So, back to the days when I lived in North Danville and the general St. Johnsbury area...life was good! Music was even better. I just can't even explain how much better the music was; though most people already get it. One of the cool things was that you could hear Procol Harem one minute, and Crystal Gayle the next. Merle Haggard was played alongside the Beatles. Music was a vast mix and creativity was at an all time high - no pun intended.
I thought it would be fun to look into the fact that singers/song writers / bands often spoke from a Christian viewpoint and were not afraid to mention God. It wasn't a particularly popular view - well, there were the "Jesus Freaks" - young people who were doing sort of a hippies love God revival, but (this is the IMPORTANT part) it wasn't a particularly unpopular view either. The United States has lost its civility toward God. Oh, we can be civil towards everything BUT God. But I digress. A little. I remember in Vermont, dancing at the American Legion dances with twenty-somethings alongside sixty-somethings and all ages in between and to either side. There would be young kids and elderly people - all having a great time dancing to the bands.
So here are just a few of the songs from that time that 1) got air play and 2) sold millions of records and 3) talked about God:
Edwin Hawkins Singers "O Happy Day"(When Jesus Walked) 1969 Hit
Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken" A beautiful old hymn
Peter, Paul and Mary "Very Last Day" Listen to this on Youtube - it gives me CHILLS
The Hollies also did "Very Last Day"
The Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" straight out of Ecclesiastes
Tommy James and the Shondells - "Sweet Cherry Wine" It isn't too far a stretch to think this might have been about communion! Love's the only way, drink it with your brother, pass it all around. Well, maybe not, but it was definitely about loving one another. And a good song.
The Hollies "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - again, about loving and taking care of each other
The Searchers "Needles and Pins" has the line "..get down on my knees and pray"
And the number one song in the UK in 1970, my personal favorite: Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky". I LOVED this SONG. Still do, even though doctrinally, I take umbrage with him singing, ..."never been a sinner, I never sinned". Who's he kidding?
God was preparing me with all this music to accept His Son as my personal savior about 4 years later...God is Love.
