Gospel Songs & Hymns: Top 100

Gospel Songs & Hymns: Top 100 Songs

More than 30 lists focused on gospel songs or hymns were aggregated to create this list. The top 50 point getters were ranked first. After that, any songs featured on 2 or more lists were ranked by overall DMDB points and then re-ordered based on their points specifically on gospel songs and hymns lists. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
1	Amazing Grace	John Newton (w)	1779	The Pipes & Drums & Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (1972)
2	How Great Thou Art	Carl Boberg (w)	1885	George Beverly Shea (1955)
3	What a Friend We Have in Jesus	Hartius Bonar (w), Charles Crozat Converse (m)	1876
4	It Is Well with My Soul	Horacio C. Spafford (w), Paul P. Bliss (m)	1873
5	Blessed Assurance	Fanny Crosby	1873
6	Oh Happy Day	Philip Doddridge (w)	1891	Edwin Hawkins Singers with Dorothy Combs Morrison (1969)
7	I'll Fly Away	Albert E. Brumley	1929	The Chuck Wagon Gang (1948)
8	Be Thou My Vision	Elizabeth Byrne (w), Dallan Forgaill (m)	1905
9	Abide with Me	Henry Francis Lyte (w), William Henry Monk (m)	1861
10	Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty	Reginald Heber (w), John Bacchus Dykes (m)	1826

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
11	Take My Hand, Precious Lord	Thomas A. Dorsey	1932	Thomas A. Dorsey (1932)
12	Rock of Ages	Augustus Montague Toplady (w), Thomas Hastings (m)	1763	Alma Gluck & Louise Homer (1914)
13	Jesus Paid It All	Elvina Hall	1865
14	His Eye Is on the Sparrow	C.D. Martin, C.H. Gabriel	1905	Mahalia Jackson (1951)
15	The Old Rugged Cross	Rev. George Bennard (m/w)	1913	Homer Rodeheaver with Virginia Asher (1921)
16	Morning Has Broken	Eleanor Farjeon/Bunessan/Rick Wakeman	1931	Cat Stevens (1971)
17	Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)	Ada R. Habershon, Charles H. Gabriel, A.P. Carter (adapted by)	1907	The Carter Family (1935)
18	There'll Be Peace in the Valley	Thomas A. Dorsey	1937	Elvis Presley (1957)
19	He's Got the Whole World in His Hands	Geoff Love (adapted)	1927	Laurie London (1957)
20	Great Is Thy Faithfulness	Thomas Chisolm	1923	Jordan Smith (2015)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
21	When I Survey the Wondrous Cross	Isaac Watts	1707
22	I Saw the Light	Hank Williams	1947	Hank Williams (1948)
23	Just a Closer Walk with Thee		1941	Jimmie Rodgers (1960)
24	Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing	Robert Robinson	1757
25	Swing Low, Sweet Chariot	Wallace Willis, arranged by Henry Thacker Burleigh	1873	Fisk Jubilee Singers (1910)
26	Give Me That Old Time Religion	Charles Davis Tillman	1873	Etta James (1983)
27	Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen		1867	Marian Anderson (1925)
28	All Hail the Power of Jesus Name	Edward Perronet	1779
29	All Creatures of Our God and King	St. Francis of Assisi	1225
30	Touch the Hem of His Garment		1956	The Soul Stirrers (1956)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
31	When the Saints Go Marching In	James M. Black/Katharine E. Purvis	1896	Louis Armstrong (1939)
32	Crown Him with Many Crowns	Matthew Bridges, Godfrey Thring	1852
33	Mary Don't You Weep	traditional	1915	Swan Silvertones (1959)
34	There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood	William Cowper	1771
35	In the Garden	C. Austin Miles	1912	Elvis Presley (1967)
36	Just As I Am	Charlotte Elliot (w)	1834
37	Move on Up a Little Higher	Rev. William Herbert Brewster	1946	Mahalia Jackson (1948)
38	Jerusalem	William Blake (w), Hubert Parry (m)	1916	Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1973)
39	How Firm a Foundation	John Rippon	1787
40	The Lord's My Shepherd	traditional (w), Jessie Seymour Irvine (m)	1871

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
41	Jesus on the Mainline	traditional	1960	Ry Cooder (1974)
42	Down by the Riverside	Carl Sandburg	1918	The Four Lads (1953)
43	Wings of a Dove	Bob Ferguson	1958	Ferlin Husky (1960)
44	Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer	William Williams (w), John Hughes (m)	1745
45	Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus	Helen Lemmel	1922
46	The Lord's Prayer	Albert Hay Malotte	1935	Sister Janet Meade (1974)
47	I Vow to Thee My Country	Sir Cecil Spring Rice (w), traditional	1910
48	Ave Maria	Charles Gounod/J.S. Bach (m)/Franz Schubert (m)	1825	Enrico Caruso (1913)
49	Great Is Your Mercy	Donnie McClurkin	2000	Donnie McClurkin (2000)
50	Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho	traditional	1930	Elvis Presley (1960)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
51	All Things Bright and Beautiful	Cecil Frances Alexander (w)	1849
52	Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour	Frances Jane Crosby (w), William Howard Doane (m)	1870	Lyle Lovett (1992)
53	O God, Our Help in Ages Past	Isaac Watts (w), William Croft (m)	1708
54	A Mighty Fortress Is Our God	Martin Luther	1529
55	Nearer My God to Thee	Sarah Adams Flower (w), Lowell Mason (m)	1861	Richard Jose (1906)
56	Shackles (Praise You)	Erica Atkins, Trecina Atkins, Warryn Campbell, Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert, Duane Hitchings	2000	Mary Mary (2000)
57	In the Sweet Bye and Bye	Joseph Philbrick Webster (m), Sanford F. Bennett	1868
58	Bridge Over Troubled Water	Paul Simon	1970	Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
59	Never Would Have Made It	Matthew Brownie, Marvin Sapp	2008	Marvin Sapp (2008)
60	Eternal Father, Strong to Save (The Navy Hymn)	William Whiting (w), John Bacchus Dykes (m)	1860

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
61	Jesus Loves Me	Anne Warner (w), William Bradbury (m)	1862
62	At the Cross	Isaac Watts (w), R.E. Hudson (m)	1707
63	When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder	James M. Black (m/w)	1893	Haydn Quartet with Harry Macdonough (1906)
64	Jesus Is Just Alright	Art Reynolds	1966	The Doobie Brothers (1972)
65	The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka "Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!")	Julia Ward Howe (w), William Steffe (m)	1862	Charles Harrison & the Columbia Stellar Quartet (1918)
66	I Surrender All	Judson W. Van DeVenter	1896
67	People Get Ready	Curtis Mayfield	1965	The Impressions (1965)
68	Dear Lord and Father of Mankind	John Greeleaf Whittier (w), Hubert Parry (m)	1872
69	I Need Thee Every Hour	Annie S. Hawks (w), Rev. Robert Lowry (m)	1872
70	Onward Christian Soldiers	Sabine Baring-Gould (w), Sir Arthur Sullivan (m)	1871	Harry Simeone Chorale (1960)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
71	My Sweet Lord	George Harrison	1970	George Harrison (1970)
72	The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended	John Ellerton (w)	1870
73	Awesome	Charles Jenkins	2012	Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago
74	I’ll Take You There	Al Bell	1972	The Staple Singers (1972)
75	Let the Church Say Amen	Andraé Crouch	2011	Andraé Crouch & Marvin Winans (2011)
76	Faith of Our Fathers	Frederick William Faber (w), Henri F. Hemy (m)	1849
77	Up to the Mountain	Patty Griffin	2007	Kelly Clarkson with Jeff Beck (2007)
78	Fairest Lord Jesus (Crusader's Hymn)	anonymous	1850
79	For the Beauty of the Earth	Folliott Sandford Pierpont	1864
80	Hallelujah Chorus	George Frideric Handel	1741	Reginald McAll (1916)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
81	This Train	Flick/Foley/Paine/Kirkland	1922	Sister Rosette Tharpe (1939)
82	Wade in the Water	unknown	1901	Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (1961)
83	We Shall Overcome	Charles Albert Tindley	1901	Pete Seeger
84	Shall We Gather at the River? (aka "Beautiful River" and "Hanson Place")	Robert Lowry	1864
85	Grateful	Eric Davis, Deon Kipping, James Leon Hairston	2005	Hezekiah Walker & the Love Fellowship Choir
86	Make Me a Channel of Your Peace	Sebastian Temple	1967	Sinéad O'Connor (1997)
87	Put Your Hand in the Hand	Gene MacLellan	1971	Ocean (1971)
88	How Great Is Our God	Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash	2004	Chris Tomlin (2004)
89	Michael Row the Boat Ashore	traditional	1867	The Highwaymen (1961)
90	10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)	Matt Redman	2013	Matt Redman (2013)

Rank	Song Title	Songwriter(s), w = words, m = music	Year of Publiciation	Highest Ranked DMDB Version, if applicable (Year of Release)
91	A Change Is Gonna Come	Sam Cooke	1964	Sam Cooke (1964)
92	Yah Mo B There	James Ingram, Quincy Jones, Michael McDonald, Rod Temperton	1983	James Ingram & Michael McDonald (1983)
93	Wholy Holy	Marvin Gaye, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Al Cleveland	1971	Aretha Franklin (1972)
94	Wanna Be Happy?	Kirk Franklin, Al Green	2015	Kirk Franklin (2015)
95	Blessings	Chancelor J. Bennett, Peter Wilkins, Nico Segal, Nate Fox, Fred Hammond, Byron Cage	2016	Chance the Rapper (2016)
96	The Battle Is the Lord's	V. Michael McKay	1996	Yolanda Adams (1996)
97	Lead Kindly Light	John Henry Newman (w), John Bacchus Dykes (m)	1868
98	Love Lifted Me	James Rowe, Howard E. Smith	1912	Kenny Rogers (1975)
99	Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us	Dorothy Ann Thrupp	1836
100	Safe in the Arms of Jesus	Frances Jane Crosby (w), William Howard Doane (m)	1870

Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists” First posted 9/1/2023.

Glenn Weiser Favorite 19th Century American Songs

Glenn Weiser: Favorite 19th Century American Songs

Glenn Weiser’s book Favorite 19th Century American Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar covers 47 songs. The book doesn’t rank the songs but I have created a ranking by looking at how many other lists the songs are featured on. Publication years for songs and the songwriters are indicated, but no specific artist is attached to each song. Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)” (1861) by Julia Ward Howe & William Steffe “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) by Francis Scott Key & John Stafford Smith “Home on the Range” (1873) by Dr. Brewster M. Higley & Daniel E. Kelly “Oh! Susanna” (1847) by Stephen Foster “After the Ball” (1892) by Charles K. Harris “Dixie” (1859) by Daniel Decatur Emmett “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850) by Stephen Foster “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1892) by Hary Dacre “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1873) by Wallace Willis, arranged by Henry Thacker Burleigh “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1868) by Joseph M. Scriven, Hatius Bonar, & Charles Crozat Converse “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851) “Home Sweet Home” (1823) by John Howard Payne, arranged by Sir Henry Rowley Bishop “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853) by Stephen Foster “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846) by Daniel Decatur Emmett “The Sidewalks of New York” (1894) by Charles B. Lawlor & James W. Blake “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (1862) by Geoge Frederick Root “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (1878) by James A. Bland “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1867) by Alfred Lee & George Leybourne The Band Played On (1895) by Charles B. Ward & John F. Palmer “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1856) by Septimus Winner (as Alice Hawthorne) & Richard Milburn “Grandfather’s Clock” (1876) by Henry C. Work “I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair” (1854) by Stephen Foster “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (1865) traditional “Lorena” (1857) by Rev. Henry David Webster & Joseph Philbick Webster “Dem Golden Slippers” (1879) by James A. Bland “Go Down Moses (Let My People Go)” (1861) traditional “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” (1866) by George W. Johnson & J.A. Butterfield “Tenting on the Old Campground” (1864) by Walter Kittredge “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp” (1864) by Geoge Frederick Root “Darling Nellie Gray” (1856) by Benjamin Russell Hanby “Old Black Joe” (1860) by Stephen Foster “The Wayfaring Stranger” (1858) unknown “Simple Gifts” (1848) by Joseph Brackett “Follow the Drinking Gourd” (1860) by Epe Sargent & Henry Russell “There’s a Tavern in the Town” (1883) anonymous “Marching Through Georgia” (1865) by Henry Clay Work “Hard Times Come Again No More” (1854) by Stephen Foster “Deep River” (1867) arranged by Harry Thacker Burleigh “Gentle Annie” (1856) by Stephen Foster & Lame Jack Cousens “Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground” (1852) by Stephen Foster “Kingdom Coming” (1862) by Henry Clay Work “The Rose of Alabama” (1846) by S.S. Steele/anonymous “Aloha Oe (Farewell to Thee)” (1924) by H.M. Queen Liliuokalani “Keep Your Hand on the Plow” (1917) unknown “Old Uncle Ned” (1848) by Stephen Foster “Sweet Hour of Prayer” (1845) by William W. Walford “Ring de Banjo” (1851) by Stephen Foster Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “lists from critics and individuals’ Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from publications and/or organizations” Glenn Weiser (3/1/2019). Favorite 19th Century American Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar. Centerstream Publications. First posted 12/22/2025.

 

This Month in Music (1872): “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” published

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Wallace Willis, Henry Thacker Burleigh (arranged)

Writer(s): Wallace Willis, Henry Thacker Burleigh (arranged) (see lyrics here) Published: March 1872 First Charted: May 14, 1910 (Fisk Jubilee Singers) Peak (different versions): 7 PM, 25 CL, 15 UK (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.06 video, -- streaming

Awards (Willis): Click on award for more details. Awards (Fisk): Awards (Robeson):

About the Song: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” “achieved immortality as a spiritual” SS with ties to the Underground Railroad. When slaves sang the lines “Swing low, sweet chariot / Comin’ for the carry me home” it was a signal that the Underground Railroad was coming to help the slaves to freedom. SH It was reportedly a favorite of Harriet Tubman, the heroic leader of the Underground Railroad. SH The song is credited to Wallace Willis, a slave likely born prior to the Civil War in Mississippi. However, he was owned not by a white man, but a Choctaw Indian. In the early part of the 19th century, members of their tribe took up farming, converted to Christianity, and purchased slaves to assimilate and avoid being removed from their land by white Americans. SH Unfortunately, they were still forced from their lands in the 1830s. Willis was hired out to the Spencer Academy, a Choctaw boys’ school. He and his wife lived in a wood cabin on the edge of campus and would sit outside in the evening singing spirituals such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Alexander Reid, the superintendent of the academy, enjoyed their singing and often had them sing for students and visitors. In 1871, Reid saw the Jubilee Singers perform. They were a choir from Fisk Free Colored School, later Fisk University. The all-black college was founded in 1866 to focus on the education of freed slaves. In 1871, the Jubilee Singers toured to raise money for the school. They raised $40,000 in a year and a half, following roughly the route of the Underground Railroad, singing songs from the abolitionist movement. International tours in England and Europe followed. SS Reid introduced “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” to the group after telling the school’s treasurer and musical director, George L. White, that he’d heard better. AS In March 1872, they published a book called Jubilee Songs: A Sung by the Jubilee Singers which included “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” While Willis has been credited with the song, like many spirituals, it bears similarities to the melody and style of songs from the Guinea coast and Equatorial Bantu where most slaves were taken. SS In the case of “Swing Low” it had the same response and refrain as “The Story of Tangalimlibo,” a Bantu song. Lyrically the text has a Biblical basis in II Kings, verses 2 and 11. LC A new version of the Fisk Jubilee Singers toured in 1899 and was eventually recorded by the Victor Talking Machine Company. Their first session was on December 8, 1909, and their first song was “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” It is “a slow, beautiful a cappella performance in the semi-classical European style” sup>SS which was marketed as a Negro folk song. SS It became a top-ten hit in 1910 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. The song’s popularity also owes a debt to classical composer Antonín Dvořák, who came to the United States in 1892 to run the National Conservatory of Music. He said, “the future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies.” SS He integrated “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” into his famed Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New World. In 1917, Dvořák’s student Harry T. Burleigh arranged “Swing Low” for solo voice and then published it in 1920 for mixed chorus. LC A 1926 recording by Paul Robeson is also in the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1995, Ladysmith Black Mambazo took the song to #15 on the UK charts. Others who’ve done renditions include Louis Armstrong, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Benny Goodman, the Grateful Dead, Etta James, B.B. King, Dolly Parton, and Nina Simone. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Wallace Willis DMDB encyclopedia entry for Fisk Jubilee Singers AS AmericanSongwriter.com (2019). “Behind the Song: ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’” by Jon Little LC Library of Congress “’Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ by Harry Thacker Burleigh” SH Shmoop.com “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Meaning” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 266-7. First posted 9/2/2023.