10 Glorious Glory Songs | Playlist 🎧

10 Glorious Glory Songs features music courtesy of Common, Fireboy DML, Jake Giles, Lady Gaga, and Peter Cetera among others.

Let’s step right into the action, shall we? 🎧 10 Glorious Glory Songs is comprised of 10 songs that feature some form of the word GLORY in their title.  It’s honestly that simple.  There’s nothing deeper or more transcendent regarding the conception of this list.  While glory can be associated with religion and spiritual matters, this list isn’t faith-based.  Yes, there are references but it’s not for the church!

🎧 10 Glorious Glory Songs features music courtesy of 🎙 Common, 🎙 Fireboy DML, 🎙 Jake Giles, 🎙 Lady Gaga, and 🎙 Peter Cetera among others.  There’s a little bit of everything on this list from R&B, rap, international music, pop, dance, and LGBTQ pop.  What I’m saying is, this is a pretty glorious musical compendium that you should totally check out!

1. Jake Giles, “Glory Hole”

🎵 “Glory Hole” • 🏷 OctoLimbs Music • 🗓 2022

“I threw down my glass, I told them I’m staying in / Salvation from a stranger to help me begin again.” Oh my! From there, 🎙 Jake Giles follows up assertively singing, “Glory hole! / Glory hole!” Wow! If you’re unfamiliar with what a glory hole is, Urban Dictionary provides an awesome definition. Just be careful Googling it – you might come up with some NSFW results.  That said, maybe, just maybe, Giles’ 🎵 “Glory Hole” isn’t, um, appropriate to partake of in many 9-5 jobs! Honestly, this handsome, up-and-coming musician sets the free, risqué, and unapologetic tone of this 2022 single early on. “A moment of release and then it’s back to the war / I put my faith in the hands of somebody else…” Jesus!

happened upon this glorious, steamy LGBTQ+ gem on an unapologetic Spotify playlist titled, Gay Sex (👀). Woo! Jake Giles, expectedly, milks the glory hole for every last drop… Um, yeah, that didn’t sound right! Anyways, although the lyrics are sexual, they are clever too.  “I push myself in / To the other side / Grip the walls and / Just enjoy the ride” certainly shouldn’t be played in front of the kids, and perhaps the narrow-minded, but it fits the title and narrative perfectly.  Giles also treats this experience as an escape that’s ultimately meaningless but seems like a necessity: “Tonight, I’m going south / ‘Step to the circle,’ he said / I take a look around – I’m getting galaxy head / It’s just another wall / Another moment of glory.” To that, Mr. Giles, I say, day-um!

Appears in 🔻:

• Jake Giles, “Glory Hole”: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 28 (2022)
• Glory: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2022)

2. Lady Gaga, “The Edge of Glory”

💿 Born This Way • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2011

“I’m on the edge of glory / And I’m hangin’ on a moment of truth.” Say that, 🎙 Lady Gaga, say that! The chorus hails from 🎵 “The Edge of Glory,” one of many hits from the pop artist’s 2011, multiplatinum album, 💿 Born This Way.  She continues singing on the exuberant centerpiece, “Out on the edge of glory / And I’m hangin’ on a moment with you / I’m on the edge / the edge, the edge, the edge…” You get the picture!

The chorus is the crowning achievement, featuring big vocals by Lady Gaga, and dynamic production (Gaga and 🎛 Fernando Garibay) accompanying her.  Of course, prior to the sing-along chorus, Gaga blesses us with a fantastic performance during the verses.  In the first verse, she makes it clear, “There ain’t no reason you and me should be alone / Tonight,” adding, “I need a man that thinks it’s right when it’s so wrong.” Hmm, I’m sensing heavy touching…  It’s confirmed in the pre-chorus, when Gaga asserts, “I’m gonna run right to, to the edge with you / Where we can both fall in love.”  Ooh-wee! The second verse is much like the first, heading towards the glory of love and yes, sex too.  “The Edge of Glory” has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.  On the Billboard Hot, “The Edge of Glory” peaked at no. 3, spending 24 weeks on the chart.  That, my friends, is a big-time, glorious hit!

3. Portishead, “Glory Box”

💿 Dummy • 🏷 Go! Discs Ltd • 📅 1994

“I’m so tired of playing / Playing with this bow and arrow / Gonna give my heart away / Leave it to the other girls to play / For I’ve been a temptress too long.” The most important album from British alternative, trip-hop collective 🎙 Portishead is their debut, 💿 Dummy, which was released in 1994.  Two songs particularly shine from Dummy: 🎵 “Sour Times”, the second track, and the glorious song at hand, 🎵 “Glory Box”, the closing cut.  🎙 Beth Gibbons shines with her expressive vocals on this epic, five-minute-plus gem.

“Glory Box” samples 🎵 “Medley: Ike’s Rap II / Help Me Love” (💿 Black Moses) by late soul legend 🎙 Isaac Hayes.  Specifically, it’s the “Ike’s Rap II” portion that helps fuel “Glory Box.” While the sample is vital to the record’s success, there’s also some great added music specifically 🎙 Adrian Utley’s use of Hammond Organ and truly superb guitar playing and soloing. The lyrics are awesome, memorable, and telling. Basically, Gibbons is done with games when it comes to love and men.  She is tired of bending over backward to please and try to attain love – she’s evolving and becoming much more mature.  She desires the same of a man, whom she addresses in the stellar chorus: “Give me a reason to love you / Give me a reason to be a woman / I just wanna be a woman.”

Appears in 🔻:

• Don’t BOX Yourself in With These 13 Songs
• Glory: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2022)

4. Raphael Saadiq, “Glory to the Veins” (Ft. Ernest Turner)

💿 Jimmy Lee • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2019

Eight years.  That’s how long it had been since 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B musician 🎙 Raphael Saadiq released a new studio album.  In 2019 Saadiq returned with a contemporary masterpiece – a very personal, socially-changed, fifth studio album, 💿 Jimmy Lee. Among the best moments from Jimmy Lee is the brief, but potent 🎵 “Glory to the Veins”.

Raphael Saadiq mentions AIDS hitting close to home on the powerful record, featuring pianist 🎙 Ernest Turner.  “Glory to the Veins” is set in a minor key, instantly giving it a darker vibe.  Once Saadiq begins singing, it’s clear where he’s going with the song:  “It’s a world epidemic / And the whole world is in it / I lost a brother to AIDS / Still, he laughed every day.” Following those key lyrics, Saadiq gets a bit more abstract and poetic lyrically, leading to a simple, two-word chorus, “Oh well.” The second verse remains poetic and troublesome; there’s an unsettling vibe. Once more, it’s clear that Saadiq – and/or the character he plays – needs the guidance of a higher power.  He sings:

“…There’s too many people walking behind me

I need you beside me, please come and find me

It’s been so cold, the light could blind me

God help me to find me.”

Appears in 🔻:

• 15 G Songs: No Rhyme or Reason
• Glory: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2022)

5. Bastille, “Glory”

💿 Wild World • 🏷 Virgin • 📅 2016

“Stories told to me, and stories told to you / Did they ever feel like they were ringing true?” Well, did they? That’s the question that 🎙 Dan Smith and his band, 🎙 Bastille, ask on the 2016 song, 🎵 “Glory.” “Glory” is indeed a glorious – better yet, celestial – moment from the band’s sophomore album, 💿 Wild World, among the best albums released in 2016, in my opinion.  So, focusing on “Glory,” what makes this single truly glorious?

To answer the question, it’s the theme and lyrics. “Glory” makes vague spiritual references, but centers most on the realization that perceived truths were lies.  Think about that – what we’ve been told to believe as truth isn’t.  That’s deep! That’s where the lyrics from the pre-chorus come into play. Ultimately, with “all their words for glory,” Smith determines that the storytellers lack substance, and he no longer believes them.  Listeners should believe in “Glory” regardless if there are lies running rampant!

“And all their words for glory

Well, they always sounded empty

When we’re looking up for heaven

Looking up for heaven

And way down here upon the ground

When we’re lying in the dirt

There’s no looking up for heaven

Looking up for heaven.”

6. Kehlani, “Morning Glory”

💿 While We Wait • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2019

“I wanna take my wig off / I wanna lay it on the nightstand / I wanna take my make-up off / I wanna rip these nails off my hands…” Okay! 🏆 Grammy-nominated R&B artist 🎙 Kehlani dropped a respectable, well-rounded, mixtape, 💿 While We Wait, in 2019. The 31-minute mixtape has its fair share of satisfying moments including 🎵 “Morning Glory,” which thrives off a throwback, old-school, soulful groove.

“Morning Glory” features killer vocals by Kehlani – we’d expect no less, of course! Furthermore, in the context of the tape, ‘Lani delivers another awesome chorus.

“And if you don’t want me at my goodnight

Then you can’t have me at my morning glory

At my morning glory

And if you don’t want me at my goodnight

Then it’s gon’ be goodbye (Gonna be, gonna be)

Gon’ be goodbye.”

Appears in 🔻:

• 10 Songs Perfect for the Morning
• Glory: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2022)

7. Lana Del Rey, “Money Power Glory”

💿 Ultraviolence • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2014

“You say you wanna go / To a land that’s far away / Ho ware we supposed to get there / With the way that we’re living today?” In 🎵 “Money Power Glory,” a highlight from 💿 Ultraviolence (2014), 🎙 Lana Del Rey is NOT the most moral person, to say the least – that’s an UNDERSTATEMENT. Del Rey sings, “I want money, power, and glory / I want all your money, and all your power, all your glory.” Girl, what a doggone shame! Lana doesn’t stop there, mind you.  She adds, “Hallelujah, I wanna take you for all that you got / Hallelujah, I’m gonna take them for all that they got.” Blasphemy – sheer blasphemy!

Ultraviolence, one of Del Rey’s best albums, is filled with eyebrow-raising moments.  Besides taking him for all he’s got, she has two specific requests: “Dope and diamonds.” Geeze, Louise! As stated earlier, Lana doesn’t present herself morally in the least. Further driving home her shallowness, she takes a couple of jabs at God and religion beyond the aforementioned false hallelujahs: “You talk lots about God… / But that’s not what this bitch wants / Not what I want at all.” What more is there to say? Give her credit for being transparent is attaining glory.  🎛 Greg Kurstin produced this glorious gem for the 🏆 Grammy-nominated musician. 

8. Fireboy DML, “Glory”

💿 Playboy • 🏷 YBNL Nation / EMPIRE • 📅 2022

“She feeling the juice / Feeling the sauce / Look at my shoes / Christian Dior.” Hmm, it seems like 🎙 Fireboy DML is feeling confident about himself, and so is his girl. Woo! He continues in singing the chorus of 🎵 “Glory,” “Whatchu gonna do? / Who you looking for? I never lose / Glory to God.” Well, at least he thanks God for his drip and success, I suppose. “Glory” appears as the eighth track on his 2022 album, 💿 Playboy.  What a title, right?

The playboy has a lot going for him on “Glory.”  This is a well-produced track through and through, with its chill sound and vibe.  The chorus, the best part of the record, arguably, appears at the top, setting the tone of what’s to come.  In the verses, Fireboy DML brings the fire, celebrating his come up.  In the second verse, Fireboy DML asserts, “Man, I really went from hustling for free bedspace / To investing in real estate.” The glory doesn’t come without some profanity, of course. See the pre-chorus where Fireboy states, “Never say never oh / When I remember / All the motherfucking liars and pretenders / Dem dey try me but I tell them back to sender oh.” Strong words, but the context makes total sense.  Regardless, “Glory” is a glorious, GLORY song.

9. Common & John Legend, “Glory”

🎵 “Glory” • 🏷 ARTium / Def Jam / UMG Recordings / Getting Out Our Dreams / Columbia / Sony • 📅 2014 

“One day, when the glory comes / It will be ours, it will be ours,” 🎙 John Legend sings in the chorus of the spirited, uplifting 🏆 Academy-award-winning song, 🎵 “Glory”. He and 🎙 Common have a truly special record which appeared in the 2014 🏆 Academy Award-nominated film, 🎦 Selma.  Legend continues singing with incredible resolve in the chorus, “One day, when the war is won / We will be sure, we will be sure / Oh glory.

Beyond Legend’s incredibly soulful pipes during the chorus, and later, the bridge,   Common nails it during the verses with potent, prudent rhymes.  His flow is amazing, and his wordplay is incredibly savvy.  In the first verse, he spits, “Freedom is like religion to us / Justice is juxtapositionin’ us / Justice for all just ain’t specific enough / One son died, his spirit is revisiting us…” Woo! The inspiration continues in the second verse, with Common proclaiming, “Selma is now for every man, woman, and child / Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd,” and “No one can win the war individually / It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy / Welcome to the story we call victory / The comin’ of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory.”

The poetic nature of the lyrics, as well as the sincerity, is tremendous!  Highlighting Legend once again,  vocally, he slaughters, spoiling us with his masterful falsetto. Not only does he pierce with his grit, but he also hypnotizes us with his subtleties and nuance.  The bridge that is where his bread is buttered:

“Now the war is not over, victory isn’t won

And we’ll fight on to the finish, then when it’s all done

We’ll cry glory, oh glory.”

Appears in 🔻:

• Oscar Winners for Best Original Song, 2005 – 2015
• 10 Songs That Exhibit Spirit
• Common & John Legend: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 11 (2022)
• Glory: 5ive Songs No. 56 (2022)

10. Peter Cetera, “Glory of Love”

💿 Solitude / Solitaire • 🏷 Warner • 🗓 1986

“I am a man who will fight for your honor / I’ll be the hero you’re dreaming of.” 1986 – what a year! 🎙 Peter Cetera, the former lead vocalist, and bassist for 🎙 Chicago, unveiled 🎵 “Glory of Love”. “Glory of Love” is one of the ‘it’ soft rock/pop classics of the 1980s.  A no. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (unsurprisingly), “Glory of Love,” which appeared in the film, The Karate Kid Part II, was nominated for multiple awards including the 🏆 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the 🏆 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Male Artist. Maybe you can argue that the sound of the record is dated by 2020s standards (it’s 80s soft-rock/pop-rock through and through), but honestly, there’s something utterly delightful about the nostalgia of this gem.

Besides appearing in The Karate Kid Part II, “Glory of Love” graces Cetera’s 1986 album, 💿 Solitude / Solitaire.  Eventually, Solitude/Solitaire would be certified platinum by the RIAA. Cetera sings about dedication – being an upstanding man who wants to do right and truly exemplify the glory of love.  He compliments his lady, asserting in the third verse, “You keep me standing tall / You help me through it all / I’m always strong when you’re beside me.” Oh, the feels! In the chorus, excerpted above, he continues singing, “We’ll live forever / Knowing together / That we did it all for the glory of love.” We can’t neglect the bridge, where he sings, “It’s like a knight in shining armor / From a long time ago / Just in time, I will save the day / Take you to my castle far away.” Okay, maybe it’s a bit cheesy and schmaltzy, but it comes from a good, chivalrous place. 🎵 “Glory of Love” reminisces back to simpler times when things seemed far less complicated.  So much of today’s music is far less chivalrous and dedicated. We should truly appreciate the glory of this Peter Cetera gem.

Appears in 🔻:

• Peter Cetera, “Glory of Love”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 92 (2022)

10 Glorious Glory Songs [📷: Allan Mas via Pexels, ARTium, Atlantic, Brent Faulkner, Columbia, Def Jam, Getting Out Our Dreams, Go! Discs Ltd, EMPIRE, Interscope, Mabel Amber via Pixabay, The Musical Hype, OctoLimbs Music, Sony, UMG Recordings, Virgin, Warner, YBNL Nation]