Wednesday, 21 September 2011

• My Top 11 Hillsong Songs

  By Tom Zuniga

  Something I’ve not written much about in my first three weeks of blogistence™ (blogging+existence) is my passion for Christian music. The CCM stuff, yes, along with the straight-up worship too. While interning for Revelife this past spring I got to blog about several of my favorite artists and songs, and I’ll be re-posting some of those blogs soon enough.

  Several years ago I stumbled upon this worship crew called Hillsong and realized my eyes (or would “ears” be more appropriate here?) had been closed for far too long. I was blown away. Their worship songs are known the world over, and I dare say a church somewhere in this world is singing a Hillsong song right now.

  I have many Hillsong favorites, so I decided to organize a top-11 list. Why eleven? Because top-10 lists are so cliché. Duh.

  This is definitive; these are Hillsong’s best songs. Period.

  Actually, this compiled list only represents my personal humble opinions. Still, that should count for a lot.

  Anyway, here we go!

  #11. “I’m Not Ashamed” – I don’t know why, but I seem to recall watching this song’s music video in between classes at the University of Georgia. Or was it during…

  #10. “Search My Heart” – I love the tenderness in Matt Crocker’s voice as he pleads for God to search his heart and soul above all else. I just love Matt Crocker in general. That may or may not be foreshadowing for the rest of this list.

  #9. “You Hold Me Now” – No weeping, no hurt or pain, no suffering…no darkness, no sick or lame, no hiding. About says it all.

  #8. “Your Name High” – Most epic intro ever. So epic, in fact, that I used it in the intros for my Novel Chronicle videos. But alas, that’s a blog post for another day.

  #7. “The First and the Last” – Those opening guitar strums. And the lights/editing in this video. Phenomenal, all of it.

  #6. “Salvation is Here” – For the longest time I had a notecard taped on the ceiling above my bed that read, “It’s gonna be all right.”

  #5. “Desert Song” – Whenever I’m in some kind of worship service and I hear those four opening drum beats, I promise I get chills every time.

  #4. “Healer” – I first heard this song at a Hillsong London service while studying abroad at Oxford University. It became the theme song for my summer, as I trusted God to help me through every “impossible” paper and presentation. This song takes on new meaning and life now that it’s been revealed that singer Mike Guglielmucci faked his cancer. Indeed, God remains Healer — both of the physical, and more vitally, the sinful.

  #3. “From the Inside Out” – I do believe this was the very first Hillsong song I ever came across, and what a great one to break my Hillsong virginity (oh dear, Christian virginity jokes; run for the hills). What I love about this song: the electric guitar opening and bridge solo, the way “from the in-side out” and “my soul – cries out” perfectly piece together the chorus. The art of losing myself in bringing You praise is a line I frequently return to in my life. An oldie but a goodie; I never tire of this song.

  #2. “Forever Reign” – My YouthWorks summer in Milwaukee will forever be linked with this song, since we sang it numerous times during our Club worship sessions. All the verses are so carefully crafted and poetically penned with contrasting pictures of God and ourselves; I just can’t handle the brilliance. Click here for the incredible live video.

  #1. “Oh You Bring” - There’s just something about Matt Crocker and a guitar that shoot tendrils of joy throughout my soul. I immediately fell in love with this acoustic performance, but then became engrossed with this song on a totally transcendent level while watching it play out in a Lawrenceville, GA movie theater during Hillsong’s film, The I-Heart Revolution: We’re All In This Together. The way this song is integrated into the film moves me every time. To hear all the things Christ brings to this hurting yearning desperately searching world…well, cue those beautiful guitar strums…

  So there you have my complete, irrefutable list. Yes, I omitted mega-hits like “Hosanna,” “Lead Me to the Cross,” and *gasp* “Mighty to Save.” But what say you?

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