For some time, I’ve been compiling a Top Ten list of Best Contemporary Worship Songs, and wanted to float my ideas in the process. As a churchgoer, and a former worship l
eader, I appreciate the value of a good worship song to a Christian and a congregation’s life. But, really, genuinely original, theologically rich worship songs are hard to find.
While I consider myself a fairly gracious worshipper, a “bad song” will snatch me back into reality as easily as the next guy. And face it, there’s lots of bad worship songs. So. . .
- Songs with cheesy, unoriginal lyrics (this includes bad grammar) can’t make the list.
- Songs with too many clichés can’t make the list.
- Songs that are overly-emotional, overly-weepy, touchy-feely, can’t make the list.
- Songs with a sappy “Jesus is my best / closest friend” sentiment are out.
- Songs with questionable theology can’t make the list.
- Songs that mention I / me / my too much are nixed.
- Too many “La,la, la’s,” “Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes’s,” and “Ha-le-lu-jah’s,” etc. etc.
- Songs that are, flat out, too high or too low for the average person to sing (requires listening to a soloist).
- Songs that try too hard to be happy are out (usually any song that mentions dancing more than once).
Sure, this is a subjective affair. One person’s begrudging la,la,la,la, is another’s ecstatic utterance. But I think you get my drift.
By contemporary, I’m thinking the last 10 years, songs that capture the 21st century vibe, not so much hymns. The Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Keith Green, Bill Gaither variety of worship, while producing some great songs, is no longer contemporary. *
So in random order, here’s the songs that, at the moment, stand out to me:
- Here I am to Worship – Tim Hughes version
- Blessed be Your Name – Tree 63 version
- Holy is the Lord – Chris Tomlin
- I Can Only Imagine – Mercy Me
- Famous One – Chris Tomlin
- Beautiful One – Jeremy Camp version
- Indescribable – Chris Tomlin
- Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble – Delirious
- God of Wonders — Third Day version
- We Fall Down, Kutless version
For the record, some of these numbers I don’t particularly care for. I Can Only Imagine is a bit too weepy feeling and it is far too overplayed. God of Wonders is not my cup of tea (although Third Day does a good job bumping it up), but it’s had such far-reaching influence it probably deserves inclusion. I typically don’t like songs sung ABOUT God (“He is good,” “He is great”) as opposed to songs sung TO God, nevertheless a few have made my list.
Anyway, it’s a start. I’d love some input. What does and doesn’t work about this list? Are there songs I’ve missed, or songs I’ve included that, in your opinion, aren’t worthy?
* Honestly, I’m struggling with a working definition of “contemporary worship.†While most people think of it in terms of accessibility – singable songs in a congregational setting – I tend to define it in broader terms. Instrumental songs and hard-rocking numbers could be just as worshipful as a ballad. (For instance, I think David Crowder Band is putting out some of the best worship out there, but it’s not exactly conducive to “church music.â€) In the simplest sense, I guess I’m looking for songs that rise above the rest in content, arrangement, theological depth, staying power, and accessibility, no matter what style.
You might want to check out Jeremy Camp’s version of Here I am to Worship.
You’ve missed Tomlin’s best song: How Great is our God. Despite your caveat about songs using Great, this one is the exception to the rule.
My personal favorite is Heart of Worship. My version of course.
I would scratch Famous one.
and Add Third Day’s Your Love oh Lord.
And . . . well that’s enough for now.
That’s a good enough list, I guess. It’s quite a task putting a list together, since there is so much to choose from. This past fall, I started a blog counting down the 100 best worship songs of all time. Once I started, it took me two weeks to get my list right. Now that I’m a quarter of the way through, the list still doesn’t look right.
It’s here, if interested:
http://bestmodernworship.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
This is tough. Music is so personal. I won’t argue with your list. Obviously, those songs are hugely popular, but several of them have never done anything for me (I can only imagine, mountains tremble, and Here I am to worship). I really do like the ohters. Desperation band has a song we sing a lot that I love called… well, I’m not sure what it’s called. It goes, “I need you Jesus, to come to my rescue, where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved, You capture me with grace, I will follow you…” You know it? We are blessed at our church with so many talented people. Like 7 alternating worship bands and a couple guys write their own songs. Good songs.
Good list, Mike.
Dayle! I got the title of my second novel (The Famous One) from Famous One and even paid for the print copyright to include the lyrics on the final page.
I was trying to go through all the lyrics in my head of the songs on the list, so forgive me if this one is actually in there, but “You’re all I’m livin’ for” are part of the lyrics.
What’s funny is that the past couple of years, I’ve fallen in love again with hymns. I like when singer/song-writers write a chorus to an existing hymn (i.e. Come Thou Fount, The Wonderful Cross).
Don’t get me wrong, I love “contemporary” songs (although it seems like they get old fast), especially Chris Tomlin, David Crowder band, Jeremy Camp. But it seems like they’re musically limited. You’ve got your 4 chords and a lot of repetition. The melody doesn’t stray from a limited range of notes.
I’m sounding more critical than I am. The irony is I fought for “contemporary” music in a church for a period. I think that churches should worship in the music of their culture and heart (my ethnomusicology background), whether that’s tribal, hymnal, or contemporary.
Yeah. I didn’t answer your question at all!
Thank you guys for your thoughts. Dayle, I’ll have to check out Camp’s version of Here I am To Worship. That song always kills me and I think his version of Beautiful One is so superior to the original (primarily because the backup female vocal is so fantastic), that I can imagine he’ll tweak that song appropriately as well.
Tomlin’s How Great is Our God suffers a strike (at least for me) because it’s one of those singing ABOUT God songs, not TO Him. But I’ll reconsider in light of your suggestions, especially for the fact that I’m not sold on Famous One being one of his best. I’d thought about Third Day’s Your Love oh Lord, but in the end it just seemed to lack kick, doesn’t seem to grab me arrangement-wise. And by the way, Heart of Worship is passing the “contemporary” threshold being that it was written in ’97. Delirious set the stage for many contemporary rock/worship bands. But, alas, many of their best songs — I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, and one I noted here — are also over decade old. Guess we’re not really “contemporary,” huh?
No problem, Nicole. I’m not saying I don’t like it, but whew, when you have to pick just 10 of all those great worship songs out there, finishing in the top twenty ain’t bad either. Do me a favor and e-mail me and tell me how you paid for the lyric rights. I took some lyrics out of my manuscript.
Mike, the best version of Your Love Oh Lord is not on the Offerings album, it’s the original version on the Time CD. But you may be right. I’m thinking all time favorites calculating the power of the song back then.
Jeremy Camp’s version of Here I am to Worship is on the Empty Me out compilation CD. It’s got 5 great songs, 2 okay, and 2 just plain awful. It also has Telecast’s Beauty of Simplicity which is a great song and Kutless Better is One Day which is fantastic.
Now that I’m thinking about Third Day, I’d have to go with their version of Michael W. Smith’s Agnus Dei. The one on the Exodus CD, not Offerings.
Heather, I think your observations are right on, especially the one about contemporary worship getting old fast. One reason is probably just the world we live in, connected by electronica the way we are, new songs burst on the scene, get oodles of airplay, become part of The 25 Best Worship Songs of All Time CD being sold on TV, and eventually get remade by some bigger name artist. Whatever emotional appeal they had early on is drowned in redundancy.
Secondly, I wonder that this is reflective of the lack of musical depth. There is an obvious sentiment that, because it’s worship, the music shouldn’t upstage the words. As a result we get the typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus pattern, in typical four chord progressions. There’s not a lot of freedom amongst contemporary Christian worship leaders to be musically innovative. (This is actually one reason why I like David Crowder Band so much, especially the Collision CD which is about as unconventional a mainstream worship album as you’ll get.
Third, (boy I’m long-winded, aren’t I?) has to be the lack of lyrical / theological depth. The reason the hymns are so, so great, is because they have verses like:
He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.
He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.
Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.
Try that on for size, Mr. McWorship!
Wow, several of my favorites made the list. I liked “I can only imagine” until they played it to the point I had to simply turn off the radio.
Kutlass’ worship CD is just cool.
Mercy Me has two very soft songs on their worship CD that are also good. I forget the names (common of me)…I’ll have to get them for you. I also like Todd Agnew’s “Wait for your rain” song.
Also…There’s a band called Spur58 that you don’t really hear on the radio that I think you might like, given your current list. Their website is simply http://www.spur58.com. They’ve got some songs you can listen to off there.
How about This is the air I breathe/desperate for you? That one was huge.
Thanks Remade! I haven’t heard Todd Agnew’s “Wait for your rain†so I’ll try to track it down. And the Spur58 site looks really good. I’ll give them a closer look. Janet, the name of that song is “Breathe” and, like the others I mentioned, it’s pretty old, written in ’95. I did consider that song because I especially like the chorus, “And I’m desperate for You” always gets me. But the opening line “This is the air I breathe,” just seems a bit, I dunno, weird to start a worship song with, and the verses seem a little draggy, kinda like a dirge. Pretty picky, ain’t I? Anyway, I do like the Michael W. Smith version of the song.
Oh, yeah, Janet. “I’m desperate for you . . .” Amen.
But, Nicole, you hardly know me:)
Mike, I agree that this list is covers a lot of popular songs.
You made a good point about the lack of musical depth. In my church we often sing a hymn and chorus back to back and the difference in the music quality is glaring. But so is the lack of theological truth.
For my money, the best is “In Christ Alone, Keith Getty & Stuart Townend, with a verse like this:
“In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand”
You can see a list of Keith Getty songs here.
Becky
Mike, this is somewhat unrelated, but I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’ve discovered a group called The Almost. I think you’d like them.
Boy, you’ve got a lot of rules for this, Mike. Music is such a subjective thing. Instead of rules, I basically categorize songs into “ones I like” and “ones I don’t”. Pretty deep, huh?
I don’t necessarily mind a song that repeats choruses. The ones that annoy me are the ones that start to repeat one line ad nauseam (Michael W. Smith’s “Agnus Dei” is guilty of this, among others). I guess I feel like I can appreciate the energy of a good modern song and the depth of a good oldie, without having to say one is better than the other. As far as the modern stuff goes, I like MercyMe and Chris Tomlin a lot.
Becky, I checked out the link and must say their stuff looks and sounds really good. Thanks! Janet, I’m not familiar with the band but did find their website. They were founded by the drummer from Underoath, which is a seriously hardcore rock band (almost speed metal-ish). Don’t know if The Almost is duplicating that style. And Mark, yeah, I’ve got a lot of rules. But they’re for your own good. . .
Mike,
You, long-winded? But isn’t that why we love you so much? 😉
I think you hit the nail on the head. I do love contemporary worship music, especially when it focuses on God’s holiness (I figured that out yesterday in church when I was thinking about your question), so I don’t mean to sound like such a party-pooper.
But, yeah, both the musical and theological depth aren’t always there. Sometimes they are. Which I guess is the father (or mother) of your question:
which ones go 20,000 leagues?
(she’s a quick one…)
Mike, if I have the story right, the Getty writing team came about to fill the need for contemporary music with theological depth. As I heard the story, one of them had a dying grandfather who could no longer speak, but he could sing hymns. The grandson thought, what will I still know or remember when I am on my deathbed?
Interestingly, we sang “In Christ Alone” yesterday in church. It really is powerful. Pastor then had us sing the last verse again, a cappella. Wow! Was stirring.
I’m glad you took a look at their music and like what you heard.
Becky
I share your pain. I started a blog last fall for the 100 best contemporary worship songs and I decided that the cutoff would loosely be the Cutting Edge CDs by Delirious.
Unlike you, I decided not to worry about things that make a worship song ‘inelegant’ for lack of a better word. I just decided to rank them on their popularity and impact on modern worship, and then maybe on each blog post go into more detail about the song itself.
Most of the songs you mentioned are on my best worship songs ever list:
http://bestmodernworship.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html