c. 1998 Religion News Service
UNDATED _ Long dismissed by many as superficial and shallow, pop music has a long history of exploring serious philosophical and religious themes. Here’s a short list of ten significant albums.
1969: King Crimson,”In the Court of the Crimson King” Nihilism never sounded so good as the haunting postmodern masterpiece,”Epitaph,”which declares,”The wall on which the prophets wrote/Is cracking at the seams,”and concludes,”Confusion will be my epitaph.” 1973: George Harrison,”Living in the Material World” The former Beatle balances cynicism about life (and ongoing legal battles) with deep reverence for Lord Krishna, who is described as”The Light That Has Lighted the World.” 1979: Bob Dylan,”Slow Train Coming” In the first of three albums from his controversial”born-again Christian”period, Dylan gives the gospel message a rousing revival.”Gotta Serve Somebody”made the choice between God and the Devil clear.
1979: Pink Floyd,”The Wall” As with their classic”Dark Side of the Moon,”the pioneering British band’s”The Wall”explored depression, despair and death. Rolling Stone magazine called the double album a”four-sided scream of alienation.” 1980: T-Bone Burnett,”Truth Decay” Both witty and wise, Burnett skewers the”Quicksand”of modern secular life and points listeners to a divine”Power of Love.” 1980-1991: Van Morrison
On albums like”Common One,””Beautiful Vision,””Inarticulate Speech of the Heart,””A Sense of Wonder,”and”Hymns to the Silence,”Morrison has created a beautiful, mystical body of work.
1991: Peter Himmelman,”From Strength to Strength” Dylan’s son-in-law created an accessible collection of Jewish-inspired folk-rock, complete with songs about the eternal importance of conventional love and the futility of trying to grasp”Impermanent Things.” 1994: Nine Inch Nails,”The Downward Spiral” Only electronics wizard Trent Reznor could make a multi-platinum success out of an album about self-destruction, suicide, the death of God, social chaos, and impersonal, brutal sex.
1995: Joan Osborne,”Relish” She didn’t even write”One of Us,”which was one of the more interesting songs of recent years, but her soulful delivery had millions asking:”What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” 1997: U2:”Pop” Easily mistaken for a synthesized serving of cynicism,”Pop”asked deep questions and affirmed key Christian creeds in controversial ways, as when Bono moaned,”Jesus, Jesus help me/I’m alone in this world/and a (expletive) up world it is too.” END RNS
