Interpreting Popular Christian Music from Theological and Musicological Perspectives: The Example of Damaris Joy

Damaris Joy was one of the best-known “Popular Christian Music” (PCM) acts in German conservative religious milieus during the 1980s. In contrast to the Anglo-American “Contemporary Christian Music”, the German PCM has rarely been subject to academic research, despite being considered as a distinct musical genre, as well as an important aspect in the life of certain groups of believers. This article discusses exemplary close readings of Damaris Joy’s songs from both a theological and a musicological perspective. Through the presented exemplary analyses, we argue that the band’s lyrics deal especially with Christological topics so as to address mainstream culture, whilst the respective musical style punctuates and clearly strengthens the theological message of the respective songs.