Songfacts®:

• This Pat Barrett and Tony Brown penned song was originally sung in churches in the Atlanta area. Chris Tomlin's wife, Lauren, heard the tune while attending a conference in the Georgia city and convinced her husband to record it.
  
  Tomlin told Billboard magazine: "My wife Lauren discovered the song for me and I loved it as soon as she played it for me. Then I found out that I knew one of the guys who wrote it (Pat Barett), so I called Pat to compliment him on writing such a great song and he ended up playing on my version and singing harmonies. It's such a great song about God as a father and his love for people."
• Released as a single, Tomlin's version debuted at #1 on Billboard's Christian Digital Songs chart, the worship singer's fourth leader on the tally. "What an honor to be part of carrying this song," Tomlin said. "God is a good Father and I think people need to hear that. It's a beautiful thing to lead the song on tour each night, seeing people experience the heart and power of those words."
• Local Atlanta act Housefires originally recorded "Good Good Father" on their 2014 Housefires II album. Other artists that have recorded the song include Casting Crowns, Big Daddy Weave and Zealand Worship.
• This won Song of the Year at the 2016 Dove Awards.
• Chris Tomlin made his debut as an author on October 7, 2016 with the release of the children's book Good Good Father. The story of a little bear's determination to help his friends and seek out the King was inspired by this song.
• Pat Barrett was originally inspired by his own role as a father to write the song. "When I started having kids and I'm looking at my daughter Harper Gray, and I'm like, 'How am I going to explain God to you?'" he recalled to CBN News. "'How am I going to introduce you to someone who so transformed my life? How am I going to tell you what he's like?'"
• When Chris Tomlin recorded his version, he prayed beforehand, asking God to "help me not to mess this thing up," worried about doing justice to a song he believed was already powerful without him.
• Co-writer Tony Brown grew up not knowing his father, which gave the song's central theme deeper emotional weight long before it became a global worship staple.