Favorite Secular songs with God, Jesus, Mary, or Bible references

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Won’t Get Fooled Again-The Who
“And the morals that they worship will be gone, And the men who spurred us on, Sit in judgment of all wrong” “Then I’ll get on my knees and pray, we don’t get fooled again”

I Still Haven’t Found-U2
I believe when the Kingdom comes
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I’m still running.
You broke the bonds
You loosened the chains
You carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

Carry on Wayward Son-Kansas
“Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
But surely heaven waits for you”

Dear Lord - Thin Lizzy
Dear lord this is a prayer
Just let me know if you’re really there
Dear lord come gain control
Oh lord come save my soul

Give me dignity restore my sanity
Oh lord come rescue me
Dear lord my vanity is killing me
Oh lord it’s killing me, it’s killing me

God gave me everything - Mick Jagger
God gave me everything I want
Come on
I’ll give it all to you
God gave me everything I want
Come on
I’ll give it all to you
 
“Dear Lord” by Thin Lizzy certainly beats that atheist anthem “Dear God” by XTC. (<—“Dear God” is NOT a favorite song of mine, and is a lovely example of the kind of British unbelief that someone was pointing out is prevalent right now in the UK. )
 
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If mentioning “Christmas” counts, “Father Christmas” by ELP

“Tears in Heaven” by Clapton

“Heaven” by Live

Also “Jerusalem” ELP version.
 
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Granted, I see your point and I agree with you. The song is divided in two equal parts. One that praises God and the other Krishna.

The first two minutes of the song have the following chorus,
My sweet Lord
(Hallelujah)

and the second half of the song have the following chorus,

My Lord
(Hare Krishna)
 
"Jesus He Knows Me" - Genesis

Cause Jesus, he knows me
And he knows I’m right
I’ve been talking to Jesus
All my life
Oh yes, he knows me
And he knows I’m right
Well, he’s been telling me everything is alright
 
In addition to “Hallelujah”, and “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare”, the background singers on “My Sweet Lord” also sing an old Vedic chant to the Hindu gods:
Gurur Brahmā, gurur Viṣṇur
gurur devo Maheśvaraḥ
gurus sākṣāt, paraṃ Brahma
tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ.

Former Krishna devotee Joshua Greene translates the lines as follows: “I offer homage to my guru, who is as great as the creator Brahma, the maintainer Vishnu, the destroyer Shiva, and who is the very energy of God.”[31] The prayer is the third verse of the Guru Stotram, a fourteen-verse hymn in praise of Hindu spiritual teachers.[32]
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As a kid I just thought it was all going to God, called by different names. I was pretty ecumenical. Drove my mom nuts because she would feel the need to jump in and insist that the Catholic God was not the same as these other “strange gods” and remind me that one religion wasn’t just as good as the other, etc. like a good Catholic parent would, I guess.
 
I really wish Jesus would have a word with Phil Collins about some of his post-Genesis work, if the two of them know each other and all 😃

But since you bring up Genesis, there’s Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street”, which is about Anne Sexton, with all that entails including Catholic imagery. And probably “Solsbury Hill” which to me always sounds like the protagonist is dying and going home to God.
 
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blanchardman said:
Also “Jerusalem” ELP version.
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Since you bring this up…
can a UK person please explain to me, who is from USA and too young to remember the original release of this song, what exactly was the big deal that the BBC banned it and all?

(I finally saw ELP a few years ago at High Voltage fest. Can’t believe E and L both died so soon after that. I did a plenary indulgence for E when he died, that was just so sad. I should do another. )
 
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Midnight moonlight - Old and in the Way

‘If you ever feel lonesome when you’re down in San Antone
Beg, steal or borrow two nickels or a dime to call me on the phone
And I’ll meet you at Alamo Mission, where we can say our prayers
The Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mother will heal us as we kneel there’
 
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‘This land is mine, God gave this land to me.’ - the theme song from Exodus.
 
Belly of the Whale, by the Burning Sensations
When Love Comes to Town, by U2 with B. B. King
Man of Constant Sorrow, by various artists including the Stanley Bros., Bob Dylan and Dan Tyminski
Morning Has Broken, Cat Stevens version
 
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Hey God - Bon Jovi

Hey God-Tell me what the hell is going on,
Seems like all the good shits gone
It keep on getting harder hanging on
Hey God, there’s nights you know I want to scream
These days you’re even hard to believe
I know how busy you must be, but Hey God…
Do you ever think about me

Keep The Faith - Bon Jovi

Faith: you know you’re gonna live thru the rain
Lord you got to keep the faith
Faith: don’t let your love turn to hate
Right now we got to
Keep the faith
Keep the faith
Keep the faith
Lord we got to keep the faith

Livin’ on a prayer - Bon Jovi

Oh, we’ve got to hold on, ready or not
You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got
Woah, we’re half way there
Woah, livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear
Woah, livin’ on a prayer

Goin’ By the Book - Johnny Cash

‘Cause the prophets wrote about it
And Jesus spoke about it
And John got to take a look
And he told us what he saw when it’s easy to see
It’s goin’ by the book
It’s goin’ by the book

Coat of Many Colors - Dolly Parton

As she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
Perhaps this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn’t wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
 
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Orion1963 said:
My Sweet Lord ByGeorge Harrison

Longing for a personal experience: “My sweet Lord, Hm, my Lord with God Hm, my Lord, I really want to see you Really want to be with you, Really want to see you lord, But it takes so long, my Lord…”
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You realize that song is about Hare Krishna, right?
 
How could I forget Leon Russel’s “Stranger in a Strange Land”
 
I never thought of “Man in Black” as being about priests, since Johnny Cash mostly wore the black himself. But it could fit, I grant you.
 
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