50 Best Spiritual Songs by Gen X

Jan 07, 2025

When we assess cultural works, nothing could be more personal and more subjective than sensing which songs are the most moving to our soul, which songs draw us closest to the love of Heaven, and which songs carry us the most deeply into the loving Presence of the Divine. But I’ve found that over the years I’ve intuitively organized my playlist of spiritual songs this way, so why not share it publicly?

I don’t actually listen to my spiritual music by generation. Vivaldi, Mozart, traditional hymns like “Be Thou My Vision”, and the songs of Boomers like Michael W. Smith and Millennials like Jesus Culture and (recently) For God and Country— it’s very much a multi-generational playlist.

But in a moment of generational pride, I’ve created a playlist of what I regard as the 50 best spiritual songs written by and / or performed by musicians born in the 1960s and 1970s. Especially given that Generation X is not highly regarded for our spirituality, the outpouring of great spiritual songs by Gen X musicians is nothing short of astounding.

14 of these songs are by Enya (and her lyricist, Roma Ryan, a Boomer, with three composed by Howard Shore, also a Boomer). Enya evokes exquisite spiritual feelings in her three major albums — Watermark, Shepherd Moons, and The Memory of Trees — which she produced between 1988 and 1995. I’ve been listening to Enya for 36 years now and I can hardly imagine what my spiritual life would have been like without her.

With Enya, we approach what is both transcendent and universal — we connect with something greater than ourselves, consistent with what that means to each of us as an individual. Her music resonates with the mystical states and sacred dimension in which we can all share, reaching across our religious faiths. And it’s just calming and peaceful music that creates the atmosphere for a reflective, even contemplative, state.

I listen to about 25 songs by Enya, but for some reason regard these 14 as great. (I’ll repost my piece about Enya soon.)

Xavier Rudd is a more recent discovery, and I find myself moved by his unique spirituality in three of his songs. There is also one song in the Native American tradition by An-Nee-Mah (Diane Arkenstone).

I do listen to some non-Christian songs — even to sacred songs from Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Judaism, and Islam. But since I haven’t experienced any of those faiths from the inside, the way I have the Christian faith for almost my whole life, they don’t make my Top 50.

Three songs by U2 are on my spiritual playlist and are included here. “Bad” (“Wide Awake”) is my favorite song of all time, and for me it’s definitely always been a spiritual song. In the 1980s, of course, U2 was known as a highly spiritual rock band. (I’m old enough to remember the early 1980s, when we heard U2 mostly on Christian radio stations.)

Other mainstream musicians have produced eight songs that move my soul: Faith Hill, Celine Dion, Coldplay (twice), Sarah McLachlan, Mariah Carey with Boyz II Men, Seal, and Jewel. Jewel breaks my Top Ten with the ultimate spiritual lyrics: “In the end / only kindness matters.”

Three Christian musicians land one song each on my list: Amy Grant, Matt Redman, and CeCe Winans. Redman and Winans make my Top Ten.

All the other Christian songs on my playlist are by just two musicians: Kirk Franklin (8) and Jonathan David Helser (10). (I’ll write a piece about each of them later this month.)

Kirk Franklin is the leading Black Gospel musician of my generation. I’ve been listening to his music for about 16 years now, and he has stirred up my soul countless times and profoundly shaped my spiritual life.

Which brings me to the musician who has had the biggest impact on my spiritual experiences and growth and on my soul. Jonathan David Helser is, for me, the greatest Christian musician of all time. For about 16 years now, his songs have been taking me into the Presence of the Divine Being. I don’t think I would have made it nearly as far in my spiritual development without the ten great songs of his that I include here. (Three of the ten are with his wife Melissa Helser, a Millennial and a fine soul and singer.)

So why are the songs in this order? I have just found intuitively over the years that one song takes me deeper into the Presence of the Divine than another, and have gradually organized my spiritual playlist accordingly. I actually play them in the opposite order from the playlists on Spotify and YouTube, as there’s an ascendant or deepening quality to my spiritual experience as I do that. So I’ll put them in the order I play them below.

U2’s “Bad” — which I call by the title “Wide Awake” — is my second favorite spiritual song and Jonathan David Helser’s song “Fly” is my favorite spiritual song. Interestingly, both songs describe and draw me into an ascendent and transcendent experience, with Helser’s song drawing me more than any other I listen to into the very Presence of the Lord.

Again, nothing could be more subjective than this. I regard each of the 50 as a great song and find each one spiritually meaningful. Which song moves my soul more? Which song makes me sense the presence of Heaven more? Which song takes me deeper into the Presence of God? This is about as personal as it gets. Hope you find some value in it.

If you’re on Spotify, the playlist is here.

On YouTube, the playlist is here.

Each song listed here links to its YouTube video.

All my best,

Mike