Far too often, the subject of popular music conjures up unsavory images of the "sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll" lifestyle. Many of today's lyrics still reflect this milieu, along with the perennial themes of love won and lost, and, more recently, the glorification of death and suicide. There has, however, been a trend in recent years, even outside the realms of "contemporary Christian" music, to offer lyrics that explore spiritual themes, including the subject of God. We discussed these trends with two contemporary songwriters—a well-established record producer in New York and an aspiring young writer in Portland, Oregon.

HEALING THROUGH SONG

Someone who, in his own career, made the leap from dependence on drugs to the healing experience of writing God-centered lyrics is Peter Link. In the 1960s he played the lead in the protest musical Hair on Broadway, and he now writes and produces songs and records with healing potential in the studios he owns on Forty-second Street. He has received the New York Critics' Drama Desk Award and two Tony nominations, and has a two-million-selling Gold Record to his credit. On Sunday mornings he teaches Sunday School in New York.

Peter told us that he welcomes the trend toward more positive lyrics and sees it as a natural backlash to the gangsta rap and sexually overt lyrics of today. "Songs have inspired mankind to move beyond their limitations throughout history," he said. "Why should this glorious purpose change now? Great songs have always lifted the heart, inspired the mind, and brought joy to the struggling soul."

Recently, he included some anecdotes about his songwriting career in a commencement speech at Principia Upper School St. Louis, Missouri. "I love to go to work," he told the students. "For me as a songwriter—and that's what I am more than anything in life—it is the work that is the joy. I care very little about the awards and the hit records and the smash reviews. Oh, I suppose these things have their place in life, but what really gets me going is the process—the process of writing the song.

"I've always said that if I could just finish a song, throw it over my shoulder, and begin the next, I would be happy. When I'm deep into the music or deep into the emotional imagination of the creation of the lyric, I am the closest to who I really am. I am closest to God and to my purpose in life as His reflection.

"I've learned over time that the worst songs I've ever written come from me, and the best songs come through me. The work process, at its best, creates in me a vessel—or sometimes a transparency—through which pours the inspiration. This is creativity. Remove Peter, find the song."

He then "removed Peter," to share with the graduating class the lyrics of one of his most recent songs, "Faith":

GETTING STARTED

Someone else who keeps a close ear on the pop music scene is Kevin Cox, who lives in Portland, Oregon. He has spent many years as a drummer, singer, and percussionist in various rock bands, pit orchestras, and symphony orchestras in the San Francisco Bay area and in Boston. He has written both sacred and popular-style songs, and is a computer programmer and budding multimedia composer.

Kevin told us he thinks the current trend toward spiritual themes in lyrics reflects a deep spiritual hunger in society as a whole. "Christian music," he said, "is becoming a bigger and bigger force in the music industry, especially if we compare record sales in 1986 and 1996. There are popular artists who bridge the gap—comfortably make the 'crossover,' as they say—between Christian music and the mainstream. Good examples are Grammy-winning singer Amy Grant, who has had several Top Ten hits in the last few years, and the band called Jars of Clay, which takes its name from the treasure-holding 'earthen vessels' in the King James Version of the Bible [II Cor. 4:7].

"This trend doesn't go back much more than five years," says Kevin. "It wasn't that mainstream audiences weren't ready for inspirational songs. It was simply that record company executives were misreading public taste and not seeking radio air time for these songs. But that's changing rapidly. Now, one doesn't have to look very far to find inspired and inspiring lyrics in rock music. Spiritual issues have become more mainstream.

"Peter Himmelman, who is from the Midwest, made an entire album telling the story of a man who is given a second chance to learn some of life's most essential lessons. In the last song in the album he admits that if he had only believed in love, he could have been set free.

"But spiritual themes haven't just begun appearing in the last few years," adds Kevin. "In 1981, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren made an album called Healing. It contains the song 'Compassion,' which says we cannot be healed without compassion. The opening track, 'Healer,' suggests that it's time to make the world a bit wiser. There are are enough destroyers and criticizers—the world needs a healer."

"There are also bands whose members are Christians," says Kevin, "but who do not always sing lyrics directly related to Christianity or spirituality—for instance, the very successful Irish band U2, who in the early 1980s released a song called "40," the lyrics of which are a translation of Psalm 40. And one can also find inspiring lyrics in some of the compositions of New Age artists, although their message is not necessarily a Christian one.

"But the group that is the most inspiring of all to me—musically as well as lyrically—is Yes, who have been writing and performing their own brand of classically influenced rock for almost thirty years. Their singer Jon Anderson, who creates most of their lyrics, wrote a song in 1974 called 'The Revealing Science of God,' and he has written many other lyrics with extraordinary spiritual insight, including 'Prayersong' from a CD he made on his own, titled Angels Embrace. For me," says Kevin, "the words of 'Prayersong' encapsulate the best features of this trend in modern music, and they bring a much-needed message of healing:

Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 1995 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Fizz Music Limited (PRS). Warner Bros. Publications U.S., Inc., Miami, Florida 33014.