My colleague here at Fordham University, theologian Professor Bradford Hinze, recently asked the students in his undergraduate “Faith and Critical Reason” classes where they found talk of “sin” in their music. These first-year students came up with a very interesting list.

When he mentioned this to me, of course I wanted to share it here on Rock and Theology. He and his students have graciously granted permission to do so.  Professor Hinze tells me that the context for the list was that they had been discussing scriptural understandings of sin, and classical lists of sins, and that he invited the students, in his words, to “search for songs which they listened to when they considered how ‘I,’ ‘we,’ or the ‘world’ are messed up.”

He then posed some inventive theological questions:

“How do the sins named, described, and narrated in these song lyrics compare with the classic lists we have examined in Mark’s gospel, Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Evagrius Ponticus, Pope Gregory I, and Dante Alighieri? Is there overlap? Same sins, new stories? Any new kinds of personal sin? Are there instances of communal sin depicted in contemporary lyrics? Are there instances of global dynamics of sin (social structures, institutional patterns) identified? Do these songs provide a more comprehensive portrayal of sin than the classic lists?”

Here is the list. You can find many of these on Youtube or other song-related sites if you’re interested in the words or performances.

“Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” by Notorious B.I.G.

“Changes” by 2Pac

“Come on, come on” by Little Birdy

“Mother, mother” by Marvin Gaye

“Amsterdam” by Jacques Brel

“Where did my baby go?” by John Legend

“Dizzy” by Goo Goo Dolls

“House of the Rising Sun” sung recently by Tracy Chapman

“She’s not a girl who misses much” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

“The Freshman” by The Verve Pipe

“I love college” by Asher Roth

“One Song Glory” by Jonathan Larson in Rent

“Symbol in my driveway” by Jack Johnson

“Judas’ Death” by Andrew Lloyd Webber

“Stand Up” by Flobots

“1975 Ram’s Horn Music” by Bob Dylan

“Sic Transit Gloria. . . Glory Fades” by Jesse Lacey, Band: Brand New

“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” by Kanye West

“Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson

“Ghetto Gospel” by Tupac

“The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel

“Match Box Twenty” by Unwell

“Changes” by 2Pac

“Where is the Love? By Black Eyed Peas 11

“Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer 1

“Despair” by Envy [Zesubou—An Café

“What I’ve Done” by Linkin Parks

“Helpless” by Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young)

“Into the Ocean” by Blue October

“Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

“Simple Plan” by Crazy Lyrics

“Heartless Bastard Motherfucker” by Frank Turner

“Call Me When You’re Sober” by Evanescence

“I Love College” by Asher Roth

“Who are You?” by The Who

“ABC” by Knaan

“The Dark I know Well” from Spring Awakening

“The Things That Hate Us” by Strictly Leakage

“Killing in the Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine

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Are there any other songs that you would add, R&T readers?

Tom Beaudoin

New York City, New York, United States