“Personal Jesus” is a song by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, released on 28 August 1989 as the lead single from their seventh album, Violator (1990). The single reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, “Personal Jesus” was ranked No. 368 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”; and in September 2006, it was voted as one of the “100 Greatest Songs Ever” in Q magazine. “Personal Jesus” was re-released as a single on 30 May 2011 for the new Depeche Mode remix album Remixes 2: 81–11, with the leading remix by the production team Stargate. (More from Wikipedia)
To my mind, one of the most startling Christian rock songs was “Personal Jesus” by the English electronic rock band Depeche Mode. With its somewhat flippant title, I originally thought that the song might be mocking as well; but the heartfelt lyrics leave no question: “Reach out and touch faith / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who cares / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who’s there”.
“Personal Jesus” was the first single from the band’s 1990 album Violator that propelled them to worldwide success, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart.
Rolling Stone magazine included “Personal Jesus” in their 2004 list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”; and the UK music magazine Q ranked the song as one of the “100 Greatest Songs Ever”.
(November 2014)
