If being Christian is so great, why is the music so bad?

I agree that great music comes from struggle, not contentedness. To my mind, Contemporary Christian is, except for the lyrics, almost identical to Adult Contemporary. With few exceptions (Lulu Roman Smith comes to mind), it is boring in the extreme.In the history of Christian Rock, I can only think of two songs that are in any way memorable: Norman Greenbaum's Spirit In The Sky and Switchfoot's Meant To Live.Likewise, there have been a few Christian songs from secular artists that are quite beautiful, like Judy Collins' Amazing Grace (among other secular versions of this song) or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version of Will The Circle Be Unbroken?For some reason, I find myself wanting to mention Lucinda Williams' marvelous Get Right With God, but I'm not sure I'd call that a Christian song. I don't know what Lucinda's intent was, but the song seems to be a friendly spoof of June Carter Cash.I have yet to hear any example of White Southern Gospel music that was listenable, with the possible exception of one or two songs by the aforementioned JCC. Black Gospel is a completely different story. One of my favorites is from the summer of love (1968) and was a moderate hit on pop radio: The Edwin Hawkins Singers' Oh, Happy Day. Even the most jaded athiest would be hard pressed to sit still while that song plays. It is absolute magic!

I don't know how The Mighty Clouds of Joy slipped my mind when I wrote that last post. In the 60s and early 70s this group made some of the best modern gospel music that has ever been recorded. I think it was the Clouds who first infused black spiritual music with modern soul and funk elements; they in fact made quite an impact on the secular urban scene.Listen to the Clouds music from the 60s and then listen to some Al Green, Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder music from the 70s and you'll see the influence clearly.Listening to the Clouds (at least their 60s output) is indeed a joy, but watching them is an even greater treat. They wear color coordinated outfits and move around in very dramatic dance motions, much like the Pips did with Gladys Knight. In fact, I imagine that the Pips got many of their ideas from the Clouds.I might never have encountered the Clouds had it not been that, when I was a kid, my family's maid was a huge Clouds fan and would sometimes bring her records over to play while she worked. I fell in love with them and a few others that she liked, including the Edwin Hawkins Singers as I mentioned earlier.