The Story Behind the Song

Being a songwriter puts one in a unique position.

It’s as if you have a calling or a need to write about things you feel, see, know, like and dislike.

In these hyper-contentious times, it seems like anything can be viewed as a torch or a target depending on which side of the line you draw. It’s the old adage of a 6 or a 9: put a number six on the ground and one person will swear it’s a six. The person standing opposite will swear it’s a nine. It’s all about perspective.  

I could have done like many do and interjected my thoughts into social media comment threads, end up in an endless ugly war of words with no resolve or progress. I am not a policy maker or a person of power. I am just a songwriter who is bothered by the state we are in as a society. All I can do is shine a light into the darkness I see.

This is one of those songs that I had to write. I am so deeply bothered by the political, religious and social extremes and hypocrisies that I could not, not write this song.  

I know that there are ‘good Christians’ out there. I’ve seen them and loved them. But it seems their ranks are gravely thinning. As a former long-term Chaplain, I cannot idly stand by as we commit these atrocities against one another and then hide behind the shroud of Christ and validate this hurt in the name of God. That is anything but Christ-like.