You Won't Let Go

Album: Sovereign (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was co-written by Seth Moseley, the lead vocalist of Christian rock band Me in Motion. Moseley also co-penned another of Sovereign's tracks, "Miracle." Michael recalled to us: "We were working on another song called 'Miracle,' which is Cut No. 3 on the album. And just before I left, I said, 'Hey, you got anything? You're a writer. You got anything on your computer?' And he pulled up this track , which is 'You Won't Let Go,' and he did that melody and I sort of pulled this acoustic guitar off it, off his wall and Seth and just started writing this melody on the guitar over that track."

    "And then I ended up writing the thing in 10 minutes or whatever, and I looked at him. I said, 'Bro'" I said, 'I think we have something here.'"
  • The lyrics were inspired by Romans 8 v 35, where the Apostle Paul writes:

    "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

    Michael told us when he started to write the song with Seth, the only words he had was a bridge, ("nothing can separate us, nothing can separate us"). "I just knew that the song needed to be about that Romans passage in the scripture that said, Nothing can separate us from the love of God,'" he added. So the pair ended up writing the song around that scripture verse.
  • Michael writes most of his songs on the piano but in this instance he penned it on a guitar. He told us: "I actually like to write on the guitar. I'm not as versatile as I am on the piano, but sometimes having an instrument that you don't know all these chords, sometimes it sort of forces you to be simple and to not be so complicated. And it sort of throws me into another corner, which sometimes is not very comfortable."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

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.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.