Being a sort of non-traditional believer, I'm looking for more songs like the three I list at the bottom. Songs that could almost be sung in church, if not for that glimmer of doubt or of longing for worldly things.

1. Billy Joe Shaver- "If I Give My Soul": One of the saddest songs I've heard, where Billy Joe ponders asking the Lord to bring back his wife and son whom he let slip away through alcoholism and a cantankerous lifestyle. Ultimately though, it is inconclusive. In the course of the song he never actually asks God for forgiveness, just thinks about doing so.

2. Al Green- "Belle": I seriously believe that most pastors would much rather have "Kick Out the Jams" played in their church than the original recording of this soul classic. Green, already a Reverend by the time this song, the title track from what would be his last secular album for 25 years, was released, explores the conflict of the physical and spiritual. Namely of wanting to have sex with a woman, yet not being inclined to waver in his duty to uphold God's word. And I'm guessing that when Anita Bryant first heard Green sing the line "it's you that I want, but it's Him that I need" on the radio back in '77 she damn near had a heart attack.

3. John Mellencamp- "A Ride Back Home": From one of his newer releases, this is possibly Mellencamp's best tune. He begins by asking Jesus for "a ride back home" and goes on to explain that most of the strength he had when he was younger has left him along with "promise" he was showing. By the end of the very depressing number (No Depression indeed), he has admitted that "When I'm out here walkin' alone/I feel like takin' my life but I won't," but continues to hold out hope for Jesus to come and rescue him from his misery.

Any other similar numbers I should know about?