Honorable Mention: Only Wanna Sing
by Hillsong Young and Free
This song was chosen as an honorable mention mainly because, as a praise and worship song, it technically falls outside of my own established parameters. Nonetheless, there is something striking about this song, which I would describe precisely as making it worth learning to listen to. My first encounter with the song was during the evening programs of a youth service camp this past summer. What struck me was the great irony of the song. My generation found such irony in "Heart of Worship," as we were moved by a beautiful song, which challenged us to give "more than a song." "Only Wanna Sing" takes the concept to a whole new level. No other song that whole week had the same level of energy to get them so hyped. Yet, the whole point of the song is to challenge us to not get caught up in the hype. I was struck by this one night, as the worship leaders stopped in the middle of the song, surrounded by a thick mob of dancing teenagers caught up in the moment, to invite them to understand what they were really being invited into. This was not because the dancing was bad, but because they wanted them not to miss the depth being offered to them. May every such moment challenge us to go deeper...5: Hopeless Romantic
by Michelle Branch
When I was a teenager, I thought like a teenager, spoke like a teenager, and listened to Michelle Branch like a teenager. When I became an adult, I rocked out to her new album. When Branch released Spirit Room, there was something about the youthful optimism with which she sang about love that struck me at the time as sometimes bearing a certain resemblance to the way a young, recent convert might sing of their relationship with the Lord. By the time of the release of Hotel Paper, it was clear that her earlier optimism had grown jaded by broken relationships. (Incidentally, this sophomore tragedy found an interesting little counterpart in the one-album wonder, The Wreckers.) The long awaited follow-up full-length album seems to tell a tale of reaching a point of resolution. In some ways, she sings of a rather tragic resolve. But, there is beauty in that tragedy. The honesty of "Hopeless Romantic" captures that beauty in a unique way. Even the words themselves contain a striking honesty. Understand that I don't claim to be able to speak for Branch's own thoughts or intentions. Furthermore, I do fear that many listeners will miss the caution this song carries. But, the kind of hopeless romantic depicted in this song is one whose passions are stirring them toward something that is not good for them, that will not satisfy them, but will actually become their downfall. The more they allow themselves to be driven by these emotions the more their hope is lost, since hope is what reorders our passions toward their fulfillment. Yet, reason continues to keep hope alive in the form of her honesty. May that hope, grounded in reason and truth, continue to stir within each of us, that we may find true fulfillment.
4: The Promise
by Chris Cornell
Even preparing to write this description, and listening to the song again in the process, takes me back to that place I was in earlier this year, when I was hit unexpectedly hard by the news of the passing of such an iconic figure of an era of music that will always remind me of my youth. I don't speak of simply surprise at the news of his death, or the reports regarding the cause of death. It is not my intentional at all to get into any judgment or speculation about his own interior struggles. But, when I listen to his music now, I am simply overwhelmed with... gratitude... as well as grief. Yet, the thought that the final song we would hear from him, one of the best songs of his career, beckons its listeners (regardless of its original intention, which I do not think is lost or detracted from by the new significance it holds in light of his passing) to keep a promise to "persevere and thrive" ... I can't put into words what that does to those of us who were impacted by his music. And yet, I don't think I have to. Thank you, Chris. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
3: Wounded Healer
by Audrey Assad
I have to admit that this is a song that I myself am still learning to listen to. Yet, it keeps pulling me back. With a marvelously simple chorus, Assad draws us into the ever new mystery that we can trust Our Lord with our broken hearts. The reality of His suffering, His identification with pain and woundedness emboldens us to trust Him. Assad has revealed her pain, as someone who understands suffering, through many beautifully honest songs over the years. She has also shown us glimpses of the healing power of love she has encountered along her journey. She is one of those powerful song-writers who blends the depth of the Catholic Christian tradition with the depth of her own experience, whether painful or joyful. Along the way, she has shown herself as one who understands the process of healing. In this song, she is simply introducing us to the Healer, and inviting us to join her in entrusting our hearts to Him.2: True Sadness
by The Avett Brothers
This song is an interesting follow-up to the number one song of the 2016 list ("Happiness" by NeedToBreathe), as it also features a refrain, which references that sense of being awakened in the middle of the night by dreams of something greater. Yet, it initially seems that The Avett Brothers take that experience in the opposite direction, not toward "Happiness," but toward "True Sadness." But, upon learning to listen to the song, we begin to realize that they are utilizing their characteristic honesty to point toward the futility of the things that we seek after in life, the things we dream of, which we imagine will bring us happiness. The reality of being left unfulfilled, because of this misguided seeking is indeed the "True Sadness" that we find within humanity when we "peel a few layers." Yet, the song is not one of pessimism of despair. Rather, it seems to be challenging us to keep peeling away layers to find something deeper. It seems we are meant not only to pity, or even just to respect, but also to identify with Angela (sung about in the third verse), and to have a moment of realization, not just about about her, but about ourselves, when they finally ask "Does she not have a heart?"
1: Gloria
by Josh Garrels
Just over a year ago, Garrels released a beautiful Christmas album (The Light Came Down) that played, not like he chose to play into a gimmick or take his turn at a token holiday album, but rather like he wanted his next project to be a reflection on the Incarnation, and knew that the best way to do that would involve tapping into the rich existing tradition of Christmas songs, yet from his own unique perspective. Of all the excellent tracks on this album, "Gloria" best reflects what makes the whole album great: the rich infusion of Garrels' own unique flavor with a variety of existing Christmas classics, leaving us with an original work, which also pays tribute to some of its precursors. In this song, the 'gloria' feels very real, because it rises victoriously out of the entrance of our God into the depth of our darkness, where, "All of life's surrendering, beneath the death that winter brings, in hope of new life." Yet, part of the beauty of the song is how the inclusion of elements of a couple familiar carols leaves us with the remembrance that this hope of a victorious 'gloria' rising out of our darkness is something both ever ancient and ever new. The faithfulness of our God is learned from the stories and the hymns handed down, yet it is incarnated in our own unique and unrepeatable lives. This is indeed a great depiction of the joy of Christmas in all of its glory.<<<Back to the 2016 List...
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