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Kevin's Notes

This song was written in July of 1997. I set out (during one of my "inspired" streaks) to try to write a 3/4 song that was a Davidic type of Psalm. So many of David's songs begin with a phrase like "Hey God! Where are You?" and end with "I will trust You at all times" or "Thanks for saving me, God!"

Great Are You Lord was intended to be a song like that. It began in my fiendish yellow brain when I read Eugene Peterson's book The Message. He interprets Psalm 51 in such an awesome way and I used one of his phrases for this song. I think in our heart of hearts, we all want to be free and dance before the Lord but we are afraid of what others will think. So, this song says "God, if You will set me free, I'll cut loose and worship You." Then, it provides the opportunity to dance before the Lord.

I tried to imitate David's style, which is to look at a problem, look at God, and realize that compared to God, no problem is too big (when our eyes are on Him).

From the studio standpoint, I was looking for a fretless bass to play the Latin-esque bass line so I asked my friend Grant Nordwall to play on the song, which he did masterfully. I originally thought a Spanish guitar solo would work in the break, but after the basic tracks were done, it didn't seem to fit. After listening to the song a few times, it seemed a violin would be best (we did some of this recording "on the fly") but I didn't know of a violin player. Well, God set me up and I met Gerry Chavez, the worship pastor from the Vision of Hope Community Church and we became instant friends. Turns out he got a 4 year scholarship to New Mexico University for violin and man, could he play!

To finish off the song, we added Chris Kohler's e-bow to harmonize with the violin and then did the intro percussion (Ron Oneto, Randy Turner, Brad Bisquera, and Russ Sechler on the dove call) and string section. We layered the BGVs with Cindy Dirlam doing the first two harmonies, Alysha Bengs doing melody, and the group vocals (Kathy and Randy Sechler, Kathryn Turner, and Toni Tuller) filling out the rest.

We last added the wind sounds to create a barren wilderness feeling. Victor Muro played some strange sounds on the intro. And strings later in the song to make it more interesting. We then dropped in a dove call whistle (which looking back was really inspired since worship is calling on the Holy Spirit to come and show Himself). When the violin and e-bow come in, it creates a dark, brooding, lament kind of a feel, which is so much like David's complaint Psalms. The song changes as our eyes are turned to God. By the end of the song, we're pulling out the stops and going for it. I suggest you do too!

Lyrics

O Lord, I will trust in You.
For the words of life belong to You.
Unbutton my lips, I'll let loose with your praise,
I will sing anthems to Your life-giving ways.

O Lord, come rescue me.
For I long to be fully set free.
Release my soul as I lift my hands,
unshackle my feet and I will dance...
before You.

You are exalted O Lord high above the earth.
You are exalted, highly exalted O Lord our God.

And we join with the angels and sing,
Lifting one voice to the King of kings.
We give You the highest praise,
Since You are exalted, highly exalted we say...
Great are you Lord! Great are you Lord!

©Kev-X music 7-97

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