#davidcrowderband

1.      O! Praise Him

This could possibly be my all-time favorite song, and I don’t say that lightly. If I ever get a tattoo, it would probably have something to do with this song. The simple message behind the song is the idea of “All to Christ our King”, obviously speaking about Jesus. The verses encourage you to turn your attention to heaven, to the angels, to the songs that are being sung, to the awe and wonder of Jesus, then join in with the sound and praise him because he is holy.

 Mr. Crowder wrote this song on a flight when he looked out of the window at the sun gleaming through the clouds. It’s a reminder to set your mind on things above and simply praise Jesus. Now you know why I’d want to get a tattoo related to this song.

 2.      Here Is Our King 

If you can only ever listen to one DC*B song, this would be the one to go with. It’s penultimate David Crowder* Band. The electric beeps and blips unlike any the CCM world has ever known before, the poetic language that only David Crowder could imagine, it’s all in this song.

 Let’s start with the instruments. The kick drives the song and doesn’t let up. The snare acts as the ocean tide in the pre chorus. Seriously, listen to it again. “The ocean *snare* is growing *snare*” It’s brilliant. And I love how the band does a slight pause on the word “our” in “Here is our King”. It completes the anticipation and then *bam!*

 Now let’s pay homage to the line that Mr. Crowder has said is his favorite lyrics he’s written:

“And what was said to the rose to make it unfold was said to me here in my chest, so be quiet now and rest.” 

How do you think of that? Someone spoke to the rose and made it bloom and that same voice spoke the same thing to me and now my heart is beginning to bloom. The crazy thing is that you might miss this during the song because of the timing between “make it unfold” and “was said to me”. If you hear that as two sentences then the first half becomes a question and it takes away the parallelism. What a song.

 3.      Shadows 

This song makes the list because it was the theme song of my sophomore year of college. It was the greatest year, but it was also extremely challenging. This song gave me the proper perspective on how to live in that tension.

“Life is full of light and shadows. Oh the joy and oh the sorrow, oh the sorrow.

And yet will He bring dark to light. And yet will He bring day from night.

When shadows fall on us we will not fear, we will remember. When darkness falls on us we will not fear, we will remember. When all seems lost, when we’re thrown and we’re tossed, we remember the cost. We’re resting in the shadow of the cross.”

4.      A Beautiful Collision 

“When our depravity meets his divinity, it is a beautiful collision.”

I picked this song because it’s the title track of the album and A Beautiful Collision is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s about death, but in order to know that you would have to read a book Mr. Crowder co-wrote with the DC*B violinist called “Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven, But Nobody Wants to Die”. It’s poetic and confusing and thought-provoking and spiritual…echoed by the history of bluegrass. The book takes you through David Crowder’s experience of his best friend dying in a devastating yet ironic way (I won’t spoil it) and the song takes you through the same journey, but spiritually. It’s fascinating and heart-wrenching.

“There seems no end to where you begin and where I end now you and I collide.”

5.      The Glory Of It All 

This is one of the least likely songs to make it into the list. I’m surprised it’s on the list, yet here we are.

This is a song of hope and rescue. We mess up, he forgives. Life falls apart, he repairs. We are lost in the fall, he offers redemption. So simple, yet so powerful. Check this chorus that supplies the theme for that transition from fallen to redeemed:

“Oh, the glory of it all Is He came here For the rescue of us all That we may live For the glory of it all Oh, the glory of it all”

Mmhmm.

Bonus: All I Can Say 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WGQk07jZhI 

This is the last song I heard the David Crowder* Band play live. Besides the instruments and the song writing, the intentionality DC*B put into their song, albums, live shows, music videos, etc is remarkable. There is so much symbolism between having 7 albums and the album cover designs, and themes that run through albums and reappear in future albums…it’s amazing. So why would they choose this song that I admittedly hadn’t even heard before to close out their set list on their final tour as a band? Well, let’s just take a look at the lyrics:

Lord, I'm tired, so tired from walking And Lord, I'm so alone And Lord, the dark is creeping in, creeping up to swallow me I think I'll stop, rest here a while This is all that I can say right now and This is all that I can give And didn't You see me crying And didn't You hear me call Your name Wasn't it You I gave my heart to I wish You'd remember where You sat it down

This is all that I can say right now and This is all that I can give

I didn't notice You were standing here I didn't know that that was You holding me I didn't notice You were crying too I didn't know that that was You washing my feet

This is all that I can say right now and This is all that I can give

This is all that I can say right now and This is all that I can give, yeah that’s my everything.

I have gone to this song when I was burnt out, tired, exhausted, feeling like there was no hope, feeling like I was faithless and disappointing God…and then I remember that during my pain and suffering I tend to lose sight that God is there with me, holding me so to speak, feeling my pain, and forgiving me. I can only do so much and that’s all I can say and that’s all I can give. My heart, my faith is my everything. And that’s enough for him.

The David Crowder* Band gave it all they had. They saw it through. That was their everything. I was able to meet the band after that last live show and simply say “thank you”.