One night recently, I was thinking about how some of the songs I’ve heard on Christian radio or Christian music playlists are so similar.

No, I’m not talking about the rhythms and the beats-per-minute. That’s something to think about for next time. This time, I’m talking about the titles/names.

Some of the names of these songs are the exact same or very similar to the point where it gets me thinking, what’s the point of having multiple songs of these names? With the same or similar titles, do these songs get the same message across or do they have their own unique presentation? That’s something to find out, to avoid the confusion.

Brandon Lake was introduced at the Dove Awards in 2024 as having multiple song names with the word “Praise” in them. How many? Well, there’s “Praise You Anywhere,” “That’s Who I Praise,” “We Praise You,” and then there’s “Praise” (with Elevation Worship), which revolves around the words “Praise the Lord, Oh my Soul” which also make up the name of two other songs, “Praise the Lord” (Micah Tyler) and “Oh My Soul” (Casting Crowns). Also, don’t get confused with the other Elevation group, Elevation Rhythm, which has a song called “Praises.” All of these songs (with the exception of “Oh My Soul”) are titled with the word “Praise” and obviously have the goal of praising God. Easy. Do we need all of these songs?

“Praise You Anywhere” has a message of praising God through any situation, place, or circumstance, which is also pretty much the same message as “Praise,” which is focused on always having a reason to praise God. “Praise the Lord” has that same message but also highlights a response to temptation, as Micah Tyler makes it clear that it’s when the Devil comes to tempt him that he will praise. “That’s Who I Praise” focuses on God being the one who is praised through highlighting God’s presence throughout the Bible. “We Praise You” focuses on praise as an action and what believers expect God to do when praising. “Praises” is about avoiding the belief of worldly people who say that praising God is crazy nonsense. “Oh My Soul” from Casting Crowns isn’t about praise. It’s about a weary soul facing fear and finding comfort in God.

So after considering all of that, I realize that all of these songs are unique in their own way. They’re built off of the same focus of praising God (with the exception of “Oh My Soul”) but then taking that and applying it to different aspects of life.

Before I think about some more same, similar, and comparable song titles, I should think about a group of artists that might cause some confusion with those who aren’t familiar with the Christian groups: Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music, and Chris Brown.

There are times when Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music songs get confused, labeled, and swapped as the same. Think of the song “Jireh,” for example. “Jireh” was originally featured on the album Old Church Basement which was a collaboration between Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music. When the song was featured on radio, some stations labeled it under Elevation Worship while others put it under Maverick City Music. What I think was happening was that the radio version was released under Maverick City Music but stations that were playing the original version (or an edit of that) had it under Elevation Worship. All of the songs in the album were by both Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music, so I wouldn’t mind if they were listed under either Elevation or Maverick City or both. As long as they have the same album picture, I think they’re the same!

There was one song, though, that didn’t have the same album picture: “More Than Able.” It was the same song but it had two different versions, one Elevation Worship version and one Maverick City Music version. Each version was from a different album.

One featured artist from Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music is Chris Brown. This is the worship leader Chris Brown, not to be confused with the rapper Chris Brown. I have seen Elevation Worship videos that say “(feat. Chris Brown)” that have users click on them expecting rap music and find a video of a large church performance instead. These confused users go to the comments section and claim that Elevation Worship had click baited them, then receive a helpful response that there are two Chris Browns. Don’t get them confused or else you’ll be mixing up live worship with rap music.

Speaking of Chris Brown, he is featured on two Elevation Worship songs from the same album, When Wind Meets Fire, called “Another One” and “Another Stone”. No, this is not a typo. The song names are really “Another One” and “Another Stone.”

“Another One” mentions the stone, while “Another Stone” mentions the rolling. “Another One” is about another miracle after another miracle, while “Another Stone” is about becoming a new person. However, both mention the stone rolling away… In “Another One,” it’s the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb. In “Another Stone,” it’s using the concept of the stone to symbolize something else, called “another stone.” So the original stone isn’t even in the stone song; it’s in the other song instead.

Elevation Worship did it again (Remember the song “Do It Again”?) and brought another one, and this one was so shocking to me when I first discovered it: “Sure Been Good” featuring Tiffany Hudson. The reason I was quite astonished with this was because just a few months earlier, I had listened to a song called “Been So Good” featuring Tiffany Hudson. Not only had Elevation Worship featured the same singer, but it also had featured so much of a similar song title. “Been So Good” is talking about how God has been so good, while “Sure Been Good” is talking about how God has sure been good. What’s the difference? I think the lyrics are so similar and related that they could reasonably be stuffed into one song called “Been Good.” But the main focus of “Been So Good” is talking about what God has done, while “Sure Been Good” is talking about how there is no one else like God. God is good, so good, sure good, and been good. Elevation Worship literally has two “good” songs out there now. That’s not an opinion anymore; it’s a fact.

Let’s think about miracles. Which one? Just like there are many miracle stories out there, there are also many miracle songs out there. The first ones I would think of are those by Colton Dixon, KB, Audio Adrenaline, and Jesus Culture. Colton Dixon’s “Miracles” is about God’s blessings in Colton Dixon’s life. KB’s “Miracles” is a celebration anthem about a struggle to count how many miracles God has done. Audio Adrenaline’s “Miracles” is a belief statement about knowing who God is. Jesus Culture’s “Miracles” builds on the belief statement and focuses on worshipping God as the God of miracles.

It’s miracle after miracle, another reference to Elevation Worship (from the song “Another One”)… and if all this writing about Elevation hasn’t lifted you up yet, I think I have something… UP! That’s right, the UP songs. TobyMac has two songs called “Lift You Up” and “Get Back Up.” Miles Minnick has a song called “Boost It Up.” “Lift You Up” is a worship-ish song about lifting God up. “Get Back Up” is a motivational song about lifting the listener up. “Boost It Up” is a song about boosting something up to appreciate blessings and avoid stress.

Bringing it UP… There’s also “Up,” “UP!,” “Up + Up,” and if you want to upgrade that title even more, there’s “Up Up Up.” Tauren Wells’ “Up” is a fancy and energetic three minute anthem to tell people to not give up. Forrest Frank’s “UP!” is a celebration song of a life with God rather than without. Colton Dixon adds one more up in “Up + Up,” which is about both ways (two types of UP): God lifting Colton Dixon up… and Colton Dixon lifting up God. Then, “Up Up Up” by Anthony Brown & group therAPy is about having a light shine and lighting it up, up, up.

After that pattern, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found a song called “Up Up Up Up” or “Up 4,” but I don’t remember any right now. What I have found, though, is a set of four songs titled “Something Beautiful” from the artists NEEDTOBREATHE, Newsboys, Natalie Grant, and Steven Curtis Chapman. NEEDTOBREATHE’s “Something Beautiful” is about anticipating something beautiful coming, which is similar to Natalie Grant’s announcement of being made for something beautiful. Newsboys’ “Something Beautiful” is about having fascination at the beautiful things in life. Then, Steven Curtis Chapman’s song is about God as the rebuilder, taking what we have and then making it into something beautiful.

If the talk of beauty makes you ask the question, “Am I something beautiful?” or something just as simple of the question, “Who Am I?,” then think about this… There are also a few songs with the words “Who Am I.” Just be careful of the word placement. Some of the songs are arranged as “Who I Am” rather than “Who Am I.” This is a very easy set of words to mix up, so be careful to recognize if you are stating who you are or if you are asking who you are.

“Who Am I?” is asked by NEEDTOBREATHE and Casting Crowns. These are both questions asked in the context of being known and loved by God, so they are very similar. “Who I Am” is answered by Ben Fuller and Blanca. These are both answers stated in the context of being known and loved by God, so they are very similar. Really, the identity struggle or statement or question in this set of songs is all the same… belonging to God. It’s enough to say who you are yet also enough to keep wondering why you are who you are.

The people say that they know who God is in Jesus… in the Name of Jesus, to say. This is mentioned in three different ways: “In the Name” (Lakewood Music), “In the Name of Jesus” (JWLKRS Worship), and “In Jesus Name” (Katy Nichole). Lakewood Music focuses on the power of Jesus and what happens in the Name of Jesus. JWLKRS Worship focuses on defeating loneliness and finding company in the Name of Jesus. Katy Nichole focuses on praying in the Name of Jesus. Just like the prayer is quite invisible (we can’t really see it), I think there’s an invisible apostrophe mark in that song title. While these three are all similar song titles, they all have different ways of focusing on Jesus’ Name.

Some artists focus on Jesus’ Name even more and start attributing the Name with adjectives or nouns… in this case, I think of shelter. Pat Barrett and Carrollton call God their “Shelter” in their songs. Pat Barrett’s prayer focuses more on letting go and giving God his problems, while Carrollton’s prayer focuses on knowing that God won’t let go of them. There’s also Vertical Worship’s “Shelter,” which is about safety in God. Then, there’s Tori Kelly’s “shelter,” which focuses on a personalized type of shelter, mentioning how mama bear protects her baby.

I think I know how some songs would respond to the meaning of “mama bear protects her baby.” It’s through the Church that we see this concept and idea of how God protects His children. I’d think of the songs called “Church,” two of which are from Evvie McKinney and Cochren & Co. Cochren & Co.’s song focuses on going back to church after time being away. Evvie McKinney’s song focuses on announcing how church is the place where she wants to be. There’s also this concept of “having church” as shown in Thrive Worship’s “Let’s Have Church” which focuses on singing about the worship that happens at church. Beyond these songs with the word “Church,” there are many other church discussion songs titled under words along the lines of “House of the Lord.” Yes, Phil Wickham. Yes, FRVR Free (after the “Beautiful Day”). Yes, Crowder (once you say “In The”). Yes, Young & Free. Even further than that, there are songs with just this concept of house, like “House of God” (Sean Rodriguez) and “House of Miracles” (Brandon Lake). There are too many to describe individually right now.

Well, before I start naming everything that relates to church, why don’t I just mention “Everything”? Yes, “Everything” by Lincoln Brewster and “Everything” by TobyMac. Lincoln Brewster worships God as having everything that he needs, and TobyMac worships God as being able to be seen in everything. But if everything isn’t already enough, put everything together with everything and get “Everything Everything” from Elevation Rhythm, which emphasizes how the double everything is going to be alright.

Alright then. We’ll “Be Alright,” says Dante Bowe (”Be Alright”), Evan Craft (“Be Alright”), Tye Tribbett (“We Gon’ Be Alright”), Ryan Ellis (”Gonna Be Alright”), and Canyon Worship (”Be Alright”). All of these artists make songs to say the same thing… we’ll be alright.

And if being alright involves standing strong in faith, then there are two more key words to mention before I can hope to be alright after exposing myself to all of this confusion in mentioning so many similar song titles. Say, “Stand” and “Strong.”

One Common has “Stand.” Newsboys has “STAND.” UNITED has “The Stand.” Danny Gokey has “Stand in Faith.” And finally, Maverick City Music has “Stand Still.”

One Common’s “Stand” is a commitment to stand, stand, stand (just like up, up, up from Anthony Brown) so maybe they want us to stand up, stand up, stand up with us going right up next to God. Newsboys’ song is also a commitment to stand up… this time to especially think about standing for God in a world that is against Him. UNITED tells us about a stand in surrender before God.

Now, “Stand in Faith.” When the song was first released, I loved looking at Danny Gokey’s song image, which was a simple picture of him standing. It went so well with the title, I thought. Danny Gokey tells the story of making a commitment to stand in faith. Maverick City does the opposite by saying that they can’t be made to stand still. They are active, moving people who don’t want to just stand. Maybe they love to walk in faith instead. If so, Jeremy Camp’s “Walk By Faith” would be good for that.

After all of this standing and getting up, I suppose our spiritual legs will be getting stronger. There’s strength in songs that are titled with the word “Strong.” I think of Anne Wilson’s “Strong,” Oaks Worship’s “Strong,” Mandisa’s “Stronger,” Danny Gokey’s “Stronger Than We Think,” and Matthew West’s “Strong Enough.”

Anne Wilson talks about her personal strength and being made strong by God. Oaks Worship, on the other hand, talks about God’s strength. Mandisa talks about the concept of becoming stronger, so the song is mentioning potential strength rather than someone’s individual strength. Danny Gokey, too, brings up this concept of strength and links it back to personal strength when he says that we are “Stronger Than We Think.” Matthew West brings up the concept of strength, but for him, it’s strength that doesn’t exist. That’s because he says that he is not strong enough, but he also asks God to be strong enough.

You probably know the saying that “there’s strength in numbers.” Well, as you’ve seen, there are a number of songs with same and similar concepts that each paint the picture in their own way. They expose us to the message of being strong, standing up, going to Church, and praising God… all in their individual styles. I’m beginning to see that it’s okay sometimes if the key words are the same because that reminds us how we use these songs to worship the same God… and to strengthen us to go on the same mission to save the world and bring people back to God. That’s the top message, I hope, that all these songs are here to show us.

To see the playlist with all of the mentioned songs, click HERE.