[youtube width=600 height=450 autoplay=yes]5nUuBjz4Vhc[/youtube]
Be Still
Words and Music by
Isaac Slade, Joseph King, David Welsh and Ben Wysocki
Performed by The Fray
© 2011, EMI April Music, Inc.
Youtube video uploaded by Noisca
Be still and know that I’m with you
Be still and know that I am here
Be still and know that I’m with you
Be still, be still, and know
When darkness comes upon you
And colors you with fear and shame
Be still and know that I’m with you
And I will say your name
If terror falls upon your bed
And sleep no longer comes
Remember all the words I said
Be still, be still, and know
And when you go through the valley
And the shadow comes down from the hill
If morning never comes to be
Be still, be still, be still
If you forget the way to go
And lose where you came from
If no one is standing beside you
Be still and know I am
Be still and know that I’m with you
Be still and know I am
According to these lyrics, what are the benefits of Being Still?
How does Being Still help you to remember?
How does Remembering help you to know I Am?
How does knowing that someone is with you help you not to be afraid?
The Fray’s vocalist, Isaac Slade, penned this lullaby for his little brother Micah after he’d called him at four in the morning complaining that that he was having a hard time sleeping. The next morning Slade got out of bed, grabbed a guitar and started playing a comforting song for his brother. He told Denver Westword: “I didn’t really write it; I just started playing it. The melody and the lyrics just kind of fell into place. It’s only happened like that with maybe that song ‘Happiness’ – and that’s probably it. It never really comes that easy. And this one just kind of downloaded from somewhere. And I hadn’t finished it completely. I only had two or three verses. I wrote it in, like, ten minutes and was playing it to my wife. She was sitting in bed.”
After breakfast Slade drove to the studio got out his phone and went over the lyrics. He recalled: “I sang it a couple of times, kind of hammering out the lyrics, pushing pause and record and pause and record. I finished it and texted the guys on my way and say, ‘Hey, I got a lullaby I want to record. It’s probably not going to fit the record, but I want to record it for my little brother and send it to him .’ Because basically, I had no idea what to say. So I took one pass at it, and all the guys walked into the room and they all said, ‘That sounds important. Do it again.’ So they all laid down around my piano. I’ll never forget them laying on their backs with their eyes closed and the lights turned down low at ten in the morning. I laid down a second take, and that made the record.”
The song appears to be written from God’s point of view, with the Lord comforting Micah and telling him “If no one is standing beside you/Be still and know I am.”