Let’s take a trip back to 2008. It was Obama’s first year in office and the markets were tumbling. Business casual looks — peplum tops and blazers — were being trucked directly from work to the clubs.

Faith-based and “traditional” pop hits are surging on the music charts this year, as noted in a recent report. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” “a folksy melodramatic ballad about faith and love,” according ...