BEHIND THE SONGS
“Why We Were Made”
SING THROUGH LAUGHTER, SING THROUGH TEARS.
Some of my songs have emerged entirely as one linear thought, the writing flowing seamlessly from the first line to the last. This song came piece meal, each section being written entirely out of order. It makes it harder to follow the breadcrumbs that led to the final outcome. But what remains clear in my mind is the thoughts that prompted each section and the totality of the ideas. The first portion written was the chorus. I didn’t set out to write anything, but as I was driving along the highway on my way home from church, the first few lines of the chorus were formed.
SING THROUGH GOOD TIMES, SING THROUGH PAIN.
These thoughts about music being heaven’s language prompted the start of this song. We join with heaven and with Creation when we lift our voices in worship. Something about the blue of the sky as I was driving resonated with that thought and produced the beginning of this chorus. I’m unsure if I finished the entire chorus by the time I got home or if I worked it further in the following days. But I came back to it often as I continued to think about the intersection of music, spirituality, worship, and eternity.
SING THROUGH HEALING, SING THROUGH JOY.
The entire bridge was written that afternoon, and I felt it fit perfectly with the previously written chorus. At the time I didn’t know it would be the bridge, yet I knew it didn’t quite fit as a verse. So I continued to leave it partially assembled, going back to it over and over to try and finish the song.
Around that time, I was attending an early morning book reading group through my church. Choosing to get up early was a heavy choice, as I am a night owl through and through. But for the span of 2-3 months, I saw more sunrises than I typically see. Something about the crisp sunrises stuck out to me, and I believe it spurred the very first lyrics of this song.
With the start of the verse in hand, at some point I sat down and wrote the rest of the verses in one go. The way they fell into place with the previously written portions felt orchestrated beyond my own capacity.
SING WITH REASON, SING WITH HOPE.
The pondering and struggle that was foundational to all my writings culminated in this song. While in the wilderness, I encountered God. I saw His hand in the glorious expanse of the Smokey Mountains. I reverently shrunk beneath His magnitude in the shadows of Mount Rainier. I heard His voice in the thunderous waters of glacial streams and I walked with Him through the quiet pine groves. I felt His presence in the laughter of my friends and I wrestled with His providence in the nights when I longed for death.
God has given me storms and given me rainbows. He has revealed His character through Creation and through trying circumstances. While in the wilderness of life, I have wandered and I have found. And He has led me to sing and make joyful and tear-filled noises. My prayer has been that this song will help others do the task we are called to do, the very thing we were made to do: worship the One who is worthy of it all.
TO JOIN OUR VOICES WITH HEAVEN AND SAY: OUR GOD IS THE GIVER OF GRACE.
This album culminates with this song, though it wasn’t the final song written. But when I wrote it, I believe I knew it was, in essence, the thesis statement of my emerging album. Though by no means because I had sorted out all the problems and questions surrounding my previous songs. Rather, it became the song that encapsulated what I knew should be the position of my heart. Even if I often am far from that destination.
SING THROUGH TRIALS AND TROUBLES AND FEARS.
At the time, I know I had been giving thought to the origin of music. It has always felt supernatural in the way that it feels like a language of another reality. Christians and non-Christians share in this sense, as music has been a language that transcends all physical and cultural barriers. But for the Christian, we find the reason for that tucked within the pages of Scripture.
I had been pondering the throne room scene of Revelation 4 and 5 for a while. And the throne room was and is filled with music. Harps, choirs of angels, and the voices of all creatures from every realm. One day we will join in the song fully, in body and in spirit.
SING WHEN QUESTIONS ARE RISING AGAIN.
The next section that was written was the bridge. I again have little clarity on the sequence behind it. But I remember sitting down with my guitar and playing it to distract me from anxiety. I had been wrestling for a while with obsessive compulsive behaviors, brought about by paranoia surrounding food allergies and severe reactions. A habit I quickly focused on to counter that was playing music when I need to kick my mind out of oncoming spiral. At the point of writing the bridge of this song, it had all become significantly better and more manageable. But some days felt regressive and frustrating. I think it was that feeling that produced the lyrics, “Sing through good times, sing through pain. Sing when questions are rising again.”
SING WHEN CRYING HAS STOLEN OUR VOICE.
This song felt tonally different then all the other songs I had written so far. It distinctly held the notes of sadness and pain, but they were truly background notes. In some ways, it felt like a ‘real’ praise song, because the heart of it was joyful worship. But it also felt like a grounded song, because it didn’t erase the brokenness that spurred on the writing.
As I started to play this song more often, including sharing it with a few people, I came to see it as the final statement of my debut album. It didn’t shy away from the long journey of suffering, nor the undeniable moments of joy and laughter woven throughout that journey. And it seemed fitting that Creation was again a central theme.
AND SING SIMPLY BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN TOLD
“I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
- Psalm 34:1-5
