t my rock and roll prayerbook. The categories would have to include celebration and lament, prophetic critique and personal faith as well as love, hate, birth, death and resurrection.Right now - as I am in a waiting and encouraging place with both my wife (whose mother is rock and rolling after a stroke) and my congregation (as we keep at the work of renewal) - my soul FEELS like the Allman Brothers singing "Midnight Rider" with its slow country blues groove, sweet moaning harmonies, longing sense of uncertainty mixed with those incredible blues/rock guitar licks while Greg's Hammond B-3 keeps swirling and rolling under everything.
In a book I wrote for my doctoral dissertation (which I hope one day to publish) I identified 10 songs from five different eras of rock that spoke to the prophetic and grace-filled critique of our still speaking God. They included:
+ "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley for its celebration of both sexual ecstasy and racial cooperation
+ "Roll Over Beethoven" by Chuck Berry for his joyful mixture of being taking on the role of Jester (jokester/holy fool) while blending country music with rhythm and blues years before the Civil Rights movement and integrating dance halls, too
+ "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan for the way he added politics and beat poetry to Chuck Berry along with the jubilation of the Beatles
+ "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by the Beatles for its fusion of spirituality, social lament and compassion
+ "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye for bringing social protest and hope to Motown
+ "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel for mixing lament with world/gospel music in a totally genre bending way
+ "Like a Prayer" by Madonna for her sensual spirituality and lament over racism
+ "Born in the USA" by Springsteen for bringing the anger of protest music into the stadium with a killer back beat
+ "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana for its anguished cry from the underbelly of the American dream
+ "Angel" by Sarah McLaughlin for its mix of feminism, spirituality and longing
+ "Vertigo" by U2 for bringing the words of Satan in the garden into prime time culture
Each of these songs certainly do not fully define their decade and limiting my choices to 2 from each era was an artificial discipline: where's Hendrix? Zepplin? Zappa? the Clash? the Who? Smashing Pumpkins? Eels? Portishead? Jeff Buckley? Ani? I know, I know... and that's why I am starting to explore the 100 songs that might fill in a rock and roll prayer book. If you have any thoughts, drop me a note or leave a comment ok? I would really love to hear from you.
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