“Wait, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this one before.”
It’s true. Some stories are so good, so impactful, so earth-shattering, they deserve to be retold again and again.
That’s what the pinnacle of Disney animation did in 1994 with The Lion King. It’s no secret that it’s basically Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Remove the Prince of the Danes, insert Simba, sprinkle on some catchy tunes, and movie history is made.
Or what about the highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar? It’s basically Disney’s Pocahontas, which itself is basically Dances with Wolves—a colonizer learns the “savages” are actually the good guys and switches sides.
Don’t even get me started on how Fast & Furious is just Point Break with cars; or how West Side Story is just Romeo & Juliet with gangs; or how Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is merely The Goonies…in space! (Also, someone told me that Nope and Monster House are the same film, and I can’t unsee it now.)
Songs are just stories set to a melody. And if my headphones can be trusted, the story of Jesus is getting repeated in some very unlikely places.
It makes sense. The story of a God who would send his own son to pay our sin-debt, ensuring nothing could stand in the way of us knowing each other… and then that son coming back to life to conquer death for good? That’s a story worth telling, and re-telling. Even if the artists don’t realize it’s what they’re doing.
Below are some of my favorite accidentally-about-Easter songs, from a newly resurrected Kate Bush smash (see what I did there), to a Tom Petty deep cut, to a track from the greatest hip-hop group of all time (yeah, I said it). Hit the link here to go straight to the playlist I created on Spotify or Apple Music.
And you thought “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” was all we had to work with this season? Pffft.
“Running Up That Hill” - Kate Bush
The crown jewel of accidentally-Easter songs. Written to address the misaligned perspectives of a man and woman in a relationship, it actually works just as well (maybe even better) as an allegory of what happened on Easter weekend around 33 A.D. When Bush sings, “If I only could make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places, I’d be running up that road, running up that hill,” all I can think is: that’s exactly what happened. Scripture says that Jesus took the punishment we deserved for sin. He swapped places with us, setting us free to run up the road (or hill) toward God without fear of retribution or condemnation. A God so full of sacrificial love that he’d willingly die in our place? That’s even stranger than a demogorgon in Hawkins (or a song from 1985 hitting #4 on the Billboard Charts 37 years after it was released). Happy Easter!
“Pay in Blood” - Bob Dylan
The OG of counterculture cool might sound like a goblin when he sings now, but the songwriting is still as strong (and enigmatic) as ever. This deep cut, from his 2012 album Tempest, has a simple chorus that you could take either as a threat, or a pretty succinct summation of the gospel: “I pay in blood, but not my own.” With Dylan quoting Jesus elsewhere in the same song, perhaps he had Matthew 26:26-28 in mind when he was polishing up this song. Or maybe Ephesians 1:7. Or maybe it was 1 Peter 2:24. Or maybe he’s just messing with our heads. It’s Dylan, so we’ll never know, and he’ll never tell.
“Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground” - Blind Willie Johnson
Robert Johnson is credited by history as inventing the blues, but my main man, Blind Willie, set down his landmark recordings nearly a decade earlier. Legend says that when he entered the studio in 1927 to record this song, which is all about the death and burial of Jesus, he was so overcome with grief he couldn’t get the words out. All you hear over his landmark slide guitar are low groans and hums, but those inaudible murmurs speak volumes. It is such an evocative piece of music history, it was included on the Voyager 1 space probe as an example of humanity’s best, alongside music from Bach and Beethoven—you know, just in case some aliens happened to come across it. Good choice, NASA. Those little green guys need Jesus, too.
“Pale White Horse” / “Where Is Your Rider” / “Soldier, Poet, King” - The Oh Hellos
The Oh Hellos write songs your favorite novelist wishes they had written. This set of three back-to-back-to-back bangers is unbelievable… and gets deeper with each listen. “Pale White Horse” plays with the imagery of the final Horseman of the Apocalypse (Death) described in Revelation 6:7-8, who gets defeated much like Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea (“Where Is Your Rider”) by the Messiah we’ve been waiting for—a hero we saw echoes of in Joshua and David, and find in fullness in the person of Jesus (“Soldier, Poet, King”). With Jesus defeating the Pale Rider for good on Easter morning, these songs, though maybe not accidentally-Easter, are too good to pass up. If I could tattoo three songs on my body, it would be this set.
“All Things New Again” - The Wallflowers
Jakob Dylan just might be the most consistent writer of accidentally-about-Jesus songs. But for Easter, this one takes the cake. Echoing Revelation 21:5, and paired with a windows-down-it’s-finally-spring drive in your car, your hard winter heart might be the thing you find resurrecting.
“Dear God 2.0” - The Roots
For all the joy of resurrection Sunday, it’s worth remembering that tears, doubts, and pain were just as much a part of the story. We see Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution through the lens of his resurrection, but his original followers didn’t. When Jesus was placed in that borrowed tomb, their hopes were laid to rest alongside him. Around one-third of the Psalms in the Bible—poems and songs used in worship—are classified as laments. They cry out to God; they ask hard questions; they grieve, complain, and wail. And God welcomes it—all of it. In light of Easter, Black Thought and ?uestlove’s lament is a reminder that pain doesn’t have to lead us away from God—coming with questions and doubts can be just as powerful as coming in faith. Just ask Thomas. Or Peter. Or Mary.
“Resurrect Me” - Jon Foreman
It’s true, this song by the Switchfoot frontman doesn’t technically fit the “accidentally Easter” mold. But it does go after an angle of it that is often ignored—our own resurrection. Perhaps even more shocking than Jesus coming back to life is how that event sends shockwaves through time, giving us hope that we can also experience resurrection. I have seen it in my own life—Jesus brought me back from the dead of sexual trauma and addiction; church hurt and emotional apathy; stunted intimacy and crippling perfectionism. Believe it or not, I think our personal resurrections (yes, plural) have been part of the plan all along.
“The Cool” - Lupe Fiasco
Resurrection isn’t a finish line. Rather, it’s the start of something new, and the choices we make after we’re brought back to life dictate just how powerful (or powerless) our resurrected life will be. “The Cool” is a cautionary tale, told by an unlikely teacher. Lupe Fiasco is one of the most-talented lyricists in hip-hop, and though he doesn’t hold a Biblical worldview, this song—about a newly resurrected young man who runs right back to the old ways of life that got him killed in the first place—is a reminder that new life is a gift that requires cultivation. In fact, scripture teaches the same thing here, and here, and also here. Don’t waste your second life.
“He Woke Me Up Again” - Sufjan Stevens
In the scriptures, “sleep” is a metaphor often used to describe death (like here, for example). Keeping that in mind, we get the equally Biblical idea that each day we rise from bed is a miracle, a mini-resurrection. When our feet hit the ground, we are a new creation, ready to experience God’s ever-abundant mercies, able to press into the new things he is doing around us. Waking up is a resurrection that we too often take for granted. In a song that plays on that metaphor, indie champion Sufjan Stevens saves the best line for last. Why did God wake us up again? “To be hoooollllyyyy”.
“The Dark of the Sun” - Tom Petty
I’m pretty sure this deep cut from the Patron Saint of Rock and Roll wasn’t meant to describe an interaction at the crucifixion, but it’s hard for me to read it any other way. When Petty sings, “In the dark of the sun, will you save me a place? Give me hope, give me comfort, get me to a better place,” I hear the thief on the cross. Scripture says two people were crucified alongside Jesus, one on either side of him. One thief taunted Jesus, while the other looked to him for hope. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” was the dying thief’s request—and, perhaps shockingly, Jesus said that he would. The chorus of this song could serve as Christ’s response: “We will stand together, yeah, we will stand as one, in the dark of the sun.” That’s the very same hope Chris still offers each of us today, that we can be one with him. The dark of the sun? Right after the conversation with the thief, Scripture says the sun went dark “and there was darkness over the whole land.” Maybe this song isn’t accidentally-Easter after all?
“The Way It’s Always Been” - Brandon Flowers
I’m a middle-aged white dad. So yes, I love everything The Killers and their frontman, Brandon Flowers, ever touch. But this song, from his second solo album, is my absolute favorite. He describes difficulties of life—crushed dreams, the push-and-pull of relationships, the pressure of trying to measure up and feeling like you never do—before pointing us to hope. In the chorus, with a play on words open to interpretation, he sings that “Everybody’s sitting around waiting for the sun to come again.” Or, did he actually mean “Son” instead? With a line referencing Jesus in the song (“Hoping that he’s really got the power to save us from these sins”), I think we could make a strong argument for the latter spelling. Two millennia after that first Easter morning, that’s still the hope followers of Jesus cling to—waiting for our resurrected King to return, making all things (even us) permanently new.
That’s it for the first installment of accidentally-Easter songs. Need some new tunes for the commute? Check out the playlists here or here. Did I miss one? Let me know—I’m always on the lookout for new music, especially the accidental kind. Send ‘em my way: Caleb.mathis@crossroads.net
Happy listening!
Disclaimer: This article is 100% human-generated.
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At Crossroads, we major on the majors and minor on the minors. We welcome a diverse community of people who all agree that Jesus is Lord and Savior, even if they view minor theological and faith topics in different ways based on their unique experiences. Our various authors embody that principle, and we approach you, our reader, in the same fashion. You don’t have to agree with every detail of any article you see here to be part of this community or pursue faith. Chances are even our whole staff doesn’t even agree with every detail of what you just read. We are okay with that tension. And we think God is okay with that, too. The foundation of everything we do is a conviction that the Bible is true and that accepting Jesus is who he said he is leads to a healthy life of purpose and adventure—and eternal life with God.
