They say that “the devil has all the best tunes” but that’s just not true. A lot of spiritual music is very good too.
As an example, the song currently stuck in my head is Down To The River To Pray from the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou? It’s a fabulous piece of music. It’s enough to make me realise the error of my ways and become a christian.
Well, no. No piece of music is powerful enough to make me take leave of my senses :) Religion is still ridiculous. But Down To The River To Pray is a mighty fine piece of music.
Spiritual ? Remember that a lot of so-called negro spiritual music had a very pragmatic purpose : it served as a roadmap for the Underground Railroad. Funny how there’s a lot of geographic indications (“down to the river”, for example) in those songs, isn’it ?
Needless to say, when speaking of good songs, “Down to the River to Pray” is a good song. A song is basically melody & lyrics. This piece is very simple but yet you walk away remembering the melody & it is simple enough to remember the lyrics. These simple things are what make up a good song.