Some time back (here and here) I mentioned several odd instances of the Fathers appearing in modern English poetry. Before long, we had collected enough examples to fill a small anthology.
This week I noticed that, over time, we’ve accumulated some significant patristic pop songs. For example:
Dion’s The Thunderer (on St. Jerome)
Marie Bellet’s Late Have I Loved You (St. Augustine)
Bob Dylan’s I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
If we want to stretch it a little, we can add Stray Cat Brian Setzer’s St. Jude.
That’s not enough for a K-Tel collection. Any other candidates?
There’s some kind of country or Christian pop or bluegrass song I’ve heard that quotes St. Polycarp. Apparently it’s sung by the Crabb Family. Here’s the lyrics. You want the last verse:
http://www.lyricstime.com/the-crabb-family-he-aint-never-done-me-nothin-but-good-lyrics.html
Apparently several groups do it.
Of course, it would probably have to be a popular song for me to have heard it, as I’m not well versed in bluegrass or old-timey music or Southern gospel or what have you.
I also think somebody’s mentioned the alt-rock group Switchfoot’s song “Something More (Augustine’s Confession)”.
Sting did a song called “St Augustine in Hell”. So I guess Augie is the pop idol. :)
The Polycarp thing was by Dottie Rambo originally.
I don’t know if this counts, but Matt Maher’s new single “Alive Again” has a theme (and some lyrics) straight out of the Confessions.
“Late have I loved you,
you waited for me,
I searched for you…
what took me so long?”
Augustine seems to be the big winner in this sweepstakes, and the Confessions the big source for pop music. Nobody seems to be working with the later books of the Confessions, though.