The first time I ever heard Sara play live, it was at the Ryman Auditorium at a Behold the Lamb of God concert. This was the song, from her album Add to the Beauty. Hoo boy. (For some reason I feel like I’ve already featured this song on here once. If so, it certainly bears a second listen. It really doesn’t get much better than SG.)
WHY IT MATTERS
Sit with me and tell me once again
Of the story that’s been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty, of the beauty
Why it matters
Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters
Like the statue in the park
Of this war torn town
And it’s protest of the darkness
And the chaos all around
With its beauty, how it matters
How it matters
Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissention
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters
Like a single cup of water
How it matters
Andrew Peterson is a singer-songwriter and author. Andrew has released more than ten records over the past twenty years, earning him a reputation for songs that connect with his listeners in ways equally powerful, poetic, and intimate. As an author, Andrew’s books include the four volumes of the award-winning Wingfeather Saga, released in collectible hardcover editions through Random House in 2020, and his creative memoir, Adorning the Dark, released in 2019 through B&H Publishing.
12 Comments
Josh
Whoa i was at that show… I remember the little lymric AP read about sara that night too. Well actually i only remember the line that said something about how he’d never heard her live and for all he knew she could be awful. It was funny and very much an unfounded fear as it turns out. She was fantastic that night.
And Andrew Peterson I have a question for you and for Ms Groves herself if she happens to read this: Sara did a song that night that was fantastic and the only line I remember from it was “hallelujah through the night”. It was a Christmas song and I have been dying to hear it again for about two years now. Can anybody please tell me something about that song?
Chelsey
I love love love this song. First heard Sara at BTL in Huntsville this past Christmas. I bought two of her CDs, my boyfriend bought me a third, and I haven’t turned back since.
Thanks for sharing the SG love.
Laura
Beautiful song.
When I hear it, I think of Germany. I think of the beauty in the sculptures, the paintings, the elaborate architecture, but also the beauty they incorporate into their clothing (blue jeans and tennis shoes are not popular, and there is no Walmart here so people passing by all dress differently) and the little things like doorknobs and sink drains. They also keep fresh flowers on the grave sites at their cemeteries, grow elaborate gardens (rent them if there is no room in their tiny apartment), and purchase fresh flowers often at the end of every visit to the market. I think of Berlin, and all of the beauty the people of Berlin have added to the city over the past few years and what a contrast it is to the parts of the city in which investing in such beauty was not allowed for a time. I think of the people who lived in this country over the past several centuries who devoted nearly all their lives to leaving Germany a more beautiful place for those who will live here long after they are gone, like a Grandparent who imparts a trunk filled with homemade heirlooms. I think of the people who rush past me on the street and laugh because I am taking photos of the cobbles, how they glisten like copper under the street lamps under the plane trees after a summer rain. I think of the tour guide at the gate of a palace who could not understand why we were long overdue for the time stamped on our admission ticket, because we had stopped on our way up the mountain to savor a snow that literally looked like God had opened an enormous down feather pillow and shook it until two feet of them landed in a wide field.
I think beauty matters because it gives us a glimpse of the place Jesus is preparing for us. Without the constraints of budget, time, gravity, or physics, can we fathom what the same God who prepared the earth in 6 days has done over the past 6,500 years?
lyndsay
YES! my best friend married chris’ best friend (most convenient thing to ever happen to us), and her little brother (who happens to be a great musician-http://www.myspace.com/unionathens) sang this during the outdoor ceremony. it was SUCH a beautiful moment. what a GREAT song!!
Ben
So thankful that the artists featured here each day “despise not the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:9-10) like “a single cup of water…how it matters…” …may you all continue to “tell me once again…why it matters” because I need the reminding…
Molly
AP, thanks for the reminder, and for the motivation, as I start my day … 🙂
Believingthomas
From someone who will travel 5 hours to hear SG whenever she gets near the south, I agree that it doesn’t get much better. She has provided the music of our lives for many, many years now.
Charlotte
Beautiful song! I love Sara Grove’s music so much.
John Michalak
I love Add To The Beauty. Best work since Conversations. Like this song, I think she’s at her best with just her and the piano (with minimal background filler). She often plays that simply live, which is always a treat.
Looking forward to the Christmas album.
Paul Holderman
Sara speaks to me through songwriting like very few do..
Jim Baker
Josh – Are you sure about the lyric? Maybe Sara sang “Hallelujah”. It doesn’t have that exact line, but some similar and it sounds like something Sara might arrange and play. I can’t find a recording of it by Sara, but here’s one by Kate Voegele to see if that’s the song, http://www.actionext.com/names_k/kate_voegele_lyrics/hallelujah.html
If anyone is interested in dialoguing about Sara’s music or projects then join the Sara Groves Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saragroves/ and talk about it.
JJ
This is a great song! My wife and I played Sara Groves’ Fly for our bridesmaid processional at our wedding 3 1/2 weeks ago. I nearly cry when I hear that song.
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