In 2012, I made a list of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. The list was born out of me thinking about which songs still resonate with me most over others and which songs just really hit home… which songs never stop connecting with me on some level. In 2022, I added 15 more songs to that list, reflecting more on this list. For JFH’s 30th anniversary in 2026, I’ve decided to revisit this list, add 5 more, remove and swap in others, and edit it to apply to the “2026 me.”
Please keep in mind, these are songs that are personal TO ME in some form. I’m not saying they’re the best songs ever written or the best ones you’ll ever hear, but something about these songs just still mean a lot to me. (By the way, if you remember those top 25 or top 10 lists, this one has changed. Some of those are still on it, but others made this list, moved others around, and even replaced some.)
1. “Tremble” by Audio Adrenaline… It’s hard to say for certain, but this may still be my number one. I’m a big critic when it comes to worship music. I’m not proud of this at all, and I do want everyone to understand that. It’s difficult for me to connect with a lot of the bigger, corporate worship songs that have been crafted by mega churches for Sunday morning services – especially when they sound remarkably similar to each other. I tend to connect with God more with the more intimate, personal songs. Audio Adrenaline’s “Tremble” may be my all-time favorite song. It’s so much so that I tend not to listen to often for fear of wearing it out, and it maybe losing some of the weight it carries for me. With Mark Stuart’s soft vocals, and the almost-trembling in his voice, there’s this sense of reverence… musically, it also captures this and it’s one of the few songs that just really drags my heart to its knees if I’m in the right place when I hear it. It’s not a song you can just have on as background music and expect to really “get.” It’s one of those best listened to via headphones/earbuds in a dark room or walking down an empty street at night. It’s you and God. And that’s what I love most about it. (read the lyrics)
2. “I Love The Rain” by Rock N Roll Worship Circus/The Listening… This is another song that has to be way up high on the list. It’s got a personal worship feel from the opening words “Have you ever loved someone so much...” and a guitar solo that sends chills up and down my spine almost every time I hear it. And did I mention it’s amazing live? The imagery of rain being tears falling from our Father’s face out of His love for us is really powerful to me. I just LOVE this song. (read the lyrics)
3. “Dismantle. Repair.” by Anberlin… While “Hello Alone” is another song that would vie for this list, I think I have to go with “Dismantle. Repair.” as not only my favorite Anberlin song, but one of my all-time favorite songs. This one speaks to the hopeless romantic side of me. I also just really love the emotional and anthemic nature of the song. Anberlin totally nailed a perfect marriage between the words and the music. Some of my favorite lyrics are “Hands, like secrets, are the hardest thing to keep from you / Lines and phrases, like knives, your words can cut me through / Dismantle me down (repair) / You dismantle me / You dismantle me” and “It’s not that I hang on every word / I hang myself on what you repeat / It’s not that I keep hanging on /
I’m never letting go” (Letting go is a common theme, and struggle, for me). Sometimes I feel like a hopeless wreck. About the song, Anberlin frontman (and church worship leader) Stephen Christian wrote, “This song is written for those who, like me, are greatly affected by others words. When every word spoken is taken to heart, registered, dissected analyzed, and applied to the core of who we really are.”
Just a couple years ago, this song took on a new meaning for me, too, in a more personal way. It’s crazy how songs can take on new shapes and new meanings over time. (read the lyrics)
4. “A Million Parachutes” by Sixpence None The Richer… This, among others you’ll see listed here, plays to the sentimentality in me that I’ve found inescapable throughout the years. It’s a melancholy song about solitude and missing friends on a lonely snowy evening. Leigh Nash’s soft vocals evoke all the right emotions, while the piano melody hits all the right notes; it’s truly beautiful. (read the lyrics)
5. “Privately” by Between Thieves… This my friends, about sums up an introverted heart. If you’re an introvert and know what it means to feel alone in a crowd, this song describes exactly what that feels like. If you’re lost and brokenhearted, “Privately” seems to just say all the things you’re feeling, but don’t necessarily know how to put to words. And to those who don’t quite understand us crazy introverts, this is a good song to listen to to try to understand us. Just check out the first verse alone, “Privately, behind dull eyes a soul cries out in pain / Quietly, behind the smile, the tears will fall like rain / Alone is not a number, but a state of mind / Surrounded by my friends, sometimes I’m hard to find.” (read the lyrics)
6. “Work” by Jars of Clay… When my wife and I got married in 2003, I was leaving my family and living with someone else for the first time in my life. That isn’t a bad thing, but her profession as a nurse found her working on nightshift at a local hospital. To make that worse, she did this for almost the entire first three years of our marriage. This gave me several nights out of the week of living completely alone that I never had experienced before. “Work,” by Jars, has a chorus that asks, “Do you know what I mean when I say ‘I don’t want to be alone?’” It’s a song that was born out of loneliness for the band and it’s one that I was definitely feeling when they released it in 2006. It’s still one of my favorite songs by them, or anyone, and it’s just yet another song that gives a voice to those frustrating and stifling feelings of loneliness. And like Between Thieves’ “Privately” says, sometimes we can feel alone in a crowded room, and this song speaks volumes. (The music video is pretty awesome, too!) (read the lyrics)
7. “Vice Verses” by Switchfoot… I’m actually surprised this song, and the one below, didn’t make my list in 2012, but I suppose these songs were maybe too “new” still (plus, it was only a list of 10 songs). There’s so much about this song that I love. Like “Tremble” by Audio Adrenaline, it’s very intimate. It’s acoustic without sounding too raw or plain, but it also isn’t too produced either. There’s so much emotion in this performance and recording; it adds a lot of weight to Jon Foreman’s words. I think my favorite lyrics are “Where are You in my broken heart / Everything seems to fall apart / Everything feels rusted over / Tell me that You’re there” – I get the chills at this point in the song almost every time I hear it and sing along. I believe it’s okay to have these questions and vulnerable conversations with God — that is, as long as we don’t give up and give in to hopelessness. These kinds of honest dialogs with God are healthy. We can’t always pretend life is rainbows and fluffy bunnies, because Heaven knows it isn’t. Even Jesus wept, and begged God for another solution besides going to the cross — but the key is our Savior went willingly anyway. (read the lyrics)
8. “Where I Belong” by Switchfoot… As kind of an answer to the closing thoughts of “Vice Verses,” “Where I Belong” follows with this beautiful anthem for the hope of life after death. Foreman sings about Heaven being our real home, where we really belong. There’s so much hope in this song – which contrasts the one that precedes it – and it’s just beautiful. Check out these lyrics below. read the full lyrics)
This body’s not my own
This world is not my own
But i can still hear the sound
Of my heart beating out…
On the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell you that I tried
To live it like a song
9. “Shelter” by Eisley… This one says so much to me beyond whatever its real intention is. The chorus sings, “Love, you are my shelter, Love you are my home.” To me, it’s a two-fold song. My heart cries this to the Lord, as well as desiring to have a romantic love that I can truly rest in. One hard lesson I’ve learned since my teen years is that no one person can truly be our so-called “shelter;” only God can fill that role. Still, my empathetic, fragile, wounded, emotional, hopelessly romantic heart never ceases to desire that. It’s my heart’s desire for Jesus to be my one true shelter. I also just really love how the Eisley girls sing this song. It’s soft, soothing, romantic and sweet. It’s such a beautiful song. The album this is from, Currents, has also become one of my all-time favorite albums. (read the lyrics)
10. “Fight” by PFR… PFR was one of the first groups I really got into as a teen. They always had songs that really spoke a lot to me. “Fight” is a beautiful song about prayer in our lives and as, not only a source of hope, but our chief way to commune with Jesus. The chorus goes “We fight on our knees but don’t often / See the battles that rage being won / But fight on we will and tarry until / Love comes to carry us on / To kneel with the broken in spirit / And call upon the Son.” I just love it. (read the lyrics)
11. “Will Not Fade,” by Audio Adrenaline… On the original list I made in 2012, I included the band’s song “Glory,” but while working on the 2022 list – and listening to music while writing – this song came on and it reminded me why it’s one of my favorites. It’s one of the most rocking songs Audio Adrenaline ever made (to the point where it was tough for Mark Stuart to sing live, and so I think I only ever heard it live once), and lyrically, it kind of just reinforced how I felt as a person and a believer in Christ. “What I am / And who I am / Is never going to change / The hits will come / But I will not be swayed / I’ve always been / What I want to be / The world can clearly see / That I will not fade.” Ooof! In a world where values seem to be changing all the time – even for believers, with many even abandoning their faith – and morality in our society continuing to crumble, I think this song mirrors my feelings and beliefs. (read the lyrics)
12. “I Don’t Understand” by PFR… “I Don’t Understand” is a fantastic reminder that not understanding what’s going on in our life – or what God is doing with us or to us – doesn’t matter, and we need to just trust Him. “I don’t understand / I don’t need to / I know You’ve a plan / You will see through / It is in Your hands / I believe You.” and later they add “I was only wondering / I’ve been trying to understand / I know there is more / So much more than I can see.” It’s such a gentle reminder to trust that God’s got it. I feel like God has been testing my trust in Him more than ever in recent years, and this just keeps being an anthem for me. (And I really miss these kinds of “Christian life” songs in today’s worship-driven industry.) (read the lyrics)
13. “The Strength to Let Go” by Switchfoot… While, musically, this isn’t top tier Switchfoot for me, it’s a song that means so much to me on a few levels. For starters, Switchfoot is a band that began while I was still in high school, and songs like “Might Have Ben Hur” and “Don’t Be There” were anthems for a teenager who just wanted the girl he liked to love him back, while also just longing to find where he fits in. So when “The Strength to Let Go” released in 2019, the lyrics of this song hit me like a Mack truck. For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with letting go — be it a person who means a lot to me who has moved on in their own life (something I keep learning mercilessly), or past memories, or my own stupid mistakes. I struggle with letting go. So, guys, this chorus… this chorus from a band I’ve listened to throughout my later years in high school, all through college, through courting my wife, marrying, learning what marriage looks like, buying our first house, becoming a father, the ups and downs of running JFH, the disappointments and heartbreaks of trying to pursue art as a side hustle, and maintaining meaningful relationships, etc – this chorus was just hugely accurate for me. (click here for the full lyrics)
Give me the strength to let go
Give me the strength to surrender
Give me the strength to stop holding on
I’ve been holding on so long
Give me the strength to let go
14. “Garbage” by TwentyOnePilots… Oh, Tyler and Josh… as if “Stressed Out” didn’t capture the bittersweetness of getting older and juggling responsibilities enough, they put out “Garbage” last year. With a chorus that says “I feel like garbage / I feel like my systems are operating at 20 percent / Or less / I’ll walk you through the numbers / I’ll show you nothing’s left”, it’s a song that just puts everything I’ve been feeling lately into words so nicely. Clearly, I love songs that speak my language. This one, guys… yeah. Thank you, fellas. (read the lyrics)
15. “Hold My Heart (Part 1)” by LetterKills… This one has always spoken directly to the hopeless romantic side of me. I love Matt Shelton’s vocal delivery in this song, the contemplative guitar, the sentimental musings in the lyrics. I love everything about this song. And it definitely captures my emo romantic feelings. Ha! (read the full lyrics)
So think of me when you’re dreaming
And know I’m wide awake and thinking of you
Cause, I swear when you’re there alone
Know that I’m wide awake tonight
You could hold my heart
It’s all yours if you want
16. “Too Far” by Bernard… You may notice a trend here. This piano anthem is a powerful one to me. It serves as an anthem for those times in life when we just don’t know what in the world God’s doing and we kind of wish He’d just spell it out for us. “Please turn back time / Please, God…” says it all for those moments I wish I could redo or relive. (And I just. keep. learning that lesson… it’s exhausting.) Ultimately, Jesus redeems those times, but sometimes a song helps provide a voice to help us cope with the feelings they stir up.
17. “The Forces Of Radio Have Dropped A Viper Into The Rhythm Section” by Project 86… And now for something completely different. I tend to look back on parts of my life a lot — especially in those quite moments. Part of me remembers crummy times with rose-colored glasses and wishes to relive some of those times. That would not be cool. Aside from the fact that this song has one of the craziest drumming I’ve ever heard, and I just love it for that, I had the pleasure of asking frontman Andrew Schwab about the meaning of the interesting lyrics once. He explained that he likened the unreliable technology of the VHS tape to things we look back on with fonder memories than they really were. Heck, the song even says “Don’t you feel like a trip back to ’96.” I was a sophomore in high school then and had some profoundly affecting friendships at the time… not to mention I started Jesus freak Hideout that summer… and this song just gave me this angry voice for how I feel about erroneously looking back on those times fondly (although starting JFH IS a good thing, other things around that time weren’t all that great). And hey, it’s just a killer song! (read the lyrics)
18. “Lost The Plot” by Newsboys… Say what you will about pop or pop/rock bands for the youth group crowds, but these bands knew how to write GOOD songs, man. “Lost The Plot,” from Newsboys’ 1996 album, Take Me To Your Leader, is a gem. It’s this slow building, moody rocker about Jesus’ return and the complacency that dogs many Christians. “When you come back again, would you bring me something from the fridge? Heard a rumor you that the end is near. But I just got comfortable here.” (It’s back when Newsboys wrote their own songs, too. Peter Furler and the genius of Steve Taylor were a crazy good match.) It’s an edgy song and an embarrassing reminder of how comfortable we can get here, and how lazy we can be. “Are you still listenin’, ‘Cause we’re obviously not. We’ve forgotten our first love. We have lost the plot.” For some of us — even if it’s just for a short time — it’s true, and it hurts. But it’s great reminder to be careful not to get too comfortable here in this earthen vessel. (read the lyrics)
19. “Worlds Apart” by Jars of Clay… This song has been a powerful one to me since I first heard it around the age of fifteen in 1995 (Please don’t do the math. Thank you). As a pretty young Christian at the time, it was a wonderful voice for those times I felt like I fell short. And while I may feel like I fall even shorter now than I did then, it was somewhat comforting to hear a voice speak words I was feeling to remind me I wasn’t as alone as I felt. And, on top of that, there was vocalist Dan Haseltine’s ad-lib at the end that summed it all up for me, too… I get a bit emotional just reading them even now. (read the full song lyrics)
“I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
And wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now
I owe you more each passing hour
The battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
And wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
The sin-soaked heart and make it yours
Take my world all apart
Take it now, take it now
And serve the ones that I despise
Speak the words i can’t deny
Watch the world i used to love
Fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
So wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remain
So steal my heart and take the pain
Take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things i cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
Take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
Take my world apart“
20. “Need You Now (How Many Times)” by Plumb… Like Switchfoot, Audio A, Newsboys, DC Talk, PFR, etc… I’ve been listening to Plumb since my teen years, and like Switchfoot, they were a band I’d gotten into in the band’s infancy. While Plumb is just a moniker for Tiffany (and not a “band”), her music from years ago still continues to strike a chord with me today. “Need You Now (How Many Times)” was birthed out of Tiffany’s own struggle with panic attacks and anxiety. I can relate to the latter in recent years, but also the song just really captures my feelings of desperation and need for God in my life. The chorus says it all, “How many times have you heard me cry out / God please take this / How many times have you given me strength / To just keep breathing / Oh I need you / God I need you now.” (read the lyrics)
21. “When Was The Last Time” by Switchfoot… I’m a little mad at Switchfoot for leaving this song off Where The Light Shines Through in 2016. This was a deluxe edition bonus track (which DID make it onto the vinyl release at least), but it’s easily one of my favorite Switchfoot songs ever. It’s stupidly underrated. It’s really fun and catchy, and has some great lyrics about just letting go of life’s stress and having fun. “When was the last time that you felt alive? / Singing, when was the last time that you tried / Something for the first time?” and then there’s this part, “When was the last time you did / Something that made you feel like a kid / Laughing just like we did / When we were just the little ones / It’s been so long.” I love the idea of embracing simpler times and the more joyful moments of our youth (is this why my generation refuses to grow up?? haha). This one is one of the few that is a favorite mostly because it’s just so dang fun. (read the lyrics)
22. “Great Love” by Flyleaf… I’ve really come to adore Lacey-era Flyleaf through the years. Their albums Memento Mori and New Horizons are ones I still really enjoy. But “Great Love” has one of the most moving and powerful choruses to me, “Great love setting the world on fire / I am in awe of who You are / And it’s Your love I’m living for / Great love filling me up inside / You are the one I’m looking for / And I am Yours forevermore.” Amen! Can we have more worshipful songs like this, please? (It’s hard to pick one Flyleaf song over others, because “The Chasm” and “Set Apart This Dream” are really close calls for this list, too…” (read the lyrics)
23. “Everything” by Colony House… This indie rock band consisting of Steven Curtis Chapman’s sons hadn’t really made music that totally clicked with me until their album The Cannonballers. I love this record so much. It has several songs that could make this list, including “One of Those Days” and “Trying to Survive,” because both of those are thematically relevant for sure, but “Everything” is just so beautiful, and it touches on the hopeless romantic ache in my heart.
I want everything to do with you
But I’m unable to tell you
I want everything to do with you
Oh, and I hope you feel the same as I do
24. “It’s Harder to Make It Below Third” by Off Road Minivan… I’ll be honest; it wasn’t until I wanted to add this song to my list in 2022 that I really saw the full lyrics for the song. I actually didn’t realize (since it’s hard to make the words out clearly as they’re sung) that it seems to literally be about life on the streets or in a certain town. BUT it’s always been that killer chorus that’s hooked me with Off Road Minivan’s Swan Dive album opener. The words “Don’t go breaking my heart unless you let me go. / Can’t keep changing the rules we already broke.” really resonate with the hopeless romantic heart… (read the lyrics)
25. “Alive” by Dakoda Motor Co… Man, Dakoda Motor Co. has some great songs. It’s honestly hard to pick one for this list, because “Grey Clouds,” “Need A Love,” and “Ocean Seems” (all from their debut), as well as “Trip To Pain,” all are favorites of mine. But “Alive” is one of those that just rips right out of the gate. I always loved Chuck Cummings’ drumming, and this was just one of those songs that really made me want to learn to play (I never really did, although I did buy a drum set in hopes to years ago. lol But I only played around with them lightly.). This one still rocks as much today as it did 32 years ago!
26. “Dark” by Number One Gun… Do you ever hear a song and think “Yeah, I think I like that,” but then kind of go about your day, so to speak, because the artist isn’t among your favorite ones, maybe? “Dark” by Number One Gun is on my playlist of songs I like, and every. single. time. it comes on I love it. Maybe something about the passion in the way Jeff sings it – the desperation and sincerity – and just the fact that the words are so vulnerable, too… This song just rocks. And I think, deep down, part of me resonates with how Jeff feels here…
I do this for you
All for you
But this is for me
All for me
And we are just faking all along
‘Cause everyone’s got their secret song…
…Cause I walk alone
Always alone
27. “Nothing More” by Anberlin… It’s bizarre how some songs just don’t click right away. I heard this song when the band released it on an EP, but it didn’t really land until it released on the later album, Vega, and it came at just the right time in my life. I’d say this one plays to the hopeless romantic side of me, for sure. And it’s just a beautiful-sounding song. The fact it fades out with crashing waves along the shore is a really nice touch. (“Asking” from this album is another highlight.) (read the lyrics)
28. “Self-Deprecation” by Amy Jay… I do love a good melancholy song. Amy Jay’s music largely connects with me as a sensitive introvert who also makes a form of art. The closing track from her album, Awake Sleeper, is a gorgeous, stripped-down front-porch acoustic song that really puts the heart on the sleeve. And I think anyone who struggles with making meaningful art can relate to her words here. (read the full song lyrics)
I’m grateful but I’m not, no I’m not naive
go unnoticed by the ones that I deem
Are where I want to be
I don’t need fame I need to be seen
Doubting my art again
Doubting that it will rain
I’ll still take my chances
I will wear my rain boots
in case
Spend my hours trying to write so I’m worth something
all the while the world around is buzzing
So effortlessly
incredibly defeating, the silence in listening
29. “Stressed Out” by twenty one pilots… There are so many songs I could put on this list (and I’m trying not to repeat too many artists). But this one came at a time in my life when it just really clicked. When JFH alum Josh Taylor shared “local band” twenty one pilots with me while they were making the rounds at colleges before making it big… I hated it. I couldn’t stand Tyler’s voice, and the music was just way too quirky for me. After they made it big, I still didn’t give them a fair shake. However, one day, I was sitting on a bench at Dorney Park amusement park and “Stressed Out” came on the in-park radio. The beat and the chorus finally clicked with me at a time I was really struggling with adulthood (and feelings of failure). Stress had really been rocking my nervous system at the time, and this song just captured how I felt pretty well. The chorus goes, “Wish we could turn back time / To the good old days / When our momma sang us to sleep / But now we’re stressed out” Ha. Me too, Tyler. Me too. (And it’s been interesting to see my teenage son connect with it as he struggles with stress in his own life.)
30. “Take Another Step” by Steven Curtis Chapman… Steven’s music has been really impactful for me through the years. Ever since I was a teenager, his music really spoke to my heart and encouraged me – whether it was songs like “Heaven in the Real World” or “Be Still and Know” – his music strengthened my young heart. (Heck, his 2009 Beauty Will Rise album has helped me process grief in the midst of some really hard times, too.) But “Take Another Step” is one of those anthems to encourage us to keep walking in faith that really came at the right time in life for me… and continues to encourage my heart today. (read the lyrics)
Honorable Mention: “Natural Causes” by Switchfoot… I did an “honorable mention” last time, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to include a trickier one. I actually almost made this #30, but “honorable mention” feels more appropriate. I realize this is a new song, and I’m not sure if a song that is hard to even listen to can qualify as a “favorite,” but as I’ve said several times, Switchfoot’s music has been incredibly meaningful to me through the years, since I started listening to the band almost 29 years ago. “Natural Causes” was one I had the pleasure of hearing when we got our review copy a couple weeks before the Forever Now album release. It immediately moved me to tears because it put words to a very meaningful friendship that had turned painful and was coming to a close. The melody is fantastic, the song is as catchy as it is beautiful, and I look forward to the day when it will make me smile instead of shed tears. (read the lyrics)
When everything fell to pieces
I was looking to find a reason for the pain
And you said, “Everything has a season
Why does it have to have a meaning anyway?”
But I still can’t accept that we
Were meant to fall away
Fade away
All my days turn back to night
Dust to dust
But I don’t want our love to die
Of natural causes
Further Honorable Mentions: While some of my favorites are more musical or sentimental than deeply thematic or lyrical meanings, I’d also have to say some other favorites include “Wind An’ Sea,” “Grey Clouds,” “Ocean Seems” and “Need A Love” by Dakoda Motor Co.; “There Might Be a Light,” “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay; “One Like You,” “Glory,” “We’re a Band” and “Underdog” by Audio Adrenaline; “Set Apart This Dream,” “The Chasm,” and “Broken Wings” by Flyleaf; “Sincerely Ichabod,” “Stein’s Theme,” and “Spy Hunter” by Project 86; “Glorious Unfolding,” “All Things New” and “Broken” by Steven Curtis Chapman; “A Day Late,” “Retrace” and “Hello Alone” by Anberlin; “From Where You Are” by Lifehouse; “Please” and “The Valley” by Eisley; “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk, “Endless” by Eric Champion… and so many more.
What about non-Christian music? I don’t really listen to “mainstream / secular” music outside of instrumental movie soundtracks, and some 80’s pop classics, but if I had to include favorites across the board for music, the song “LAX” from the soundtrack for the show LOST, by Michael Giacchino, and the “Ghostbusters” theme by Ray Parker Jr. (since the original Ghostbusters is still my favorite movie) would definitely be on there. haha Oh – and Bobby Brown’s “On Our Own” from Ghostbusters II — I still remember shopping with my grandparents as a kid and them buying me the cassette single for that song. Love it!
Anyway, take the song selection and order here with a grain of salt; it’s more the meaningfulness of the songs for me. Thanks for reading!
~ John DiBiase