Rock Songs You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Church Music

Rock music and Christianity have always had a strained relationship, but the latter has influenced the former more than many people realize. Sure, classic Christian rockers such as Stryper and modern standard bearers like Wytch Hazel proved that the devout can go just as hard as their secular counterparts. But today we wanted to look at the bands and artists you probably didn't realize were doing the Lord's work. 

We don't need to explain the major Christian denominations here or how the Catholic Church investigates miracles. Instead, we're just focused on how a wide range of Christian musical traditions have shown up in an equally wide range of "secular" songs, often covertly. Between a glammed-up metal monstrosity rage-baiting conservative middle America despite his own choirboy roots and a folk balladeer finding gentle comfort in a traditional hymn, these are the times that worldly rockers made Sunday school a little less of a drudgery. 

Cat Stevens' gently whimsical take on "Morning Has Broken" has all the hallmarks of his best work: Warm and hopeful with a sense of positive affirmation and friendly, good cheer. For that alone, it sits nicely alongside other Stevens classics like "Wild World" and "Father and Son," but there's deeper spiritual significance at work here.

"Morning Has Broken" originated as a Christian hymn with lyrics by English children's writer Eleanor Farjeon. The underlying melody, "Bunessan," is a Gaelic traditional that has also been used in the hymns "Baptized in Water" and "Praise and Thanksgiving." Farjeon died in 1965, only six years before her enduring work was released on Stevens' 1971 album "Teaser and the Firecat." Though she may not have lived to see the song become a contemporary hit, her own work as a poet and librettist for opera enjoyed considerable success in her lifetime. 

Spirituality would remain a central fixture in Stevens' life, but two near-death experiences changed him forever. In 1977, he became a practicing Muslim and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, releasing Islamic spiritual music under his new title. The conversion was documented in his 2025 memoir "Cat on the Road to Findout."

There's something cool about a band of metalheads having a hit song rooted in Christian choral music. That was certainly the case with Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," the band's signature hit. Unbeknownst even to the band members, the song that had been included on the Parents Music Resource Center's list of the "Filthy Fifteen" for perceived inappropriate lyrics was based on "O Come, All Ye Faithful," the traditional Christmas sing-along.

The band had been performing the song since 1984, but it wasn't until the '90s that vocalist Dee Snider learned of the connection. Al Pitrelli, guitarist for Snider's side project Widowmaker, demonstrated the close parallels between the two melodies. Dumbfounded but happy to give credit where it was due, Snider attributed the correlation to the years he'd spent singing in choirs throughout his youth, where he'd received classical training as a countertenor.

Wanting to acknowledge the connection, the band included an arrangement of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" on their 2006 Christmas album "A Twisted Christmas." The recording lays Snider's performance of the hymn on top of the accompaniment for "We're Not Gonna Take It." The results are nothing short of divine. 

Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, better known as Enya, has made a career out of blending the folk music of her Celtic roots with the contemporary world of synthesizers and new age electronics. That musical cross-pollination further reflects the history of Ireland, which is infused as much with Christendom as the pagan spirituality that preceded it. To that end, her 1991 album "Shepherd Moons" features a gentle, minimalist rendition of "How Can I Keep From Singing?", a traditional Christian hymn.

The original lyrics to the hymn, attributed only to "Pauline T.", first appeared in The New York Observer in 1868, with music later added by Baptist minister Robert Wadsworth Lowry. The hymn was later adopted by the Quakers, who modified the lyrics. During the 1960s, the hymn entered the secular folk tradition with further edits made to secularize the lyrics. Enya's own rendition reflects these modifications, with overt references to Christian imagery removed. 

Where Enya maintains deep ties to the original, however, is in the solemn, reverential tone. She eschews her intricate synthesizer arrangements for a single chordal accompaniment. Her usual walls of dense choirgirl harmonies only show up as vague hints in a couple of spots, but she otherwise presents as a solemn and solitary presence, careful not to disturb the delicate moment. It is secular in lyrics but no less spiritual in its delivery.

There's no doubt that Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart's searing electric blues power ballad rendition of "People Get Ready" has its roots in the church. From the outset the slow, deliberate pace and pleading guitar tone create the intoxicating aura of a reverent service in the Black gospel church. But there's more to the piece than just a respectful homage to one of rock's stylistic tributaries. 

Penned in 1965 by Curtis Mayfield for his gospel R&B vocal group the Impressions, "People Get Ready" follows a rich Black cultural tradition of leaning into imagery of Christian salvation as a beacon of hope in the face of racial discrimination. In this case, lyrical imagery of a train (that great symbol of blues lyricism) picking up the souls of the saved is delivered as a warm, comforting affirmation. The song doesn't directly address police brutality, segregation, voter suppression, or any of the other facets of the civil rights movement that inspired it. Instead, what we have is a gentle affirmation that it will all be okay in the end. 

Emerson, Lake & Palmer have a long and celebrated tradition of recreating classical works in a progressive rock context. "Jerusalem" fits nicely the tradition the trio established with their rock rendition of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and other classical staples. The trio of keyboardist Keith Emerson, bassist and vocalist Greg Lake, and drummer Carl Palmer do their usual best at infusing rock 'n' roll undercurrents into a classical promenade, and the result is a darkly surreal opener to their 1973 opus "Brain Salad Surgery." 

But there's more to the piece than just an effective merging of rock and classical. The piece is based on the hymn "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Times," a hymn with deep ties not only to the Anglican worship tradition but also to England's own cultural heritage. Beginning as a poem penned by William Blake, the verses envision an England that has been fully reshaped in the Christian tradition, worthy of being compared to Jerusalem for its holy significance. The poem was put to music in 1916 by Hubert Parry and has gone on to become culturally integral to England and Wales. 

Given the hymn's rich cultural and literary heritage, it would seem that Keith Emerson and company were doing a great deal to elevate the intellectual acumen of rock music. Unfortunately, not everyone saw it that way. Despite a sincere and earnest delivery, ELP's rendition of "Jerusalem" was still banned from airplay by the BBC, who objected to its "blasphemy." Some institutions, it would seem, will always regard rock music and the sacred as fundamentally separate.