FIVE FAVORITE SONGS

“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” (Revelation 14:3)

They don’t make things like they used to! My parents bought a very small AM transistor radio in 1965. My mom used to keep it in her bedroom in case the electricity went out. I’ve had that radio since her death in 2000 and it still works pretty well. Many mornings I bring that radio into the bathroom with me to listen to as I shave in the morning. Recently I’ve heard the Don Imus Show on AM 790 out of Providence, RI. Several times lately when Imus has had a guest on, he’s asked them their five favorite songs and later played them on the show. The music a person likes can say a lot about them. Sometimes you think you really know somebody; then you hear their favorite songs, and you realize you didn’t know them at all.

For today, I’ve decided to share with you TEN songs. Five are my favorite secular pop songs and five are my favorite Christian songs. (They’re ranked so that number 1 is my MOST favorite and number 5 is my least favorite; although of course to get into my “Top 5” they’re HUGE favorites!)

In the secular pop category, number 5 is “Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson.
Should you be unfamiliar with it, you can hear it on youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsdtUMdXXJg

It’s from (I believe) 1967. It’s SUCH an upbeat song! I’ve loved it from the first time I heard it when I was a kid. Britain’s “ACM Gospel Choir” has also done a wonderful spiritual version of it which is VERY inspiring: It’s DEFINITELY worth viewing at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDyoMOHrH9c

Now, I realize the next song would be considered very worldly by many of you...but it’s my number 4 secular pop song. My girls Amy and Rachel used to love to hear this one in the car as little kids. It’s one of those songs that just repeats over and over in your head all day and gives you a very pleasant feeling. I’m talking about the Eagles’ “Take It To The Limit”. For a nice video of this one, please check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2oJ_Ps2w7g&feature=related

My Number 3 secular pop song is Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business”. That’s another song I fell in love with the moment I heard it when I was probably around 19 or 20. It’s got “attitude”. Yeah, it’s a rebellious rock song, and I guess it appeals to me for the same reason The Three Stooges appeal to me. They express the kind of thing I’d love to express but couldn’t ever do...the way The Three Stooges can tell a cop to “pick two” or throw a pie in his face, or something. It’s fantasy bad behavior you can’t do, but that a part of you would just love to do. If you can handle a little rock music with attitude, check out this 1974 video of BTO at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJprEyXMrIk&feature=related

Now, my number 2 secular pop song could NOT be any different from BTO! My son will exclaim, “You GOTTA be KIDDING!” when he reads this because my number 2 is a very girly and very sentimental song, but this very much appeals to the sentimental/dreamer side of me. Incidentally, this is the video that Taylor Swift kind of got “dissed” for at a recent awards ceremony. If you can get as sentimental and dreamy as I can get with a song like this, get your Kleenex out, and watch and listen to Taylor Swift’s “A Love Story” at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4xmxb9K8RI

And, my number 1 secular pop song is from Starship (formerly Jefferson Starship). It’s their 1987 hit, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”. Many of my friends know I can be a very emotional person. 1987 overall was a very GOOD year for me, but I was going through a (very brief) highly stressful time that year. I can remember one day driving along near the Sherborn/Framingham line by the Sunshine Dairy restaurant. I had never heard this song before, but I turned the radio on, and the song was played. It’s meant to be a romantic, love song, but being very much a Don Quixote type who often “chases windmills” and is often misunderstood, I took it as a “thumbs up” from God to me that day. My eyes filled up, and I experienced a peace and a high that I’ve seldom experienced before or since. Amazingly, EVERY time I hear this song, my mind goes back to that moment in 1987 by the Sunshine Dairy, and I feel intense peace, faith, and gratitude to God. I know the video on this one is pretty “off the wall” but the song’s beautiful if you want to hear it. Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5s6V8rQH4

Now, for my born-again Christian friends who are much more interested in my Christian song picks, here they are:

My number 5 Christian song is “Held” by Natalie Grant. The song “Held” came out around 3 or 4 years ago. I first heard this when Amy and I were traveling from Massachusetts to Missouri. We FIRST heard it in upstate NY and by the time we got to Springfield, Missouri, we’d heard it around twelve times and I HAD to buy Natalie Grant’s album, “Awaken”. “Held” is a very deep and very intense song. It’s NOT a song that a church congregation or choir sings. This is a song that could only be done as “special music” by one singer...and again, it’s VERY intense, but it’s a GREAT song. Believe it or not, Worcester’s secular soft rock station used to have it on its playlist. Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOufqWodFNo

My number 4 song IS often done as a congregational worship song. It’s “Shout to the North” by Delirious. My favorite verse in the song is “Rise Up Church With Broken Wings, Fill this place with song again, of our God who Reigns on High, by His Grace again we’ll fly”...it SO fits First Assembly of God of Framingham. I both smile and tear up when I sing it.

You can view the words and hear the song at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-BRLSq_bJM&feature=related

My number 3 is a Black Gospel song by Dottie Peoples. It’s “Testify”; also known as “Somebody Oughtta Testify”. The video runs over 9 minutes, but if you watch the first two minutes, you’ll get the point! Talk show host Jimmy Myers on 96.9 WTKK uses the first minute or so of this as his show’s theme song. If you’re “down”, listen, you CAN’T watch this and stay down! Get ready to praise the Lord and get ready to TESTIFY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCzJlhrRV4

My number 2 is “God of Wonders”. I think it was written by Paul Baloche. I found a video of it on-line by Chris Tomlin. We sing this one a lot at our church. I never get tired of it! Our God is indeed a GOD OF WONDERS! Think this earth is full of wonders? Well, it IS, but think of the fact that there are billions of galaxies out there...all full of GOD’S WONDERS! That’s what this song is about. You can listen to it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7F-B2DLvAQ

My current number 1 Christian song is “How Great is Our God”. I LOVE the part where it says, “Name above all names, worthy of all praise, my heart will sing how great is our God!” This is another one I never get tired of. There’s a nice video of a D.C. area worship band doing the song you can view at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MHJ5ykV0cg&feature=related

SO, those are my favorite secular songs and my favorite Christian songs.
Did you like them? Any surprises?