You Hold It All Together

Album: Poets & Saints (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The All Sons & Daughters duo of Leslie Jordan and David Leonard wrote this song with Sandra McCracken. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has also penned songs for the likes of Caedmon's Call and Derek Webb.
  • Leslie Jordan told NewReleaseToday the story of the tune:

    "This song came together as we were sitting with our good friend Sandra McCracken. We were talking about our stories and where we were in life, and she had this lyric, which is the first line of the song: 'it feels like an ocean of sorrow is under my skin.' She was having a conversation with a friend, and her friend responded with, 'Yes, but even the ocean eventually meets with the sand.' We were sitting there and thought that sounded like a song.

    We started writing and the words came really quickly. As we were talking about the direction of the song, we thought that there is a beauty to tying in Scripture to our own situations, and we based the chorus of the song on Psalm 118:14."
  • The song is a track from All Sons & Daughters' Poets & Saints album. It was inspired by a trip that the duo made to Europe with author and pastor Jamie George, where they traced the lives of notable Christian poets and saints including C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, John Newton, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Augustine. Leslie Jordan explained:

    "We took a trip to Europe together last summer as a group to study these poets and saints. It began in community. We had 13 people together on a bus, and we studied the lives of these people and made a small group curriculum along with the songs. Our hope and intent is for people to experience these stories in community with their families and small groups. In the writing process, we pulled in the writings of these poets and saints. It feels like a gathering on this project. It had focus and attention.

    This song started in one place, and we ended up bringing Saint Patrick into the story of the song. Looking at his story and the parallels of this song, the whole bridge comes out of his profession. It's an adaptation of his journal entry. This was a very collaborative project, and the tour is a collaboration with us, Sandra and our Pastor, Jamie George. It feels very much like home."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

AC/DC

AC/DCFact or Fiction

Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.