losing my religion

The words to a song I wouldn't be caught dead listening to are running through my mind
Radio is playing, turn it up higher,
Gospel music's bumpin' and the place is on fire...
It's struck me because not too long ago, my friends and I were having an argument: does this so called "christian music" exist? And if there is, christian music, does the song need to contain an explicit reference to God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit for it to make the cut? Isn't it just enough that the person singing the song be christian?

I don't know if it's just me, but I've always been of the opinion that there's no such thing as christian music. See music to me has always been just a vessel; it's the reactions the song elicits that determines whether it's a song I love or not. The message behind the song, who the song is directed at, what the writer had in mind when they were writing it, the forums in which it is marketed, the personality of the singer, these are some of the things that cause to me to believe in some songs and not in others. I guess for me it's never really come up whether or not a song fits into this mould society has branded "christian music." If I listen to a song and I hear it speak to me I like it and I collect it. There's one of us who was saying his understanding of Christianity is belief in Christ. You have faith, you love Him, and then everything else follows from there. If you think of being christian that way, [disclaimer: simplistic argument coming up - not my view in any way] then a song can't really be christian coz, well, songs can't believe right? :) The other people seemed to follow the more conventional path - if a song can comfortably be sung in church then it's christian. If it can't, it's not. 

Take a song like Everything I Do, by Bryan Adams. Traditionally, he's been known as the guy that sings love songs, so even that just went into that category. But if you listen to it you'll notice it has none of the honey, babe, darling, beau or sweetie that characterizes every other love song out there. Because it's Bryan Adams we just automatically assumed he was singing it to a girl. And that is the ONLY reason we assume that. Now imagine it had been, say, Michael W. Smith, and you sang the exact same words with Jesus being the "you",  eh, does that sound like worship or what? Same song, different artist. What stops Alan Jackson's Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)? from being considered a christian song? That he's not religious? That it's about 9/11? Seriously, look at the lyrics:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Word for word out of the Bible! And there's very many artists that fall in this ostensibly grey area, as in their songs don't explicitly say "Jesus is Lord!" so they wouldn't pass for Sunday morning worship, but you can definitely see christian principles being advocated for somewhere in there. Creed, Switchfoot, P.O.D, Paradise Lost, Enigma, Relient K, Six Pence None The Richer, Matt Kearney, even Skillet and Sanctus Real and Group 1 Crew - I have no idea why those are considered gospel bands. It's not as clear cut as it would be for, say, Hillsong, and you see those ones literally sing their music in church and record it there. So to me there's no such thing as christian music. There's just good music, and everything else [and clearly, if you ask me Chevelle Franklin above falls under everything else].

Just before he died, Jeff Buckley released an album. It was called Grace, and the biggest song out of it was a song called Hallelujah. It was so good it ultimately made it into Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at #303. You'd think it was a christian album, wouldn't you, and that Jeff Buckley was a gospel artist, right? Ya, you'd be surprised. And if anyone still has doubts, you only need look at the market. The best selling gospel album of all time is the Preacher's Wife soundtrack, by, wait for it, Whitney Houston. I'm willing to bet it sold that much because it was Whitney - drugs and fights with Bobbi Brown notwithstanding. Does that sound like double standards? Again, for me there's just good music [=rock], and everything else.

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