comments on Christianity from pop singers with serious Catholic baggage

To wrap up this trio of posts-- on pop songs related to Christianity, powerful songs within CMA-- here are two songs from secular artists with some serious Catholic baggage. (All of this relates to a series I'm teaching on Stephen Nichols' Jesus: Made in America.)

Joel's is a classic. Morissette's is little known, but staggering in its power-- at least when heard. (I always cry when I hear her sing the bridge.)

Billy Joel: Only the Good Die Young

You Catholic girls start much too late
Ah but sooner or later it comes down to fate

Well they showed you a statue and told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Ah but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done

That stained glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never lets in the sun

But Virginia they didn't give you
Quite enough information

And they say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
Than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

You said your mother told you
All I could give you was a reputation
Ah she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?

Alanis Morissette: Forgiven

You know how us Catholic girls can be
We make up for so much time a little too late
I never forgot it, confusing as it was
No fun with no guilt feelings
The sinners, the saviors, the loverless priests
I'll see you next Sunday

We all had our reasons to be there
We all had a thing or two to learn
We all needed something to cling to
So we did

I sang Alleluia in the choir
I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man
My brothers they never went blind for what they did
But I may as well have
In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son
I had one more stupid question

What I learned, I rejected—but I believe again
I will suffer the consequence of this inquisition
If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven?

We all had delusions in our head
We all had our minds made up for us
We had to believe in something
So we did