This mix from six years ago was the first one to fall on the exact date of Christmas, so I went a little nuts with pop, rock and soul songs that had either "Jesus" or "God" in the title. Even Ghostface Killah made it with his less than holy "Black Jesus".
Stevie Wonder is on here twice with his charming "Have A Talk With God" and his more sober "Jesus Children Of America". John Lennon is also on here twice with his hopeful "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and his defiant "God". Also appearing twice is Tom Waits with his droll "God's Away On Business" and his more gospel-inflected "Jesus Gonna Be Here".
The version of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" on here is called Holier Than Thou Approach and is a slightly extended official remix from the original single. Also on here is Johnny Cash's cover of that song.
George Harrison was found guilty in court of ripping of the basic song structure of "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons for his song "My Sweet Lord". In addition to those songs, I have a live cover of "My Sweet Lord" by Nina Simone.
Besides the Chiffon's song, the only song on here not to explicitly mention God or Jesus in the title is Al Green's "All 'n' All" which comes at the very beginning of his gospel period and clearly refers to you know who.
Other stuff: the original album version of "God Is Love" by Marvin Gaye, U2's passionate "In God's Country", Iron And Wine's hushed "Jesus The Mexican Boy", the country-inflected "God's Own Singer" by The Flying Burrito Brothers, Big Star's upbeat "Jesus Christ", the wry "Plastic Jesus" by The Flaming Lips, a haunting live cover of The Vaselines' "Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam" by Nirvana, Gene Chandler's sweet "God Bless Our Love" and the tender "Jesus" by The Velvet Underground.
