Quotations from the Bible have often popped up in popular music through the a long time. This is the story …
The Nineteen Sixties
In 1965 the people rock group “The Byrds” had a primary hit with “Turn! Turn! Turn!” written by folk singer and activist Pete Seeger. It is definitely straight out of the Bible and is the words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 within the King James Version set to music, although most individuals didn’t realise it. In 1967, Tom Jones had a success with Delilah, which was a reference to Delilah whose story is told in Judges 16:4-22. In 1971, Dolly Parton had a success with “Coat of Many Colors” which alludes to the story of Joseph in Genesis 37.
The Bible in musicals
Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice wrote a string of hit musicals. Two of them blatantly drew on Bible stories. The musical “Joseph” premiered in 1968, and the more controversial “Jesus Christ Superstar” three years later in 1971, producing some hit songs.
The song “Any Dream Will Do” from the previous was sung by Donny Osmond and later by Jason Donavon in 1991. It is predicated on the story of Joseph interpreting dreams which is present in Genesis 39 and 40, where he interpreted dreams for the cupbearer, the baker and the Pharaoh.
The song “I do not know love him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” was sung within the musical by the character of Mary Magdalene to Jesus. It was a success for Yvonne Ellimen and likewise for Helen Reddy, and, unusually, versions by each of them appeared within the Top 40 at the identical time in 1971.
Cat Stevens
“Morning has Broken” was a success for Cat Stevens in 1972, (although he later became a Muslim and now goes by the name of Yusuf Islam). It is definitely an old Sunday School song from 1931. The song is about creation and the primary day mentioned in Genesis 1, after which the Garden of Eden. The end of the second verse has a reference to God walking in Eden ‘where his feet pass’, and is a reference to God walking within the Garden of Eden from Genesis 3:8.
Boney M
Rastafarian music often makes biblical references. In 1978 the German Rasta band Boney M had a success with “By the Rivers of Babylon” from Psalm 137 within the King James Version of the Bible. The first two lines are directly quoted from the primary verse of Psalm 137, after which it summarises verses 3. The chorus ‘How we could sing the LORD’s song in a wierd land?’ is verse 4 of Psalm 137.
Bob Marley
Bob Marley’s music has plenty of biblical references in it. “One Love” includes the lines ‘Let’s join together (allow us to pray to the Lord)’. It was a success in 1984. Most recently people will know “Iron Lion Zion”, which uses biblical imagery. It was recorded within the early Nineteen Seventies, but was released posthumously just after he died in 1992 and was a serious hit. It has the chorus ‘I’m gonna be Iron like a Lion in Zion’. The lion refers back to the Lion of Judah, and Zion originally a hill in Jerusalem, was used poetically as a reference for Jerusalem itself. In Rastafarianism they may also have a double reference to Emperor Haile Sellasie and Ethiopia.
Norman Greenbaum
He won’t be a household name but Greenbaum’s song, “Going on as much as the Spirit within the Sky”, continues to get radio play today. It is about going to fulfill God in heaven after you die. It has the lines ‘Prepare yourself you recognize it is a must, Gotta have a friend in Jesus’. It was released in late 1969, but it surely is generally higher known by the duvet version by Doctor and the Medics which was a world hit in 1986.
U2
There were plenty of biblical references, direct and indirect, within the music of the Irish pop group U2, due to the Christian background of a number of the band members. “Gloria” on the 1981 album October includes the words ‘Gloria in te Domine, Gloria exultate’ which references Psalm 30:2, but in Latin. The song “40” from the 1983 album War is largely Psalm 40 set to music. In fact the band often used to complete their gigs with this song.
The song “Where the Streets Have No Name” is the primary song on the 1987 album The Joshua Tree. It is predicated on the thought in John 14:3 that there’s a place prepared for us, but contrasts it to Belfast where you possibly can tell whether an individual is probably going from the Catholic or Protestant community in the event that they tell you which ones street they continue to exist. The song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” from the identical album is about spiritual searching for, on the thought of ‘Seek and ye shall find’ in Matthew 7:7. It includes the words ‘You broke the bonds and also you, You loosened the chains, You carried the cross, Of my shame, Oh my shame, You know I feel it.’
Nineties
In 1995, Coolio had a primary hit with “Gangsta Paradise”. It starts with the phrase ‘As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’ which is a direct quotation from Psalm 23 verse 4 within the King James Version.
The song “2 Become 1” was a success by British band the Spice Girls in 1996. It draws on the verse in Genesis 2:24, of a pair coming together, which is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6 and by St Paul in Ephesians 5:31, often within the context of marriage.
Cliff Richard
The prolific English singer Cliff Richard is openly Christian and has supported the evangelical Christian charity TearFund for a lot of a long time. His 1988 Christmas primary hit “Mistletoe and Wine” includes the words ‘A time for forgiving and for forgetting’ and ‘A time to rejoice in the nice that we see’ which seems to echo Ecclesiastes 3 in a Christmas context. His 1990 Christmas #1 hit “Saviour’s Day” is about Jesus without mentioning his name. It includes the words ‘He is looking you, calling you’. In 1999 he had a primary hit with the Millenium Prayer which was the Lord’s Prayer using traditional wording, sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.
Zadok the Priest
OK so it is not pop, but it surely is a giant a part of our popular culture. At the king’s Coronation in 2023, King Charles III was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the choir sang the rousing hymn “Zadok the priest” which was written by Handel in 1727, and has been used at every Coronation since. The words ‘Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, anointed Solomon the king’ is straight out of 1 Kings 1:34 within the King James Version. When the British radio station Classic FM was launched in 1992, this was the primary piece of music to be broadcast on the station. Also since 1992, the tune has also been popularised because the tune for the European football Champions League.
Biblical references
This will not be an exhaustive set of biblical references in pop music, but gives a flavour of a number of the more well-known ones from across the a long time, which you’ll likely still hear on the radio. Keep listening, because biblical references pop up in probably the most unlikely places.
