Results for “purification/redemption”

Songs

Echo & the Bunnymen

A dense, incantatory piece of post-punk imagery in which the speaker pleads for mercy from some undefined judging or cutting…

self-doubt judgment and punishment survival

The Who

A single, almost liturgical plea builds around one pun -- love as both sovereign force and literal downpour -- to dramatize a…

spiritual thirst emotional exhaustion love as redemptive force

Chris Stapleton

A recovery narrative dressed as a love song, where the singer trades one intoxication for another. The verses sketch a history…

addiction and recovery redemptive love substitution of vices

Ann Peebles

A gratitude-soaked soul ballad in which the narrator credits a lover with rescuing her from despair and teaching her what love…

redemption through love gratitude rebirth/renewal

Jason Isbell

A recovery ballad disguised as a love song, in which the narrator counts the cost of his old chaotic life and credits a specific…

addiction and sobriety redemption through love domesticity as safety

Echo & the Bunnymen

A moody, image-driven piece built more from atmosphere than narrative, cataloguing a set of broken or hollow figures before…

emotional guardedness disillusionment longing for redemption

Eric B.

This is the title track and origin document of hip-hop's most sampled record, a first-person account of a hustler talking…

hustling and survival redemption through legitimate work the music industry as a means of escape

Guided By Voices

A cryptic, riddling GBV track that uses Fats Domino's real-life survival of Hurricane Katrina as an emblem of resilience, then…

survival and resilience flood/water imagery as threat and purification fame versus obscurity

The Velvet Underground

A simple origin myth about the redemptive power of rock and roll, told through a suburban girl named Jenny whose bleak home life…

salvation through music suburban alienation radio and mass culture