I Am | Hillsong Worship | Never Enough | The Greatest Showman Soundtrack |
| 2019 | Way Maker | Sinach | Memories | Maroon 5 |
| 2020 | The Blessing | Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship | Watermelon Sugar | Harry Styles |
| 2021 | Jireh | Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music | Save Your Tears | The Weeknd |
| 2022 | Gratitude | Brandon Lake | As It Was | Harry Styles |
| 2023 | Firm Foundation (He Won’t) | Cody Carnes | Houdini | Dua Lupa |
| 2024 | Holy Forever | Chris Tomlin | Strangers | Lewis Capaldi |
| 2025 | Yet to Be Revealed | (Let’s wait and see what this year brings!) | Ordinary | Alex Warren |
And of course, I could do the same with albums, but I won’t bother now. In there would be Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Radiohead, Prefab Sprout, Genesis, Coldplay, Paul Weller and Irish groups such as Horslips, Undertones, Thin Lizzy and U2.
Here are two songs that celebrate the gift of music:
Hibernia Gospel 