P is for the Prophet's Song

The Prophet’s Song was released by Queen. Guitarist Brian May wrote the song in the 1970s after he had a dream about the Great Flood - depicted in the book of Genesis, as well as in many other ancient manuscripts. May's lyrics even mention the return of the white dove, which was the bird that Noah released to see if the waters had gone down, and which returned after seven days with an olive branch in its beak. The working title was 'People Of The Earth,' a phrase that came to May in his dream and made it into the lyric. At over eight minutes in length, is also Queen's longest song with vocals.

O is for It's An Open Secret

In 1964, The Joystrings (led by Major Joy Webb) became the first Salvation Army pop group to achieve chart success with It's An Open Secret.

It's an open secret that Jesus is mine,
It's an open secret this gladness divine.
It's an open secret I want you to know,
It's an open secret, I love my Saviour so!

N is for Life in a Northern Town

Life in a Northern Town is a song by British group The Dream Academy. The song was written by band members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel. The song was a global hit during 1985. It depicts a Northern town, with long lines of unemployed people and with shipyards that were closed down. Bleak - and yet there was still hope, with the Army band playing in the background...

"The Salvation Army band played
And the children drunk lemonade
And the morning lasted all day, all day..."

M is for Millennium Prayer

The Millennium Prayer is a song recorded by Cliff Richard, where the words of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4) were set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

It was released as a charity single in November 1999 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Paul Field and Stephen Deal.

L is for My Sweet Lord

The Beatles were never ones to shy away from controversial topics, and George Harrison continued to explore spiritual matters in his solo work. George’s single My Sweet Lord was originally written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna. It reached number one on singles charts globally in 1971.

After his Christian conversion, George told the evangelist who prayed with him that he was re-dedicating the song to Jesus Christ. Following George’s death in November 2001, the song was re-released and topped the charts again in 2002. It became popular again recently through the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 soundtrack...

K is for Knights Of Cydonia

Knights of Cydonia combines the concept of a terraformed planet Mars with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mentioned in scripture. The Horsemen appear in Revelation 6: 2-8, and represent God's judgement of people's sin and rebellion, which many believe to be a foretaste of the final judgement to come. The four horsemen are traditionally named Pestilence, War, Famine and Death.

Cydonia is the region on Mars where some believe life has existed. In the video, a terraformed Mars is the backdrop to the song. In the January 2007 issue of Q magazine, songwriter Matt Bellamy is quoted as saying: "I'd definitely be up for a trip to Mars. I'd love to record an album at zero gravity. Or at least go up there and do a vocal take. The area of Cydonia is very interesting. There are parts of it that resemble abandoned civilisations."

J is for Personal Jesus

Personal Jesus is a song by English band Depeche Mode. Although the song bears the name of the King of Kings, songwriter Martin Gore was also inspired by Priscilla Presley’s book, Elvis And Me, and by her exaltation of her legendary husband.

"It's a song about being a Jesus for somebody else, someone to give you hope and care. It's about how Elvis Presley was her man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships; how everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?"

I'm not sure that I agree with the final comment - however I do agree that we should strive to show Jesus to everyone we meet. 

I is for In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

This song was written by Doug Ingle, vocalist and keyboard player for the rock band Iron Butterfly. His father was a church organist. The song title was supposed to be "In The Garden Of Eden", named of course after the birthplace of mankind in the book of Genesis. Someone had written "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" on a demo copy - reportedly because Ingle was drunk on wine when he first performed it...

A record company executive saw it and decided to use it as the title, since it sounded mystical and Eastern spirituality was big at the time (The Beatles were going to India and The Rolling Stones were experimenting with Indian instruments). The album version of the song is over 17 minutes long; the single was edited for radio. It's arguably the first ever Heavy Metal track!

H is for Hallelujah Chorus

Handel was at his lowest ebb, having had several setbacks and being in debt.  He then set to work to compose a musical with words taken from the Book of Isaiah and The Gospels.

For 24 solid days and nights he worked, hardly eating or sleeping.  The result was "The Messiah."

The most famous movement in this musical is the Hallelujah chorus, which is drawn from three passages in Revelation: Chapter 19 v 6, 11 v 15 and 19 v 16.

G is for God Gave Rock And Roll To You

God Gave Rock and Roll to You was written by Russ Ballard, and originally recorded in 1973 by the British band Argent.

The version by Kiss (prefaced by a 40-second guitar solo is played by Steve Vai) was featured on the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Most triumphant!