Five faith-fueled musical moments you might have missed

The Mighty Sparrow: “Hello People”

Van Dyke Parks: From the album done in Miami, in one day, as the eye of the hurricane passed directly over head of Criterion Studios. I rn“produced” that album, and as man proposes, God disposes.rnThe album dropped like a stone, falling on Warner Bros.’ deaf ears. rnYet … that piece speaks to matters divine.

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John Hartford: “Turn Your Radio On”

Parks: Gospel music was the lingua franca of radio evangelism! It gave folks a magnetic field — a truly new sepulchre ... an Ebenezer for rural Christian celebrants in a new media for communion: broadcast music. In the Great Depression, impoverished America found buoyancy in the articles of faith along the musical Appalachian Trail.rnI love this piece that I first heard from Missourian Doug Dillard, who advised “Get in touch with God.” One can’t be otherwise, in the embrace of the late John Hartford.

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Van Dyke Parks: “Cannon in D”

Parks: On the occasion of a friend’s death. Al-though it was a Protestant hymn by Luther (“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”), it appealed with an ecumenical affirmation in time of great grief.

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Van Dyke Parks: “Amazing Graces”

Parks: Eviscerated remains of a hymn by a repentant ex-slaver. I placed “Amazing Grace” in an awkward 5/4 ... then, retired into string variations in meditating the loss of another close friend.

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Harry Nilsson: “Good for God”

Parks: Once, long ago, my retort to Harry Nilsson became his idea for a song title.rnNote how secular material is wrested from those who struggle with divinity. Nilsson, no more than I, spent useless hours box-ing with God. Yet, his work reveals wonderment and confirmation of his permanently Catholic opportunity.

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Dawn Eden Goldstein has curated an exclusive Spotify playlist that showcases Van Dyke Park’s songwriting. Visit the Angelus News page on Spotify.

Read Dawn's interview with Van Dyke Parks: ‘I never abandoned faith by what I thought I knew.’