Looking for Secular Christian Music

[Buho]

Is "secular Christian" an oxymoron?

I'm in a secular hobby band that plays popular covers and we're looking to expand our repertoire. I thought this would be a great opportunity to work in some Christian influences with the band I'm in.

What I'm looking for are songs that aren't specifically "Christian", yet written by Christians. Genre is 60's, 70's, 80's, or 90's popular rock. Topical coverage desired is not God-centered (like praise & worship) but rather relationships, life, etc. Or "popularly-accepted" God-centered songs (like Sarah McLachlan's "Full of Grace").

I'm a new Christian, so I don't really know who the Christian musicians are out there. But immediately, many songs don't sound like they're coming from a Christian heart. Which ones do?

I can only think of some songs by Sarah McLachlan and REM. I could probably expand this list if I thought more. Have any other suggestions? Much thanks!

 

[Theogonia]

Switchfoot or Chevelle.

 

[AFallingStar]

Lifehouse has some songs that could sound "Christian", although they don't carry that label (CCM). "Breathing" is one, I think.

 

[Qyöt27]

Much of U2's material, quite a bit of Collective Soul's material, and this is harder than I thought, since I don't commonly dig that far into band biographies.

If you're looking for edgy music that does marginally carry the 'Christian' label (marginally because the CCM industry dropped them a long time ago or would never touch them in the first place), then there are more possibilities, such as Circle Of Dust, Klank, Celldweller (yeah, highly contested as Scott Albert has very much distanced himself from CCM, but the lyrics still contain many spiritual overtones), Under Midnight, and most material from other artists centered around Flaming Fish Music.

 

[LOTRbeatspotteranyday]

Almost any Creed song. Especially "My Own Prison".

 

[zaire]

U2 - crumbs from your table, all because of you, in the name of love, grace, all i want is you, pride, one, when love comes to town, love is blindness ....................the list goes on........and on.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man.

Bob Dylan(?)

 

[anavrin]

Creed,

You might want to look into Pillar,....they might be too Christian for what your looking for, but still a great band

 

[Sketcher]

"Spiderweb" by Grammatrain.

 

[white_frog914]

Playing Creed makes your ears melt off and renders you completely impotent. True story.


But really, play some Sufjan. Sufjan is good for the soul.

 

[Macewindu77815]

Dylan and U2 are always good.

 

[HeWhoSearches]

You could try Alter Bridge, the new Creed.

In the process of loosing Scott Stapp, they gained a better singer. Also, they seemed to have stopped ruining their songs by making them typical Christian music. The religious undertones are still there, but you have to find them.

What I gathered by your definition of "Secular Christian" music, was "Christian" music without blatantly saying it.

I for one think it shows much more thought and talent to write a religious song expressing your beliefs without ONCE saying the words God or Jesus. The old Creed had moments where they broke from that ideal and resorted to the lazy process of singing/screaming, "I love you Jesus, you are my saviour, God I seek only your decision, blah blah blah."

 

[Onesimus85]

GS Megaphone, Sanctus Real, Switchfoot, Thousand Foot Krutch, Audio Adrenaline maybe???(more Christian than secular), Tait is an awesome band, they are strongly Christian but also have a southern rock feel.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I would not suggest (for the sake of all humanity) playing ANYTHING creed, creed related or Scott Stapp related.

Spare your audiences ears

 

[anonymousone]

Looking for Secular Christian Music



Is "secular Christian" an oxymoron?


That is what I was going to say. Lol. I dunno, as mentioned a couple songs by U2 and I think there are some by Destiny's Child or some other R & B artists that I can't name off the top of my head. Good Luck finding some more artists. God Bless you all.

 

[Bluwav]

Black Sabbath

Yes! Its true! Look up the lyrics to After Forever!

 

[HeWhoSearches]

I would not suggest (for the sake of all humanity) playing ANYTHING creed, creed related or Scott Stapp related.

Spare your audiences ears

I agree, but Alter Bridge seems to me to have broken away from Creed. When I listen to Alter Bridge then Creed or vice versa, it sounds like different style to me.

What I suspect annoyed you was Scott Stapp's pirate voice. Miles Kennedy, the new singer, doesn't do that (He can actually sing). Furthermore, their music is a little bit more rock. Their first song on their first album, Find the Real, is kinda heavy metal. Alot of Heavy Metal kids I know even like that song.

Also, with Stapp's overbearing ego gone, Mark Tremonti has had a chance to shine. Before, the songs guitar part was really boring. Now, Tremonti really shows off. When listening to old Creed music you could tell when Mark's influence stopped and Scott's began. The lyrics would be subtle, then all of a sudden Stapp would start screaming about God.

I for one, like the song Open Your Eyes. It reminds me of a power ballad. I think it sounds beautiful, and bears no resemblence in my opinion to old creed music.

 

[Bluwav]

Walmart is really plugging stapp's solo album. Its everywhere in my local *mart.

 

[HeWhoSearches]

Walmart is really plugging stapp's solo album. Its everywhere in my local *mart.

It's because he's desperate. Not long after leaving Creed, he began talking about re-uniting the band. However, the old members said, "(Explicitive deleted) No!"

 

[Buho]

Hey all, thanks for the great suggestions! I had no idea there are so many out there.

What I gathered by your definition of "Secular Christian" music, was "Christian" music without blatantly saying it.

Not exactly, but that works too. I'm looking more along the lines of songs about life, seen through a Christian's eyes. For instance, a lyric could say, "my dog died, my wife left me, and I got fired, oh the world hates me" or a lyric could say "my dog died, my wife left me, and I got fired, oh but I can't wait for tomorrow" (referencing the desired mentality exhibited in Job).

Spare your audiences ears

Oh, we've already violated that suggestion by playing a 20-minute improvisational instrumental of Stairway to Heaven! The few listeners that were remaining at the end loved it! (Great way to break up the party at the end of the night, by the way!)

 

[Opethian]

I heard Emperor are some very nice choir boys!