Songfacts®:

• Written by Brent Maher (The Judds' producer) and country songwriters Don Schlitz and Craig Bickhardt, this is a spiritual anthem of sorts that reflects Wynonna's commitment to her faith. The singer was just 18 years old when she was thrust into the spotlight alongside her mother, and the newfound attention made her feel lost and confused. Don Potter, The Judds' guitarist, advised her to focus on her spiritual path, which she sings about on the track.
  
  "People don't have to interpret it that way," the singer noted in The Billboard Book Of #1 Country Hits. "They can just see it as another song to boogie to, and if that's all they get from it, that's fine. But when you get right down to it, that's exactly what I was feeling."
  
  "There's a definite spiritual tone to it," Schlitz agreed, "but we did not want to hit anybody over the head with it. Sometimes, the less you say - or the more subtly you say something - the more effective it is."
• Maher and Schlitz had no idea where they were going with the tune when they started writing it. Maher had a rough guitar lick and melody, but they struggled with coming up with lyrical ideas. When Maher finally suggested a spiritual approach in the vein of The Impressions' "People Get Ready," it got Schlitz's creative juices flowing.
  
  "That attitude turned Don on like a freight train rollin' down the line," Maher recalled. "All of a sudden, lyrics just started pourin' out of him, and we had it written. The problem was, we couldn't come up with a chorus. We couldn't come up with anything melodically that was any good."
  
  When Wynonna heard the track, she agreed something was missing, so Maher took the tune to a third writer, Craig Bickhardt.
  
  "I thought that the problem was in the bridge," Bickhardt explained, "so really, all I did with that song was rewrite the melody on the bridge… That's the only contribution I really had to that song."
  
  Bickhardt's contribution proved to be the magic touch, and the song became The Judds' ninth #1 hit on the Country chart.
• This was the second single from Heartland. The first was a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" that reached #10 on the Country chart.
• The songwriters also collaborated on the album's fourth single, the chart-topping "Turn It Loose."
• The album earned The Judds a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1988, but they lost to Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt for Trio. Harris also lent her vocals to Heartland on the track "The Sweetest Gift (A Mother's Smile)."