Christian Vs. Secular

[ohnolookout]

Oh, yes. Michael W. Smith has been making me cringe for years now, and generic artists like Chris Tomlin and some other boring/annoying artists aren't exactly making the Christian music industry look like something to be proud of

I like Chris Tomlin.

[ChickenSoup]

Oh, yes. Michael W. Smith has been making me cringe for years now, and generic artists like Chris Tomlin and some other boring/annoying artists aren't exactly making the Christian music industry look like something to be proud of

I like Chris Tomlin.

What I really need as a listener is good diversity and all that. If someone isn't spontaneous or diverse or anything or has the same sound in everything...

Don't get me wrong, he's got a great voice. His music just doesn't interest me.

EDIT: This is creepy. As soon as I started typing this, a song I had not heard before came on Pandora. It was by Chris Tomlin O_O

And I liked the song!

So most of his stuff I don't like. Anyway, this song was called "Not to Us" or something. At least it had a good intro. I got bored part of the way through.

[ohnolookout]

It's just that when I listen to artists like Chris Tomlin, Todd Agnew or Matt Redman I don't go for anything musically fascinating. I listen to them for the lyrics and how they mean to me. Here's an example. It's a song sung by Kim Walker, it's called "How He Loves Us". It's not musically fascinating, I won't spend hours picking the notes apart but just look at the lyrics:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us all,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain this regrets,
When I think about, the way...

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Personally I can't get enough of that song. So you get what I'm saying?

[Bruce_Campbell]

Elvis: has nothing to do with God
Elvis: died on the toilet
Hell: has nothing to do with God

I'm not sure what that means, but my stomach hurts from holding it.

[ChickenSoup]

Indeed. Poo freely, Bruce. Poo freely, and rest assured that your Unholy Flushes will surely not condemn Thee.

[Fred1000000]

It's just that when I listen to artists like Chris Tomlin, Todd Agnew or Matt Redman I don't go for anything musically fascinating. I listen to them for the lyrics and how they mean to me. Here's an example. It's a song sung by Kim Walker, it's called "How He Loves Us". It's not musically fascinating, I won't spend hours picking the notes apart but just look at the lyrics:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us all,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain this regrets,
When I think about, the way...

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Personally I can't get enough of that song. So you get what I'm saying?

You're the complete opposite of my musically. I don't give a crap about the lyrics. Would YOU listen to Crank Dat if somebody changed the lyrics to "Jesus dies for our SOOOOULS why me praise Him cuz he ROOOOOLLS"?

I wouldn't. I need a good sounding song. I need a song that I can rock out to for weeks and not get tired of it. (Hence, my new love for the Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria, Muse and NIN.)

[Drewsov]

Ironic, then, that all of the bands that you mentioned are lyrically focused.

[TheGPFury]

Disclaimer: I haven't read all of this thread.

Personally, I listen to a mix of Christian and secular, generally more secular than Christian.

The genre's I like the best are the power/epic/gothic metal, and there really are no Christian groups that I know of that perform like that. Most of the Christian groups that are out there now are either metalcore/death metal/screaming (ie. underoath/demon hunter), or ultra-light (ie. casting crowns).

Plus, a lot of mainstream Christian bands don't seem to show through in their lyrics, if I'm gonna listen to Christian music, I expect a Christian message, otherwise why bother? I like the older Christian groups like Petra, Newsboys (before they got watered down), Dc Talk (before they broke up), and Phil Keaggy's older acoustic stuff.

I don't mind secular music as long as the language is clean and the message isn't anti-God or sexual in nature. I like musically complex songs and lyrics that are a bit deeper than the generic country/rock/punk, which is why I like the european metal genres a lot more than american music.

[ohnolookout]

You're the complete opposite of my musically. I don't give a crap about the lyrics. Would YOU listen to Crank Dat if somebody changed the lyrics to "Jesus dies for our SOOOOULS why me praise Him cuz he ROOOOOLLS"?

I wouldn't. I need a good sounding song. I need a song that I can rock out to for weeks and not get tired of it. (Hence, my new love for the Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria, Muse and NIN.)

No, because I hardly listen to rap in the first place (a few tobymac songs, and that's it). So your question is irrelevant.

Why don't you care about the lyrics?

[ChickenSoup]

Would YOU listen to Crank Dat if somebody changed the lyrics to "Jesus dies for our SOOOOULS why me praise Him cuz he ROOOOOLLS"?

I thought you said you didn't care about the lyrics.

[Pheonix]

It's just that when I listen to artists like Chris Tomlin, Todd Agnew or Matt Redman I don't go for anything musically fascinating. I listen to them for the lyrics and how they mean to me. Here's an example. It's a song sung by Kim Walker, it's called "How He Loves Us". It's not musically fascinating, I won't spend hours picking the notes apart but just look at the lyrics:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us all,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain this regrets,
When I think about, the way...

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Personally I can't get enough of that song. So you get what I'm saying?

I love that song! It's so not Chris Tomlin Lyrics.

[Fred1000000]

Would YOU listen to Crank Dat if somebody changed the lyrics to "Jesus dies for our SOOOOULS why me praise Him cuz he ROOOOOLLS"?

I thought you said you didn't care about the lyrics.

Exactly. I care about the sound. Even if those WERE the lyrics, I'd still talk trash about the song.

[Strider]

I prefer secular over Christian. Secular seems to have more creativity with their music.

But Christian-wise: Music>Movies>Games.

[Doc]

There are always so many arguments over if this band is secular or Christian and I don't really think that it matters. I don't really care whether or not it is Christian or not, the bands are just playing music, it can be clean or it can be dirty. I prefer the clean stuff.

[Strider]

There are always so many arguments over if this band is secular or Christian and I don't really think that it matters. I don't really care whether or not it is Christian or not, the bands are just playing music, it can be clean or it can be dirty. I prefer the clean stuff.

What band? Evenescense? (sp?)