You may listen to an old recording of this song here.
Your questions fall like a hard rain,
And your problems rush like a flood.
Your faith is stuck in the mud of despair,
And your sunshine is tainted with clouds.
But remember that Somebody loves you,
Someone Who has lived here before,
Someone Who is greater than questions and doubts,
Someone Who is greater than all.
The mountains you want to conquer
Are taller than you think you can climb,
And the valley you’re walking through right now
Seems to keep leading you down.
But remember that Somebody loves you,
Someone Who has lived here before,
Someone Who is greater than mountains and depths,
Someone Who is greater than all,
Greater than all.
About this Song:
This is one of two songs I wrote on a visit to my (then) in-laws in 1979.
My former brother-in-law was a teen then, and he was experiencing some significant problems. I’m not sure I even knew what they were, but that didn’t matter. I felt compelled to write this song of assurance for him.
The first stanza follows a logical progression: from rain to flood to mud. And even the clouds (where else would the rain come from?) enhance the symbolism of the problems being addressed. The refrain, which differs slightly from stanza to stanza, echoes the ideas expressed in the stanza it follows.
The second stanza uses a contrast rather than a logical progression: mountains and valleys. People often use mountains to symbolize a goal or something desirable. Think about mountaintop experiences.
But I’ll bet our American forefathers didn’t view the mountains that blocked their westward travel as anything but problems to overcome.
And even though valleys symbolize peacefulness, normal life, or even home, I suspect that our forefathers felt quite differently when looking upward at the next mountain from the depths of the current valley.
And that’s the way I imagined my brother-in-law felt as he faced his seemingly insurmountable problems at that time.
One thing I’ve always found interesting about this song is the fact that the “Someone Who…” clearly means Jesus, even though the song never references Him by name. But that’s okay. This song was written for a Christian who understood that.
My former mother-in-law surprised me by making a printing plate of some kind from a copy of this song. I no longer know exactly how a plate like that could have been used for printing, but she’d framed it, and it still has a place of honor in my home.
Please leave a comment if this song has spoken to you.
Free lead sheets (lyrics, tune, and chords) are available for many of my songs. The one for this song is here.
Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.
Best regards,
Roger
Links you might be interested in:
As I Come Singing. . . 