C.S. Lewis and Rock Music: Bands and Songs Inspired by the Great Christian Writer

C.S. Lewis is best known as a novelist, Christian apologist and literary scholar. His books have influenced theologians, philosophers and countless ordinary readers. But Lewis has also had a surprisingly significant influence on popular music.

Rock musicians in particular have repeatedly drawn on his work. Some bands have taken their names from Lewis’s books or characters. Others have named albums or songs after his writings. Still others have used Lewis’s ideas as the foundation for their lyrics.

This influence is particularly noticeable among Christian rock and alternative music, but it extends beyond explicitly Christian music as well.

What makes Lewis especially attractive to musicians is the breadth of his writing. The Chronicles of Narnia provides memorable characters and imagery, while The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Abolition of Man and the Space Trilogy provide ideas about temptation, morality, human nature, technology and transcendence.

Here are some of the most interesting examples. (Links are Amazon affiliate links)

King’s X and Out of the Silent Planet

One of the clearest examples is the American rock band King’s X.

Their 1988 debut album was titled Out of the Silent Planet, directly borrowing the title of Lewis’s 1938 science-fiction novel. The album’s title was not an incidental reference: Lewis’s writing was part of the band’s broader spiritual and intellectual background.

The connection continued beyond the album title.

Their second album, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989), contains the song “The Difference (In the Garden of St. Anne’s-on-the-Hill).” The title appears to allude to That Hideous Strength, the third book in Lewis’s Space Trilogy.

This makes King’s X particularly interesting because Lewis influenced not merely a song title but the band’s album-level artistic vocabulary.

And there is something especially appropriate about the connection. King’s X became known for combining hard rock with questions about faith, spirituality and identity. Lewis likewise used science fiction as a vehicle for exploring theological and philosophical questions.

The Swedish Metal Band Narnia

Another band went even further by taking its entire name from Lewis.

Narnia is a Swedish Christian power-metal band formed in 1996. The band took its name from The Chronicles of Narnia and has incorporated Lewis’s fictional world into its musical identity.

The band’s albums include Awakening, Long Live the King, Desert Land and The Great Fall.

The connection to Lewis is especially obvious in the band’s imagery. Their album covers frequently feature lions, referencing Aslan, Lewis’s central Christological figure in Narnia.

This is an excellent example of how Lewis’s influence crosses genres. His books are frequently associated with children’s fantasy, but Narnia has also become a source of inspiration for heavy metal and power metal.

Aslan

There is another rock band called Aslan, this time from Dublin, Ireland.

The band formed in the early 1980s and took its name from the lion in The Chronicles of Narnia. The choice was explicitly influenced by Lewis’s books.

This is particularly interesting because the Irish Aslan is not primarily a Christian rock band. They became a significant part of the Irish rock scene and achieved considerable commercial success.

Thus, Lewis’s influence reached beyond Christian music.

The name “Aslan” carries considerable theological significance. In Narnia, Aslan is the great lion who dies and rises again and is explicitly associated with Christian ideas about Christ.

A rock band choosing the name therefore carries an implicit connection to Lewis’s religious imagination even when the band’s music isn’t simply an adaptation of Narnia.

Aslan: An Earlier Christian Rock Connection

There is another, separate group named Aslan that demonstrates just how early Lewis was influencing Christian rock.

A Christian progressive-rock group called Aslan was active in the 1970s. The group’s own historical material states that it took its name from the Narnia character and explicitly connected Aslan with Jesus Christ. The band’s music ministry used progressive rock as a means of communicating the Christian gospel.

This is an important part of the story because it demonstrates that the connection between Lewis and rock music did not begin with the alternative-rock movement of the 1980s or 1990s.

Lewis’s influence was already being incorporated into the emerging Jesus Music and Christian rock movements.

Future of Forestry

Another band took its name from Lewis, although the connection is considerably less obvious.

Future of Forestry is a band from San Diego whose name comes from a C.S. Lewis poem titled “The Future of Forestry.” The poem imagines a future in which technological development has destroyed much of the natural world and people can barely remember the forests that once existed.

This is a fascinating choice because the band isn’t simply borrowing a famous character such as Aslan.

Instead, it is drawing upon a lesser-known piece of Lewis’s poetry.

The name also captures something important about Lewis’s thought: his concern about modernity, technology and the loss of our connection with nature.

The Oh Hellos and Dear Wormwood

One of the strongest modern examples is the folk-rock/indie band The Oh Hellos.

Their 2015 album Dear Wormwood was inspired in part by Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. The title itself refers to Wormwood, the young demon to whom the senior demon Screwtape writes.

The band’s own description confirms that the album draws on The Screwtape Letters, while also incorporating influences from other fantasy and mythological sources.

This is a particularly interesting adaptation because The Oh Hellos don’t simply retell Lewis’s book.

Instead, they use the structure and perspective of the book as a creative starting point.

Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters as a series of letters from a senior demon instructing a younger demon in the art of temptation.

The Oh Hellos took that idea and transformed it into an album exploring themes of temptation, abuse, liberation, spiritual struggle and redemption.

Echolyn and “My Dear Wormwood”

Progressive-rock band Echolyn also drew directly from The Screwtape Letters.

Their song “My Dear Wormwood“ was explicitly inspired by Lewis’s book. The band’s own commentary explains that the song deals with Screwtape and Wormwood and the attempt to turn a human being away from salvation.

This is especially appropriate for progressive rock.

Lewis’s Screwtape Letters is essentially a work of intellectual fiction. Much of the action consists of demons discussing psychology, temptation and human behaviour.

That lends itself naturally to music interested in exploring ideas rather than simply telling a conventional story.

Living Sacrifice and “Screwtape”

Lewis has also influenced heavier forms of rock.

The Christian metal band Living Sacrifice included a song called “Screwtape” on their 2013 album Ghost Thief.

Frontman Bruce Fitzhugh explicitly explained that the song was based on The Screwtape Letters. He used Screwtape as a literary device for exploring temptation and the internal thought processes by which people rationalize wrongdoing.

This is another example of Lewis’s basic method being adopted by musicians.

The point isn’t simply that demons exist.

The point is that temptation works through seemingly reasonable thoughts and rationalizations.

That psychological dimension makes The Screwtape Letters particularly adaptable to music.

Called to Arms and Peril and the Patient

The band Called to Arms took the influence even further.

Their concept album Peril and the Patient is based entirely on The Screwtape Letters.

This demonstrates the versatility of Lewis’s work.

A book consisting of imaginary letters between demons can become the basis for a full-length rock concept album.

The underlying narrative structure is already present:

Screwtape → Wormwood → the human “Patient” → temptation → spiritual conflict.

Music provides another medium for exploring that conflict.

Thrice and The Abolition of Man

One of the most significant Lewis references in alternative rock comes from Thrice.

Their song “The Abolition of Man” appears on the 2003 album The Artist in the Ambulance.

The title is taken directly from Lewis’s 1943 book The Abolition of Man, and the song’s lyrics engage with Lewis’s concerns about morality, reason, technology and the reduction of human beings to biological or psychological mechanisms.

This is a particularly important example because it demonstrates that musicians aren’t interested only in Lewis’s fictional worlds.

They are also interested in his philosophy.

The Abolition of Man argues that modern attempts to reduce objective moral values to subjective feelings ultimately threaten the very concept of humanity.

Thrice transforms that argument into a much more aggressive musical form.

The band’s song asks whether humanity’s increasing technological power could ultimately undermine the very qualities that make us human.

That is very much a Lewis question.

The Receiving End of Sirens and The Screwtape Letters

The alternative-rock band The Receiving End of Sirens also drew on Lewis.

Their song “Oubliette (Disappear)”, from the 2007 album The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi, was inspired by a passage from The Screwtape Letters.

Again, Lewis’s influence appears not as a simple quotation or adaptation but as a conceptual influence.

The song reflects Lewis’s interest in the ways human beings can become spiritually and psychologically trapped.

Deep Space 5 and “Crumbs”

The hip-hop/alternative collective Deep Space 5 also drew upon Lewis.

Their song “Crumbs” has been identified as C.S. Lewis-inspired music, demonstrating that Lewis’s influence isn’t limited strictly to conventional rock bands.

The collective’s name itself also fits Lewis’s fascination with space, science fiction and Christian theology, although it should not be assumed that the name itself derives from Lewis.

Caedmon’s Call and “The High Countries”

The Christian alternative band Caedmon’s Call has also drawn on Lewis.

Their song “The High Countries” is associated with Lewis’s The Great Divorce, particularly the book’s imagery of a heavenly country and the contrast between the grey, shadowy existence of Hell and the solid reality of Heaven.

This is a good example of a broader pattern.

Lewis’s influence on Christian music often comes through imagery rather than direct quotation.

The musician doesn’t necessarily retell the plot of a Lewis book. Instead, Lewis supplies a vocabulary for thinking about heaven, hell, temptation, desire and transformation.

Callisto and The Great Divorce

The band Callisto has a song called “The Great Divorce,” directly borrowing the title of Lewis’s 1945 theological fantasy.

Lewis’s The Great Divorce is particularly suited to musical adaptation because it is built around vivid images: a strange bus journey, the grey town, the bright heavenly country and people confronted with the consequences of their desires.

The title alone signals Lewis’s influence, but the underlying themes are equally important.

Brooke Fraser and “C.S. Lewis Song”

New Zealand singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser recorded a song literally titled “C.S. Lewis Song.”

She has also been associated with Lewis-inspired material such as “Shadowfeet.”

This is perhaps the most direct possible acknowledgement of influence: the author becomes the title of the song.

Lewis’s influence on Fraser illustrates another important dimension of his musical legacy. His writings provide artists with a way of expressing Christian faith without reducing their music to straightforward doctrinal statements.

2nd Chapter of Acts and Narnia

The pioneering Christian rock group 2nd Chapter of Acts also drew heavily upon Narnia.

Their music includes songs such as:

• “Are You Going to Narnia?”
• “Turkish Delight”
• “Aslan Is Killed”
• “The Roar of Love”
• “White Stag”

The band’s work demonstrates how directly the Narnia stories could be translated into Christian popular music.

This represents a particularly interesting stage in the history of Christian rock because the musicians were not embarrassed to use fantasy imagery as a vehicle for explicitly Christian themes.

David Crowder Band and “Turkish Delight”

Another example is the David Crowder Band, whose song “Turkish Delight” was included on the 2005 compilation Music Inspired by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

“Turkish delight” is, of course, one of the most memorable elements in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where Edmund’s desire for the candy becomes part of the story’s exploration of temptation.

The song therefore draws on one of Lewis’s most recognizable symbols.

Delirious? and “Stronger”

British Christian rock band Delirious? contributed the song “Stronger” to the same Narnia-inspired project.

The album collected songs from major Christian artists responding to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Other contributors included Jars of Clay, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, Rebecca St. James and Kutless.

This illustrates the enormous influence Narnia had on Christian popular music around the time of the 2005 film adaptation.

Point of Recognition and “Abolition of Man”

Lewis’s influence also appeared in hardcore.

The Christian hardcore band Point of Recognition recorded a song called “Abolition of Man,” which alludes to Lewis’s book. The song deals with moral decline and the possibility of transformation through Christian faith.

This is significant because it demonstrates that Lewis could be adapted into musical styles that seem, at first glance, very far removed from the quiet Oxford academic who wrote The Abolition of Man.

Why Rock Musicians Find Lewis So Appealing

Why has Lewis had such a strong influence on rock music?

There are several reasons.

1. Lewis Thinks in Images

Lewis was an extraordinary communicator because he could turn abstract ideas into images.

Instead of merely explaining temptation, he gave us Screwtape and Wormwood.

Instead of simply explaining heaven, he gave us the bright country of The Great Divorce.

Instead of merely discussing the incarnation, he created Aslan.

Musicians can take those images and transform them into lyrics, album art and musical themes.

2. Lewis Takes Ideas Seriously

Lewis didn’t simply tell entertaining stories.

He used stories to explore questions such as:

• What is good?
• What is evil?
• What is human nature?
• What happens when we pursue our desires?
• What is heaven?
• What is hell?
• Can technology destroy humanity?
• What does it mean to become fully human?

Those are exactly the kinds of questions that musicians often explore.

3. His Christianity Is Imaginative

Lewis’s Christianity is not presented only through theological propositions.

It is expressed through stories, mythology, symbolism and metaphor.

That makes it particularly adaptable to art.

4. He Bridges Fantasy and Philosophy

Lewis can move from talking about medieval mythology to discussing moral philosophy and then to writing science fiction.

That means musicians from very different genres can find something useful in his work.

Lewis’s Books and Their Musical Influence

The pattern becomes clearer when the references are grouped by book.

C.S. Lewis work	Musical examples
The Chronicles of Narnia	Narnia, Aslan, 2nd Chapter of Acts, David Crowder Band, Delirious?
The Screwtape Letters	The Oh Hellos, Echolyn, Living Sacrifice, Called to Arms, The Receiving End of Sirens
Out of the Silent Planet	King’s X
That Hideous Strength	King’s X, “The Difference”
The Abolition of Man	Thrice, Point of Recognition
The Great Divorce	Callisto, Caedmon’s Call
“The Future of Forestry”	Future of Forestry

This list isn’t exhaustive. Lewis-inspired music is extensive, particularly within Christian rock and alternative music.

From Narnia to Screwtape: Two Different Kinds of Influence

There are really two major forms of Lewis influence in rock music.

The first is Narnian.

Musicians borrow Aslan, Narnia, Edmund, Turkish delight, the White Witch and other elements from the Chronicles.

This is the more obvious form of influence.

The second is philosophical and theological.

Musicians draw upon The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, The Great Divorce and the Space Trilogy.

This is perhaps the more interesting form because it demonstrates that Lewis’s influence extends beyond his most famous children’s books.

Conclusion

C.S. Lewis has had an extraordinary afterlife in popular music.

His influence can be found in progressive rock, alternative rock, Christian rock, hardcore, heavy metal, power metal and indie folk.

Some musicians have borrowed his characters. Others have taken the titles of his books. Others have turned his philosophical arguments into songs.

King’s X named an album Out of the Silent Planet. The Swedish metal band Narnia took its entire name from Lewis’s fictional world. The Irish rock band Aslan did the same with Lewis’s great lion. Future of Forestry borrowed its name from a Lewis poem. The Oh Hellos built Dear Wormwood partly around The Screwtape Letters. Thrice turned The Abolition of Man into a post-hardcore song. Living Sacrifice wrote from Screwtape’s perspective. And numerous Christian musicians have mined Narnia for imagery and theological themes.

What makes this especially significant is that Lewis’s influence is not limited to musicians who simply want to make “Christian music.”

Lewis gives musicians stories, images and intellectual problems.

He provides demons who teach temptation, a lion who embodies sacrificial love, a future in which humanity’s relationship with technology becomes dangerous, a heaven that exposes the shallowness of human desires and a philosophy that challenges the reduction of morality to personal preference.

In other words, Lewis gives musicians something extremely valuable:

a vocabulary for exploring the biggest questions of human existence.

That may explain why, more than sixty years after his death, an Oxford professor who never intended to become a rock star continues to turn up in album titles, band names and song lyrics.

C.S. Lewis didn’t write rock music—but generations of rock musicians have found his ideas worth turning up the volume for.