The Struggle

Album: The Struggle (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • When we spoke with Tenth Avenue North lead singer/songwriter Mike Donehey in 2012, they hadn't yet settled on a title for their third album, which ended up being named after this song, as much of it deals with the problems Christians face that are not always talked about. When we brought up how social problems are thought of differently in the church, Mike said: "Maybe that's something that I hope to communicate in our songs. I actually wrote a song for our next record called 'The Struggle,' which basically says, 'Hallelujah, we are struggle, we're not struggling to be free.' And a lot of times it's almost like the church doesn't give people permission to struggle with things. Even though in the Scriptures we're called Israel. We've been grafted in Israel. Israel means 'Struggles with God' or 'Wrestles with God.' And a lot of my songwriting comes out of the struggle between what I believe is God's truth and then where my heart's at and how there's always a collision process that takes place of the truth trying to win out over my emotions. And my emotions having to meld to what truth says. And so it's usually a big inspiration where the songs come from."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Cheerleaders In Music Videos

Cheerleaders In Music VideosSong Writing

It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.