Help Me Believe

Album: The Fight of My Life (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The genre-bending Christian music artist Kirk Franklin wrote this song at a time when he was questioning his faith. He told us: "That song came in 2007. I was having a rough year, man. I was going through some things with my family and just a lot of things emotionally, and a lot of disappointments. There were some things happening that were kind of scary, and I was really being faced with my faith: how much do I really believe and what do I really believe?

    It was a lot going on, and it was a really, really, really hard time. The first line is, 'I want to believe but I'm having a hard time seeing past what I see right now.' For me, it was all about that first sentence. It's all about what are we saying?" (Here's our full interview with Kirk Franklin.)
  • In 2009, this song won the Grammy award for Best Gospel Song, which baffled Franklin a bit. He told us: "What's interesting is that it wasn't a big radio song. That just happened to be a song that the Grammy people picked as a big song. Well, it was a big song for me personally, but as far as career and radio and airplay, it wasn't. What somebody explained to me is that when the Academy is looking at a song, they're looking at the sonics and the production of it and the movement of it, and I didn't realize that, because I'm not involved in the award process like that."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.