CCM - 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music: The Stories Behind the Music That Changed Our Lives Forever

CCM Magazine Presents

CCM TOP 100 GREATEST SONGS IN CHRISTIAN MUSIC
Copyright 2004 by CCM Magazine

Published by Integrity Publishers, a division of Integrity Media, Inc.,
5250 Virginia Way, Suite 110, Brentwood, TN 37027,
in association with CCM Magazine, a division of Salem Publishing,
104 Woodmont Boulevard, Suite 300, Nashville, TN 37205

HELPING PEOPLE WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE the
MANIFEST PRESENCE of GOD.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording,
or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
All rights reserved.

Written by Tori Taff and the editorial staff of CCM Magazine, including
Christa Farris, Caroline Mitchell, Stephanie Ottosen,
Jay Swartzendruber, Michael Tenbrink, and Chris Well.

List Crafting by Michael Nolan.

Editorial Assistance by Kelly ONeil.

Afterword by Steven Curtis Chapman

Cover design by Benji Peck.

Interior design by Jay Smith at Juicebox Designsinfo@juiceboxdesigns.com

Art Direction by Lee Steffen

ISBN: 1-59145-210-4

Printed in the United States of America

04 05 06 07 08 BP 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

When I heard that CCM had the opportunity to compile this unprecedented volume celebrating contemporary Christian musics greatest songs, the fan inside me started to get excited. Which songs would be highlighted? Would my favorite artists be represented? What would the top 10 look like? And then the growing voice of the professional editor started whispering within. How will we ensure credibility? How can we best honor Christian musics history? And how broad should the definition of Christian song be?

In some ways the last question would be the toughest of allwith good reason. A majority of the Christian communitys most prolific artists emphatically believe that a song honors God when its an expression of goodness, truth and beauty. That whether its gospel, praise, an instrumental, or has a biblically-informed perspective on anything under the sun, God is pleased. These artists might sing about friendship, prayer, sexual purity, money, politics, humility or something as timely and specific as the current HIV/AIDS and poverty crises in Africa.

We at CCM wholeheartedly agreethis conviction served as the starting place for our approach in creating this book. That said, we did feel it necessary to create two tangible man-made guidelines for the sake of practicality and to specifically honor the history of the Christian music community. To be eligible for nomination, a song had to originate with our songwriters/ artists and initially (or simultaneously) be nationally distributed to the Christian market. Hence U2s modern worship classic, Gloria (In Te Domine), for instance, was not eligible though it eventually impacted the Christian marketplace thanks to later recordings by Audio Adrenaline and Circadian Rhythm. Secondly, after much debate, we came to the conclusion that it would be most helpful for the purposes of this book, if eligibility required that songs be distinctly faith-evident. Thus Phil Keaggys astounding instrumentals and Sixpence None the Richers worldwide smash hit Kiss Me, for example, also were not eligible.

Before we began sifting through thousands of potential nominees, we also had to clarify what made for one of Christian musics greatest songs. In this case, did great mean excellent, innovative, popular or influential? Actually, all of the above. And thats a significant point. If you asked me to list my 10 favorite Christian songs of all time, for instance, chances are the results would look quite different than a list of what I considered to be the 10 most influential or popular songs of all time. If a song was merely a personal favorite of ours, it didnt come close to making the final cut. But if it was a radio hit, eventually ended up in hymnals, made unprecedented in-roads into culture, or was covered by multiple artists, then its chances were significantly better.

And the actual selection process? First we began by referencing decades of groundbreaking albums, radio airplay charts, Dove Award wins, and downright personal opinions. From these sources we were able to easily list hundreds of landmark songs. We then took this list to a panel of industry pioneers and executives. After asking them to add any songs that were missing, we invited them to help us dramatically shorten the overall list by constructively debating the merit of each and every song initially nominated. The resulting conversation around CCMs large conference room table was extremely engaging, intense, nostalgic, fun, and, without a doubt, productive. And did I mention that it was surreal? One moment I would find myself feeling like a relevant contributor, and the next an astounded spectator, a fly on the wall of Christian music history. I mean, can you imagine sitting across from legendary producer Michael Omartian as he cheerfully debated with pioneering manager/label founder Michael Blanton about Christian musics most pivotal moments in the 1970s? Me either. I had to see it to believe it. And just what was I thinking during those moments when I actually challenged the opinions of such Christian music giants? It had to be my love for the music. It made me audacious. After all, these were some of the very people who literally helped form my tastes in music.

When this phase was completed, we still had about 250 songs on the list. Im talking classics both early and modern. From here on out, it would mean a self-imposed guilt-trip for each and every song that didnt make the final 100. There was only one appropriate way to go from hereit would come down to votes cast by industry leaders and fiercely loyal Christian music fans. In a page borrowed from professional sports leagues that designate their all-stars by differentiating between votes cast by players and votes cast by fans, we decided 50% of the final say would be determined by Christian music leaders and the other 50% by fans. On the industry side we contacted dozens of key executives, artists and producers and then randomly selected more than 2,500 CCM Magazine