One of my best friends, Jay Tan, died three years ago – his fourth death anniversary comes in less than two months – and I remember Deborah Gibson’s Anytime (I Am There) as one of the songs that consoled me in that deep moment of loss. As a song for funerals and wakes, Anytime (I Am there), taken off William Finn’s Elegies, is an appropriate and heartrending funeral song, sung from the perspective of a parent looking to...

Last night, I visited the wake of the grandfather of a good friend of mine. While there, I realized that life was indeed fleeting, and began to produce a set list – in my head, of course – for my own wake when the time comes. (This discussion pains my wife, so I’d much rather discuss it with you total strangers than she, LOL) There are several great songs recommended in the “Looking For Songs for Funerals” category...

Few Contemporary Christian songs manage to make me cry on the first listen. Mandisa’s “Andrew’s Song (You Wouldn’t Cry For Me” is one such song; Matthew West’s “One Last Christmas” is another. Now, I’m bawling like a baby here in my son’s room, him sleeping beside me, as I listen to Contemporary Christian pop-rock band Echoing Angels’ new single, Give You Peace. Written by band...

Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Phil Wickham’s new song, In His Love (INO Records), is shaping up to be a massive hit. In His Love At Soft AC/Inspo, it’s the most added song at at radio and the most increased in airplay. Wickham says in a YouTube video that In His Love is “… about faithfulness to God. It’s about the promises that He gives us to hold onto in difficult times, in varying degrees.” In my...

Mandisa’s You Wouldn’t Cry (Andrew’s Song) is my favorite track off Freedom. It is a song that seeks to comfort anyone who has ever experienced the loss of a loved one; the lyrics of You Wouldn’t Cry (Andrew’s Song) capture so beautifully and eloquently how we would be comforted by a person who has gone home to God. A few months ago, I met a beautiful Christian woman who was dealing with cancer. I had the privilege...