Steady is Love

This song encapsulates so much of what I believe about life and faith and marriage, friendship, worship, God.

I began writing it last February after being asked what I thought about religious revivals. I gave a pretty simple and positive response because, well, I really have nothing bad at all to say about religious revivals. They’re wonderful. And they have, throughout church history, given way to many wonderful things. But the truth is, I am much less interested in moments of revival than I am in a life of faith. I know wedding proposals have gotten bigger and bigger over the last decade or so, but you know what is more important than an impressive wedding proposal? A faithful and long-lasting marriage. The two are certainly not mutually exclusive; one just matters more. The same is true of faith.

Images of faith and marriage actually blend throughout this song. Sometimes I honestly don’t know which one I am singing about in any given lyric. There is good reason for that. The song took a couple months to finish, and as I continued to pare down potential verses and play with different variations of the bridge, multiple stories of infidelity and divorce began to pop up on my news feed and in my text messages. It is always just so heart-wrenching to see.

I think we are missing something when it comes to our understanding of love today. Meet-cutes and proposals and wedding ceremonies are great when it comes to movies and songs and social media. Revivals make headlines. Mountain-top experiences create good memories. And as good as all of the above truly is, love is better. And love is something different.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, just a lot of disparate thoughts. In fact, this song is a really good example of how I process my thoughts while songwriting. I did not set out with a clear idea or set of lyrics. I had no thesis statement. Instead, I had a hunch. I sat down with some weird mixture of questions and convictions, feelings and doubts and experiences. It doesn’t take a keen eye to spot subtle references to my own life having found their way into the lyrics: long-distance running, playing to a click track, even breathing exercises I was given during a counseling session.

Throughout the process, I repeatedly asked myself, “What is it I’m actually trying to say?” I would write a line and then ask, “Do I really believe that?” If I thought I did, the line would stay. If I was pretty sure I didn’t, I’d scribble it out. If I wasn’t sure, I’d keep working on it.

The process was more prayer than internal dialogue, and the result is a song that I am proud of. A song that, as I stated upfront, says much of what I have come to believe about life and faith and marriage, friendship, worship, God and–well, I suppose–ultimately love.

Credits

Words & Music: Bill Wolf