It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been a year since I released my first solo EP. I generally don’t like to listen to my own music, but once in a while, I’ll feel like turning on one of my songs to see if I feel any differently about it than when I first wrote it. Today was one of those days, and I found myself feeling incredibly compelled to share with all of you the story behind Something I Said.
When I recorded this album, there was no doubt in my mind that this song would be the title track of the EP. The inspiration for the song actually comes from the book of Hosea, one of my favorite books in the Bible that tells the heartbreaking story of a man who must marry and love a woman he knows will cheat on him time and time again. The climax of the story occurs when Hosea finds himself at a slave market paying the price of a female slave to buy his own wife back. In this beautiful scene of utter brokenness and humility, Hosea takes Gomer home and says to her, “Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.” (Hosea 3:3)
I remember reading this over and over again wondering what it would be like to be in a loveless marriage with an adulterous wife. I decided that I wanted to write a song that would capture the heart of a man who has no idea why his marriage with his wife has deteriorated and desperately wants to recapture a love that has been lost. In doing so, I spent a lot of time thinking about my own relationship with God, the consummate lover who pleads with me to come back to Him even when every ounce of my being wants to rebel, a God who watches me cheat on him daily in my worldly pursuits and yet willingly chooses to love me, a God who paid the ultimate price to buy me back.
The initial version of the song was a lot shorter because I thought it might be the most radio-friendly of all the songs on my EP. After some thought, I decided that being played on the radio wasn’t as important as getting the message across. Even if it meant adding another minute to the song, I knew I absolutely had to bring back the first verse at the end so as to signify the relentlessness of the man’s pursuit and the purity in his intent.
When all is said and done, all the man asks from his wife is that she remember her first love. There is no closure here because in many ways the story is so much more compelling without it.
Many of us often find ourselves in similarly dark places in our spiritual journeys when we feel as though we are no longer worthy of God’s love. I think there is a wonderful comfort in knowing that, no matter how far we think we’ve strayed from Him, He is always pleading with us to come back home.
Something I Said
Let’s take a drive down the road, Love, to the spot in the park
with the trees and the waterfall and the bench where we met
I’m on the porch you’re at the table, that’s how it is most nights
You’re looking out through the window, I’m looking in at you’Cause every time they come for you
you leave your ring with me
And I’m wondering when you’re coming back home
and if you were ever mineDon’t go to sleep, not tonight, Love, let’s stay awake for a while
I know it’s late and you’re tired, but can I talk to you now
Maybe we’ll find what we lost, Love, I pray that we do
I’m pretty sure that I’m dying a little faster than you’Cause every time they come for you
you leave your ring with me
And I’m wondering when you’re coming back home
and if you were ever mineWas it something I did, was it something I said to you
Was it something I did, was it something I said to you’Cause every time they come for you
you leave your ring with me
And I’m wondering when you’re coming back home
and if you were ever mineLet’s take a drive down the road, Love, to the spot in the park
with the trees and the waterfall and the bench where we met
