GrandeWalkWithMe's Xanga

Welcome!

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 04:13:13 GMT

hey there... welcome to my Walk With Me site!!! i have my own personal blog here, but this site is just a blog for each song on the Walk With Me CD... every song on the CD has an entry about it that has some sort of background on the song, whether it was the recording process or it's meaning or both... but scroll down to check it out and thanks for stopping in... leave a comment if you get a chance (you'll need a xanga account, but it's free, and maybe you could start blogging too?)...

if you'd like to purchase the songs digitally go here: www.myspace.com/grandemusic

if you'd like to purchase a physical copy of the CD, email me here: g_baliad@hotmail.com

thanks again...

grande

1. My Soul Tonight

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:59:48 GMT

this song starts abruptly... i actually pressed record in the middle of playing the first chord on the guitar... but to me that's kinda how coming to faith in Christ came about... it was an abrupt revelation, kinda like outta nowhere... the songs goes on to catch the exact moment of when i wrote it... i wrote it in my room at my parents house... i had one lone light on and the blue walls created a very memorable atmosphere... my guitar amp also had a blue light, so when i hear the song, i see blue... it's not a bad thing... it's just what my room was like... this song also captures the feeling of when i first dropped to my knees and asked Jesus to rescue me... that also took place in my blue tinted room... it was just me and God and then some angels who were kinda just hanging around... what an incredible experience...

2. Walk With Me

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:47:58 GMT

the title track... i usually don't like title tracks, but here's one that i do like... hehe... this is the second song i wrote as a Christian... the first recording i made of it was with a full drum set and distorted guitars... for some strange reason, that recording got erased and i ended up recording it again with just acoustics, handclaps and a tambourine... this time around, when recording it for this CD, i decided to do it just like the acoustic version... i think that's the way the song is supposed to be: very simple, but fun... kinda like how our walk with God is supposed to be... the significance of the chorus stuns me... God says "Walk with me" and i don't think i really realized what that meant back then... i am still walking with Him and we'll be walking together for quite some time... regardless of the situation, He is always saying to me, "take My hand in faith"...

3. So Real

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:37:36 GMT

Jon Glover played drums on this song... i need to say this because i wasn't able to put his name in the credits... this song records the childlike mentality i had when i first got saved... a mentality that i stray too far away from at times... this song talks about really experiencing God for the first time... God being more real than He ever was before... it's a happy, simple song... very much how i was when i first got saved... happy and simple... i think i'm actually beyond both of those things, in a good way (joy instead of happiness, mature instead of simple) ... but like i said, childlikeness is something i'll always need... childlikeness, not childishness... har har...

4. In the Melody

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:31:16 GMT

i don't know of one Christian that hasn't spent extensive time thinking about who their mate is going to be... it's a big part of Christian life and i think it's good for Christians to talk about it honestly... i wish more Christian artists would write about waiting and looking for a mate in a godly way... it's the biggest part of a Christian's life that no one writes songs about...

this is the most romantic song i've ever written... and i've written a lot of love songs... but this one is just so much deeper... i can actually visualize flying in the skies to heaven and my wife being next to me... there's no Scriptural basis to such an idea, but it's not far off and maybe when we're caught up in the air, she'll be next to me... what could be better than that!?!?

5. Your Faithfulness

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:26:06 GMT

a straight up praise and worship song... in the liner notes, you'll note that i say that it was written in 2000 and 2006... that's because i wrote the second part in 2006... if you know this song from my last album, you might be a little disappointed by the new version, or at least a little taken aback by it... it's faster and there's no piano... but i like it, and the bridge (the new part) is powerful... it ministers to me just to sing it... God makes promises and keeps them... i think it's also powerful for people to say the truth about God's feelings about them and about who God is...

6. Broken

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:15:58 GMT

i remember when i played this song for someone... they asked if i was really losing some faith... faith comes by hearing and i wasn't really letting myself hear any faith... instead, i was saying things contrary to faith... so, i dunno... i wrote this song 4 or 5 years ago, and it was only a 30 second sketch, but it turned into something special... this is a pretty powerful song... to me at least... most of the time when i hear it, i get a little sad... well, i can at least remember the feelings i felt when i wrote this song... feelings that were very real... sometimes i hate reading descriptions of lyrics that say they're "honest" and "raw", but that's what these lyrics are... questions of whether i'll still be God's child after it's all over (as if my deeds can undo what His did)... struggles with faith and giving things over to God... admitting that you're broken... then crying out to God... it's funny though, there's still faith in this song... crying out to God... crying out to our Heavenly Father... longing for intimacy with the Father, to feel the warmth of His arms... this is all part of the Christian faith, whether or not you want to admit it... i think you have to admit it, or else there's a depth to our faith that i'm not sure you can get to any other way...

7. Hard Day

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:53:05 GMT

this song might be the best one on the album... this song almost didnt make it on the album though... Dan Dresser really pushed for me to get it on the album though, so here it is... i think one reason it ended up being one of the best songs is because other people were involved in the songwriting process... Dan wrote a lot of the guitar work and Mike Kimball wrote a pretty sweet baseline...

obviously, this song is about a struggle... a hard day... i think it’s important for Christians to be honest about these things, these feelings... having hard days... struggles with whatever it is you struggle with... if you can't be honest about those things, you won't be able to get the full healing that you might be needing... i think it's the enemy's trick to get us to think that Christians have to always be strong, are always happy and never in pain... even just typing that out seems strange to me, but i know that there are Christians who think that's what being a Christian means and i know there are non-Christians who think the same thing... but if you don't have any struggles after you accept Jesus, i wonder if you've really accepted Him at all... there are a myriad of experiences and feelings that you go through as a Christian and we must express those feelings and walk through those experiences in faith... by doing so, we will receive healing and grow more mature in Him... this is a good song for just getting all your feelings out and finally telling God that you need Him...

8. Late Night

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:42:51 GMT

while i enjoy most of my songs, i really enjoy this one because it really captures the moment that i was in when i wrote this song... it was a late night, and i just couldn't sleep... i was struggling with guilt from sin... in reality i was struggling with faith, with believing that God did what He said He did... that Jesus' blood really did what the Bible says it did... that the Cross is stronger than my sin... this song totally exemplifies that struggle to believe (not in God, but in what God did)... this song isn't a dialogue between me and God though, it's me talking to myself... how long until i'm willing to lay down my own striving and just rest in God's truth???

9. Audience

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:44:34 GMT

this song almost didn't make the CD, but i'm really glad it did... a couple years back there was a "movement" in the worship community (across the nation) that we don't have enough songs in the church that are directly focused on God Himself (which i think was true at the time)... this song was written also in response to the fact that worship is not a performance for others, it is singing to God directly... we don't sing to anyone else, God is the audience... another thing i like about this song is that it talks about several things that Jesus says He is in the book of John... "the Bread of Life"... "the Open Door"... "the Living Water"...