Everything including the kitchen sink... but with special attention paid to board games, Jesus Christ, my family, being a "professional" (and I use that word loosely) Christian, and the random firing of the 10% of the synapses I'm currently using.
Tuesday, April 07, 2026
Top 100 Songs: #10-#1
I've finally reached the top ten songs... and interestingly enough, two songs feature Steve Taylor on lead vocals and two songs written by The Call appear. Not to mention the fourth song on the countdown from a single album ends up at number one.
I've loved this song from the minute it started playing on the cassette player in my car that first time… but it's taken on a particular resonance in the last decade or so with so many folks I know who pushed down their long-held beliefs and principles in the name of dominion and power.
Am I boring you? / I could say more / We were headed for somewhere, but that was before / You traded in your peace sign / For a finger
As a kid who was an awful baseball player with a loving dad, I took this song as nearly autobiographical for years. Then, one day, I realized it was about the love of God... and that my dad had done an amazing job of modeling that for me.
Baseball caps and bubble gum / "I think there’s a hole in my glove" / Three-and-two, life and death / I was swinging with eyes closed / Holding my breath / I was dying on my way to the bench / But none of it mattered after the game / When my father would find me / And call out my name/ A soft drink, a snow cone, a candy bar / A limousine ride in the family car / He loved me no matter how I played / He loved me no matter how I played
Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth was the last album on Rich's initial record contract - and since the first two albums had not blown the doors off, Rich and his producer (Reed Arvin) were pretty sure this was gonna be the end. So, they decided to make the album they wanted to make... covering Dougie Maclean's "Ready for the Storm", for example. But there was a praise song ("Awesome God") on the album that got HUGE radio play and changed the trajectory of Rich's career. But it is the same song - this song! - that grabbed Andrew Peterson (see #13 on my list) and stands out to me as Rich's best work.
So if I stand, let me stand on the promise / That You will pull me through / And if I can't, let me fall on the grace / That first brought me to You / And if I sing, let me sing for the joy / That has borne in me these songs / And if I weep, let it be as a man / Who is longing for his home
This song is how I became aware of Kansas back in the day… and it still holds up. (I've continued to follow the career of Kerry Livgren - he's put out some amazing albums with his band AD.)
Taken from 1 John 2:16, Mike Roe and the band created an unbelievably honest look inside their hearts... and ours.
Well, I see something, and I want it, bam / Right now / No questions asked / Don't worry how much it costs me now or later / I want it, want it, baby, and I want it fast / I'll go to any length, sacrifice all that I already have and all that I might get / Just to get something more that I don't need and Lord / Please don't ask me what for / The lust, the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life / Drain the life right out of me
So, lots of online sources credit "Man of No Reputation" as a Rich Mullins song - probably because it appears on The Jesus Record which was released by the Ragamuffin Band after Rich's death. But it's not Rich's song - it was written by Rick Elias, who performed it on this record... and in MANY concert appearances with Rich & the Ragamuffin Band. Rich loved the song and would insist that Rick sing it.
He was a Man of no reputation / And by the wise considered a fool / When He spoke about faith and forgiveness / In a time when the strongest arms ruled / But this Man of no reputation / Loves us all with relentless affection / And He loves all those poor in spirit / Come as you are / To the Man of no reputation
This classic 80s rocker by The Call (covered by Russ Taff) has been my personal anthem as I've faced church conflict and struggles over the last 30+ years. Hearing Russ sing it again a few weeks ago with tears running down his face was a gift - I too still believe.
But I still believe, I still believe / Through the shame and through the grief / Through the heartache, through the tears / Through the waiting, through the years / For people like us in places like this / We need all the hope that we can get / Oh, I still believe!
Some songs just feel like the artist has been following you around and wrote your life story. For me, this is that song.
And I saw you licking your wounds / And I saw you weave your cocoons / And I saw you changing your tunes for the party line / And I saw you welsh on old debts / I saw you and your comrades bum cigarettes / And you hemmed and you hawed / And you hedged all your bets / Waiting for a sign / Let's wash our hands as we throw little fits / Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites / We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks / Deaf / And joyless / And full of it
Though the album came out in 1986, Tonio K's masterpiece of a love song ended up on a mixtape I created for my soon-to-be wife in 1989. It's still "our song". (Bonus factoid: Maria McKee of Lone Justice is singing the backing vocals here.)
Now I can tell / You're so afraid / You've been lied to and taken for granted / And treated like some kind of slave / I'm not after your freedom, I'm after your heart / And I know it's gonna happen / And I knew it right from the start
follower of Jesus, husband, father, "pastor", boardgamer, writer, Legomaniac, Disneyphile, voted most likely to have the same Christmas wish list at age 58 as he did at age 8
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