Video: "An Introduction to Humanism"

I came across this video today and thought I should share it. I'm posting it without comment other than to say that it sums up quite eloquently and concisely my views on life and death.

Popular Songs Based On The Bible (Sampler)

For today's post, here is a short sampler of songs that were in one way or another inspired by the Bible. I am by no means religious (I am an atheist, in fact), however I have always found biblical references in literature and popular culture quite fascinating. I could have put a lot more than 12 songs in this sampler, but I thought I'd make it brief and just choose a few of my favourites.

1. Rivers Of Babylon (Boney M., Single Version)

- From Psalms 137:1-4 & Psalms 19:14

2. Sodom & Gemorrah (Village People)

- Recounts the story of Sodom & Gemorrah from Genesis 18:16- 19:29

3. Samson & Delilah (Newton Family)

- This popular story from Judges 16 appears in this and the following song

4. Samson & Delilah (Middle Of The Road)

- Samson & Delilah of course, but also a fleeting reference to the story of Cain & Abel

5. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) (The Byrds)

- From Ecclesiastes 3

6. The Lord's Prayer (Beach Boys)

- From Matthew 6:9-13

7. Ac-cent-tcu-ate the Positive (Johnny Mercer)

- In addition to talk of sermons, faith, and sin, there is a reference to "Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark."

8. Judas (Lady Gaga)

- A line-by-line biblical analysis can be found at Vulture.com, but of course the primary biblical influence is the story of Judas's betrayal of Jesus.

9. Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord (Boney M., 12" Version)

- Of course, there are a great many popular Christmas songs retelling the story of Jesus's birth, but I've always had a soft spot for this one.

10. One Love/People Get Ready (Bob Marley)

- Job 34:22 is among many references/allusions in this song, which can be found at the Words of Wisdom site.

11. Man Smart (Woman Smarter) (Harry Belafonte, Live at Carnegie)

- Belafonte performed/recorded many versions of this song in his career, with different stories in each version. The recording from the 'Calypso' album (1956) includes the story of Samson & Delilah; This live performance from 1959 includes references to the story of Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden

12. '40' (U2)

- From Psalms 40

Download (98MB, ZIP format) here.

P.S. David Porter at Suite101 wrote a nice review of Biblical imagery/quotations in popular music, which served as a little guidance in putting together this post. The site "atU2" also has an extensive list of biblical quotations in U2's songs.
P.P.S. You can also get Alec R. Costandinos's biblically-based disco suites "Judas Iscariot/Simon Peter" at the Disco2Go Blog (where you can also find many other great disco albums).