A powerful rendition of "Because He Lives" highlights Carrie Underwood's gospel album My Savior. The country star associates it and the album's 12 other soul-stirring songs and hymns with Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights spent as a child at a rural Oklahoma Baptist church.
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Though it doesn't sound out of place among much older compositions from as far back as the 1700s, "Because He Lives" is by far the spring chicken on Underwood's Easter-themed album. It was written in the early 1970s by prolific Southern gospel songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither.
The Bill Gaither Trio, featuring not just its namesake and his wife Gloria but also Bill's brother Danny, first recorded the song. It debuted on Oct. 18, 1971.
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"People have asked me, 'Did you know right away that it was going to be a song that was going to be translated in other languages?'," stated Bill in a press release. "When you create a new song—and you write as many as we have--you really don't know. Many times you write one and you think it is going to be the next 'Amazing Grace,' and it just dies a natural death. When we wrote 'Because He Lives' I felt like it was a good song, but you only find out how good a song is when people start responding to it, and the more we sang it the more people responded. I'm humbled it has been translated into so many languages and did not foresee that."
Gloria also had no idea that "Because He Lives" would one day be a go-to gospel song for Underwood, Harry Connick Jr and Gaither Homecoming regular Ernie Haase.
"I am still surprised that the song had such universal appeal," Gloria adds in a press release. "It was so personal, I thought it might be just for us. It was the end of the '60s when it seemed the whole world was falling apart. In such a chaotic time, we were expecting our third baby. During this pregnancy Bill and I asked ourselves who would bring a baby into a world like this? It was easy to feel fearful for his future. But when Benjy was born and the nurse laid that little guy in our arms, it was an 'a-ha moment' of sorts. We came to realize that we don't get married, make a home, have babies and go about our lives because the world is stable. When has it ever been stable? We live our lives with confidence because the Resurrection is true. We held our son and said, 'We can do this. We can raise this child in this unstable world because of the power of life. Life wins! And because our Lord is alive, we can trust Him with our future.' Honestly, it was a song we wrote for us."
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Others to cover the Gaither family's statement of faith in Jesus Christ include Underwood's fellow Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth.
"Because He Lives" Lyrics (by Gloria and William J. Gaither)
God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died, to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know, He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives
How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he brings;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!
And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth living,
Just because He lives!
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