“Glory Be” was a song we felt strongly about from the beginning. One day Chris came to me and said he had an idea for a mid-tempo worship song. One of the things you always look for in a song meant for corporate worship is singability. Can you’re average person hear it a few times and be able to keep up? Does it stay in your head, etc? We were in our church’s old sanctuary when Chris played and sang the foundations of this songs chorus for me. I liked it immediately, and in the end the final version of the chorus ended up being just about exactly what he sang for me that day. It had a very wide open, melodic, and passionate way that made it a joy to sing over and over throughout the process of writing it.

There are definite roles when a Connersvine song is written. Chris is forever committed to the search for great melodies and I am a lyric man. This makes for a great song writing dynamic. We both write lyrics and melodies, but we both know our specialties as well. Usually about 10 to 20 percent of a song will flow quickly out of “fireworks” inspiration.

Then, the next 50 to 60 percent will flow out of the excitement about the fireworks you’ve just experienced. That gives impetus for the bulk of the song. However, the last 20 to 30 percent requires the “grind”. Most great songs that never happen never happen because artists do not have the discipline to finish a song. They allude to cliche lyrics and melodies that taint the entire work. After patching a bunch of junk on to the last verse and bridge they shrug and declare “good enough” then move on.

We’d like to believe we’ve never done this to a song. We treat each one as a gift that should be opened up all the way regardless of how much time it takes. Because of the simplicity and passion of the chorus we wanted the verses to be packed with great visuals of God and His nature, power, love, and sacrifice. My favorite sequence of the first verse is the combination of the second and third stanzas:

Glory to the one whose feet could walk beyond the shore
Glory to the voice that calls the storms to rumble in the sky

I picture these two at the same time. Jesus walking on the water while a storm brews in the dangerous sky above Him. It works for me anyway.

As we headed into the second verse the idea of God having a memory came up. I don’t know if He calls it that, but I think being all knowing qualifies that there is an amazing memory within God. The most important part of His memory is that he has never forgotten us. We have forgotten Him but he is incapable of forgetting us. Never were we remembered more than during His sacrifice on the cross.

Glory to the heart that died alone
Glory to the memory that would not let us go

And finally, one night in our home office came the bridge. It was one of those rare times when I write something that I really feel is average and Chris disagrees. Typically we are on the same page with whether something is good or not. The truth is there wasn’t much of a grind to this one. It came almost spontaneously. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel strongly about it? Maybe in my pride I thought great lyrics should take more work? However, it is God who inspires, not us. Chris loved it and it has become one of the highlights of the album for me.

My favorite lines:
Kingdoms rise and kingdoms crumble
Men are high and men are humbled
After all has fallen let our only anthem be. . . . . . .Glory Be

“Glory Be” met a lot of resistance with one of our producers. It was actually added to the album toward the end of the whole process. We are glad it was. And, we’re glad it’s the 1st track on the album. For us it clears up any questions about who the glory belongs to right from the start.

Hope y’all enjoy this. Let me know your thoughts. Need more? Less? If everyone says “boo” to the idea of an album commentary through a series of posts then I’ll quit it. Sure is fun for me though.

“Lay Down” is next!

-Hunter