richard sudworth has been exploring the lament tradition in his studies and preaching. he suggests we need to delve into our dark sides in prayer and worship. i couldn’t  agree more.  i have often  thought and said the same thing. it’s there in the psalms, lamentations, job etc… i also tend to love artists /musicians that explore  that side of things. alt worship has been pretty good at that. a flick through most song/chorus books however quickly shows that there isn’t a lot in that genre…

anyway richard has listed his top 10 lamentable tracks and is going to offer reflections on each one. the tracks are:
10. Everybody Hurts, REM
9. The Dimming of the Day, Richard Thompson
8. Black-Eyed Dog, Nick Drake
7. Blue, Joni Mitchell
6. It Makes No Difference, The Band
5. Hiding All Away, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (reflection here)
4. How Soon is Now, The Smiths
3. My Iron Lung, Radiohead
2. Numb, Portishead
1. If You See Her, Say Hello, Bob Dylan

i’m sure you’d want to add some of your own… i thought i’d add them as a worship trick.

i wrote redemption songs, some bible reading notes for daily bread, a while back on some psalms. the ones i was given were fairly bleak, especially psalm 88. i just noticed that they are online in an archive section. this is how i introduced them:

The Psalms have been read and reread to give comfort, hope and
encouragement all over the world down through the centuries. It is an
amazing thing that these songs and poems have this enduring character.
Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that they are gritty and real. A
lot of Christian worship songs can be unrealistic in their positive
outlook, censoring voices of darkness and disorientation. But most of
us simply don’t experience life that way, at least not all of the time.
Even if our own lives are going well and we sense the joy of life and
God’s presence, one glance at a newspaper is enough to remind us that a
lot of people in the world face very difficult situations of war,
poverty and oppression. What a relief to have the honesty of the Psalms
in the Bible!

It is refreshing that in our relationship with God, the range of
permissible language includes that of our deepest struggles, anger and
despair as well as our joys. I love the music of bands like Radiohead
and Massive Attack who, in a contemporary way, capture that same sense
of alienation. But I can hardly think of one contemporary worship song
that engages with the dark side of life. In this sense, the Psalms are
subversive texts in that they refuse to deny reality. The Psalms are
also hopeful, but that hope is rooted in the midst of loss and struggle
– where God is surprisingly present.