Judee Sill
Judee Sill turns a love song into a devotional hymn, blurring the line between romantic union and religious ecstasy until the…
sacred and profane love transcendence mortality
Whitney Houston
A gospel testimony built almost entirely from a single scriptural refrain, this recording turns a short devotional statement…
divine refuge suffering and lament faith as action
Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves' rendition of this 1961 standard, recorded for the 2022 Elvis biopic soundtrack, strips the song down to its…
surrender to love fate versus choice vulnerability
Leonard Cohen
A meditation on grace and surrender disguised as a portrait of a woman by a river, Cohen's song moves from intimate seduction…
spiritual longing disguised as romance the sacred in the everyday trust and surrender
Robyn
A teenage Robyn's breakout single is a straightforward Eurodance declaration of romantic surrender, built around a repeated plea…
romantic vulnerability independence versus surrender demand for reciprocity
Depeche Mode
A slow-burning devotional track that blurs the line between spiritual ecstasy and self-annihilation, using the imagery of…
surrender and self-dissolution transcendence through love or faith mortality
Florence + the Machine
A song about being ambushed by joy rather than sorrow, treating happiness itself as a violent, destabilizing force that a woman…
fear of happiness emotional avoidance release and surrender
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
A quiet, hymn-like meditation built around a wandering figure who walks alone through open landscape while a companion goes…
solitude and companionship pilgrimage/journey spiritual surrender
Guy Clark
Guy Clark takes a childhood game of playing superhero and stretches it across a whole life, turning a boy jumping off a garage…
faith versus caution refusal to grow up conventionally risk and self-belief
Cat Power
This is Cat Power's slowed, hushed reinterpretation of a Velvet Underground song, stripping away the original's arrangement in…
faith and doubt devotion persuasion versus surrender
Van Morrison
A rapturous, almost weightless love song built from a single sustained feeling rather than a plot. Van Morrison strings together…
romantic rapture renewal and lost time nature as emotional mirror
Patti Smith
A co-write between Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen, this song turns nighttime into a sanctuary where desire overrides doubt…
desire as sustenance night as refuge doubt versus surrender
Talking Heads
A song about waking up inside a life you don't remember choosing, stitched together from the trappings of suburban success and a…
suburban alienation loss of agency time and repetition