Looking for Song Ideas...

[jknne]

Hello all, I think I've posted here once but I really respect everyone's takes on music around here and love reading the dialogue on a daily basis. I've been asked by the church I belong to to (2 to's together never seem like correct grammar)put together a band of High School aged members of the church and mentor them (and play with them) for church and other functions. It was the kids' idea originally and we want to make it happe Sn.

 

Here's the challenge. The kids don't want to do religious hymns or overly obvious religious songs. They want to do more secular music but it would need to be appropriate for church.

 

Aside from Dylan's religious years (and there are good options there), does anyone have any ideas for songs ? The kids's overall skill level is beginner to intermediate. So far, we only have guitarists but I can play multiple instruments and fill in where needed and there's a college age student that plays drums well and may be available. So my expectation is that we would have a full band, at least 2-3 guitarists, a piano/keys playe (have a couple options there), drums, a bass player, etc.

 

I'd love to hear ideas from anyone who has them !! Thanks in advance. And thanks for several years of truly enjoyable reading on this site.

 

I'm apologize in advance if this has been posted, I didn't see anything when I searched.

[GtrPlyr]

This one is secular, but musically it's funky gospel-soul and the lyrics are probably acceptable for church, just need to change the "lover" line to "sweetheart" or some such thing:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZNkzP4kYw

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

this is a secular song that can have spiritual connotations

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHNlq0AWr_E

[Mr. Heartbreak]

If I ran a church, I could probably live with hearing this every Sunday.

[jknne]

Thanks guys, I like all the ideas so far, I'll take all the songs I can get !

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Of course, you could go for the obvious

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW88EvEAd0k

[PopTodd]

Anything by the Staples, really. And then, again, there is this stone-cold classic.

Although, it might be a little too "church-focused"?

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

[moxiebean]

You might want to browse thru this thread - a good bit of traditional gospel was mentioned but there's also some contemporary stuff that might fit the bill. My recommendation would be almost anything by Bruce Cockburn and T-Bone Burnett.

[Griddles]

Not sure but I really like MuteMath (myspace page) (wikipedia). They might not be entirely appropriate for church, not because of any of their lyrics for something like that, just a little more psychedelic-gospel then traditional gospel. Their songs (especially the first album) are religious, but if you didn't know that you wouldn't notice.

[choo-choo-charlie]

"Airline to Heaven."

[choo-choo-charlie]

Ben Harper -- I Shall Not Walk Alone

Patty Griffin -- Heavenly Day

Patty Griffin -- Never Grow Old

Patty Griffin -- We Shall All Be Reunited

The Wailin' Jennys -- Glory Bound

Wilco -- What Light

 

And I second the recommendations of Springsteen's "Across the Border" and Sly's "Que Sera Sera" 1,000x over. Great, great tunes.

[jknne]

Thank you everyone, I love the idea of all of these songs, especially the Staple Singers and the Mermaid Avenue stuff. How cool would it be to get 14-17 year old kids to learn some great music and get a congregation of people into some more secular music ? The idea of these kids playing People Get Ready has got me really excited.

[The High Heat]

"Christ for President" ought to go over pretty well!