I listen to a lot of music, from hip-hop to country to rock ’n roll to even Celtic (seriously, some of that harp work jams ... on the one), but when I need to hear something that digs into my soul, I go straight for gospel, and more specifically, praise and worship.
Some of this upbringing, but I attribute a lot of it to being a parent. See, in the mornings when taking my kids to school, I needed to find something to listen to and largely that’s Kidz Bop or the gospel music station here in D.C. That station has turned me onto so much current praise and worship that legit gets my day started right. I even built a playlist that does nothing but uplift my whole life.
Fresh Start Worship, “Mention” (2017)
Fresh Start Worship’s “Mention” is one of those songs. Good gracious, this is one of those stand up in the service with your hands straight to the Lord songs. There is literally no way I could hear this during my church service and stay seated. The spirit would literally force me up. That’s the one thing for me about praise and worship; when you get those solid church singers really going in, it makes me feel better and more full. I’m not even the most religious person, but a good choir or praise team is going to get me every single time.
“Mention” got me the first time I heard it in the car. It’s dope for the first four minutes with those Godsent voices and instrumentation, but around the 3:50 mark when you hear “somebody call on ...,” it gets beautiful. The voices do the heavy lifting and I’m standing up right now typing this, which is very difficult because it impacts me EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear it. And that’s another reason why I love songs like this; it takes you to church and doesn’t let you come back. It’s intentionally, emotionally manipulative (in a good way) and sometimes you need a reminder that you’re alive and have feelings and that they can be accessed. This is how I find religion—through music. I grew up in church but music is how I know God (no matter what your religion) is real; nothing so beautiful could be the work of people alone.
Now excuse me as I go have a moment where I stand up in my living room like a collection plate is about to get passed to (and right by—a brother has three kids) me.