Music is one of the hallmarks of any church service. Regardless of the denomination, at some point, people will start singing about Jesus.
But did you know that Jesus is one of the most sung-about topics in secular music as well? In his book, Person of Interest, J. Warner Wallace gives a list of popular artists from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and IMDB who have all sung about Jesus. There were 148 as of 2020 when the book was published.
Some of the songs in that list are complementary to Jesus. Some are not. Some just mention his name in passion (“Who do you think you are? Jesus?”). But they all have his name in the lyrics somewhere.
Some songs about Jesus aren’t so obvious, though. You have to really pay attention to figure it out. Some of these songs, you’ve probably sung along to (or banged your head to) and had no idea who you were singing about.
So, without further ado, I give you 7 secular songs you may not have known were about Jesus. And #7 will probably shock you.
1. Kyrie by Mr. Mister
As a Protestant kid who grew up in the farmlands of Ohio in the 80s, I completely missed who this song is about. I thought Kyrie was a girl the singer was chasing after. I also thought the lyric was “Kyrie lays on down the road that I must travel” (give me a break, OK. There was no internet to look up the lyrics in the 80s).
But my Roman Catholic and Orthodox friends probably knew who this song was about. The Kyrie eleison is a prayer often said in their liturgies. “Kyrie eleison” is the transliteration from Greek of the phrase “Lord, have mercy”.
“Kyrios” is a word found frequently in the New Testament in the original Greek.. This is the Greek word translated as “Lord”. When we hear this word in the 21st Century, it’s easy to think of it as merely a title, or someone of some importance.
This isn’t just an honorific title, though. This word had another use in the Bible. When the Old Testament was translated into Greek in 247 BC, the translators used Kyrios for another very important word – YHWY. The name of God. In other words, whenever someone calls Jesus “Lord”, they are equating him with God.
2. Are You Gonna Go My Way? by Lenny Kravitz
It’s easy to miss that this song has anything to do with Jesus. I know I did until a few years ago, and I play this song constantly!
Check out the beginning of the first verse.
“I was born long ago
I am the chosen, I’m the one
I have come to save the day
And I won’t leave until I’m done”
In an interview Kravitz gave to Rolling Stone in 2018, he said: “I thought the subject matter was really interesting, because it’s coming from the mouth of Jesus Christ, as I thought. So basically, ‘Are you gonna go my way?’ meaning ‘my way of love.’ I had no idea that that song would become what it became. No idea. There was nothing on the radio like that. And the recording is so raw, it’s ridiculous.”
3. After Forever by Black Sabbath
It may surprise you to find the Godfathers of Heavy Metal on a list of songs about Jesus. Many of their songs seem to summon imagery of darkness and evil. And the antics of Ozzy Osbourne did nothing to help their case.
But the main lyricist of the band, Geezer Butler, grew up in a strict Irish Catholic home. And, while he would later abandon the faith, he admits it had a profound impact on him. “But once a Catholic, always a Catholic at heart. At least I’ve found,” he had to say in his 2018 autobiography Into The Void[^1].
Geezer was inspired to write the lyrics to this song after a trip to Ireland, where he witnessed firsthand the violence between Catholics and Protestants in the 70s.
One of the main themes of the song is to call out people who do not believe in God. Also, to criticize those who act like Jesus is just another figure from a history book. Geezer makes some very direct claims, such as calling Jesus “The One”. And, to give a warning that we had better get right with God before we die, because then it will be too late.
4. Addict With A Pen by Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots is one of those groups that does a masterful job of mixing their Christian beliefs into their lyrics without being direct or heavy-handed about it. It gives their songs a very honest and authentic feel as the lyricist, Tyler Joseph, works out things every believer struggles with for everyone to see.
A great example of this is the song “Addict With A Pen”. There are numerous pointers back to Scripture in the song. “And it blows me back and forth” matches what Paul says in Ephesians 4:14, where he says that infants in their faith are blown about by the changing wind of every new doctrine they hear. A few lines later, Tyler sings “But you specialize in dyin’” – a clear reference to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He follows that up by saying, “You hear me screaming ‘Father!’” and asks him to “wash me with your water”.
The song is essentially Tyler talking to God, asking for his forgiveness for not talking to him enough, talking about how pointless it is to go through life on your own, and asking for God’s grace once again.
5. Until The End Of The World by U2
U2 is a band that has tapped into their faith numerous times throughout their storied history. One of the most interesting times is the song “Until The End Of The World” off their “Achtung Baby” album.
Most songs about Jesus either talk about him from the third person or are from the perspective of the singer talking to Jesus directly. This song is different. This song is told from the perspective of Judas, the betrayer of Christ. In it, Bono sings about the events starting at the Last Supper (“We ate the food, we drank the wine, everybody having a good time”), continuing into the Garden of Gesthemene, where Jesus was arrested (“You know I love the element of surprise, In the garden I was playing the tart, I kissed your lips and broke your heart”). The song ends with Judas’ regret and suicide (“Waves of regret and waves of joy, I reached out for the one I tried to destroy”).
6. I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons
While Marcus Mumford has never come out to say that this song is definitely about Jesus, it’s hard to miss the parallels between what the narrator is singing about and what a person’s walk with Christ looks like.
It also wouldn’t be far-fetched to think this song is about Jesus. Marcus Mumford’s parents led the Vineyard Church movement in the UK, so he grew up in evangelical circles. These days, he lumps himself in with the “not Christian, but spiritual” crowd. But that doesn’t mean he has abandoned belief in Jesus.
Just look at the lyrics. In the first verse, the narrator talks about coming “home like a stone”, as if carrying many burdens. And he “fell heavily into your arms”. The weight of the world and the weight of what we’ve done is often too much for us to bear, and we find rest with Jesus.
The chorus of the song (“I will wait, I will wait for you”) is repeated over and over again. Followers of Christ have pledged to patiently await his return. Not only will the narrator wait, he will kneel down and wait – in a position of honor and reverence for the one being kneeled to.
In the second verse, the narrator says, “Well you forgave, and I won’t forget”. Jesus offers forgiveness to those who will follow him.
IN the third verse, “So tame my flesh and fix my eyes”. “The flesh” is a phrase common in Christianity that refers to our desires that go against what God wants for us. The narrator is asking the subject of the song to help him turn away from those desires and fix his eyes on the person being sung to.
Finally, in the outtro, the narrator says he will “raise my hands; paint my spirit gold, Bow my head, keep my heart slow”. Raising one’s hands and bowing one’s head are symbols of worship. And saying he will keep his heart slow is an affirmation that he will patiently wait for the return of the person the song is about.
7. Iron Man by Black Sabbath
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That’s right. One of the most iconic heavy metal songs, written by one of the bands our parents and preachers warned us about when we were kids, is inspired by Jesus.
Geezer has this to say in his autobiography, “‘Iron Man’ was based on Jesus Christ, the notion that he was a hero one minute and persecuted the next.”[^2] . He expanded on this during an interview on The Eddie Trunk Podcast in 2022, where he said, “There’s this guy who comes to do good, and then he comes to spread the word, and he’s crucified for telling the truth. And that was like Iron Man, seeing the future, coming back to tell the world how horrible it’s going to be, and people turn against him. But, where Jesus died to save people, Iron Man takes his revenge.”[^3]
I admit, I was floored when I heard him say that. I have listened to that song HUNDREDS of times, and never made the connection. But it makes sense.
Like the central figure of the song, Jesus Christ came to Earth to share the truth of the future. Iron Man came with a message of salvation from what was to come, just like Jesus. But Iron Man was rejected (“nobody wants him, he just stares at the world”). Jesus was also rejected. Iron Man suffered for the benefit of humanity (“He was turned to steel in a great magnetic field, when he traveled time for the future of mankind”). Jesus suffered on the cross for all of humanity in order to take on the debt we all deserve.
Based on his interview with Eddie Trunk, Butler doesn’t take the analogy far enough, however. He says that Iron Man exacts his revenge on those who didn’t help him, but Jesus dies to save people, and that’s the end. The truth is, Jesus’ part in this story didn’t end with his crucifixion. See, Jesus isn’t just the savior of mankind, he is also its judge (John 5:30, Acts 17:31, Revelation 20:11-15). Like in the song, wrath will come. Unlike the song, the wrath won’t come from Jesus (Iron Man), but he will determine who receives it and who doesn’t.
So, there you have it. 7 secular songs about Jesus that you may not have realized were about Jesus. Did I miss any? If so, leave them in the comments below.
[^1]: Butler, Geezer. Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond (p. 23). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
[^2]: Butler, Geezer. Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond (p. 88-89). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
[^3]: Trunk, Eddie. “Geezer Butler”, The Eddie Trunk Podcast. 2022-05-25. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geezer-butler/id897720614?i=1000563939331
David is an author and speaker with Legati Christi where he has written about and spoken on multiple apologetic and theological topics for the past 6 years. He recently launched Theology In Music as a way to combine his love of theology with his other passion in life – music.
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