My enjoyment of music has always been about both the music and the lyrics. During my early 1970s high school years, I recall a number of top 40 hits on the radio whose tune and beat were enjoyable, but whose lyrics were objectionable. And there were a few songs whose music was bland, but had lyrics that attracted me such that I could overlook those small musical deficiencies.
My arrival at college in the fall of 1974 was a change in my life in a number of ways, but one important one was the discovery of this new phenomenon of “Jesus Music”. Groups like Love Song, the 2nd Chapter of Acts, Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, and Larry Norman gave me an amazing fusion of lyrics with meaning that also appealed to my enjoyment of a rock/pop style of music. This is not to say that I liked everything in the Jesus Music genre that I came across, but it opened my world to something that helped to build up my blossoming faith. God has continued to use this music over the past 30+ years to uplift, encourage, and even draw me back to Him when my love became cold.
I’ve digitized much of my collection to a format that will play on my computer and iPod, thus freeing it from the storage cabinet under my turntable at home, and making it playable in a way that it has never previously been possible. Since the lyrics are the content that the musical vehicle delivers to me, my intent with this blog is to share the lyrics of songs that are particularly meaningful to me.
Along with the lyrics that are posted here, I intend to post the audio of part or all of the songs they came from. Due to copyright restrictions and space requirement, I will do this as 24 or 32 kbps samples, and also try to include links to places where the music can be purchased new today, for those who are interested.
Thank you for joining me on this retrospective on the music that charged and changed a generation of Christian believers!
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