I’ve found relevant music to be an asset in my search for truth. Here are songs from my playlist that inspire and motivate me, linked to the songs with lyrics. Most were popular in the secular arena. When teaching face-to-face, I often play these songs on the screen prior to class and tell their relevance as I transition to my topic. They represent specific genres of music that I love, as well as the 1970s/1980s. I welcome ideas from all genres and hope to find new songs through your suggestions!

“The Wall” by Kansas. My all-time favorite seeking song. Written by Kerry Livgren while he was searching through philosophy and world religions, before his conversion to Christianity. You’ll see many Kansas songs below, since I love their progressive style (rock/classical blend) and Kerry’s rich poetry.

“Gold and diamonds cast a spell, it’s not for me I know it well
The riches that I seek are waiting on the other side
There’s more than I can measure
In the treasures of the love that I can find“

“Show Me the Way” by Styx. A cry for direction by someone who’s losing faith.

“If I see a sign should I believe?
How will I know?
Show me the way, please show me the way
Take me tonight to the river and wash my illusions away
Please show me the way”

“Carry On My Wayward Son,” by Kansas. Still popular on 70s radio and featured on the series “Supernatural” each season.

“Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you“

“Man in the Wilderness,” by Styx.

“Sometimes I feel like a man in the wilderness
I’m a lonely soldier off to war
Sent away to die, never quite knowing why
Sometimes it makes no sense at all“

“Lamplight Symphony,” by Kansas. A grieving widower sees an apparition of his wife, confirming for him he’ll see her in the afterlife.

“She began to fade and her image disappeared,
So he was left alone to face the night,
Never in his life, had he been so held in awe,
As he faced the apparition of his wife“

“The Logical Song,” by Supertramp. The transition from intellectual innocence to an adult world of logic and sensibility that fails to solve the mystery of who we are.

“There are times
When all the world’s asleep
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man“

“Pieces of Eight,” by Styx. Referring to old Spanish silver coins, Styx warns that the pursuit of money can be at once limited and dangerous. Search elsewhere for meaning.

“Pieces of eight, the search for the money tree
Don’t cash your freedoms in for gold
Pieces of eight can’t buy you everything
Don’t let it turn your heart to stone”

“Place in This World,” by Michael W. Smith.

“I’m looking for a reason
Roaming through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world”

“The Pinnacle,” by Kansas

“With talons wrought of steel
I tore the heart of doom
And in one gleaming moment I saw beyond the tomb”

“Bring Me to Life,” by Evanescence

“All of this time, I can’t believe I couldn’t see
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything”

“Closet Chronicles,” by Kansas

“Daydreams filled his nighttimes, and night-dreams filled his days
Confusion and uncertainty, a puzzled mind of haze
You thought he was so powerful, and set upon his ways
Well he left us all to follow through this maze”

“Point of Know Return,” by Kansas

“Today I found a message floating
In the sea from you to me
You wrote that when you could see it
You cried with fear, the point was near
Was it you that said
How long, how long, how long to the point of know return?”