Sojourn’s Jesse Eubanks shares his songwriting process for “Over Death,” from our brand new album Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One:
OVER DEATH
O for an overcoming faith
To cheer my dying hours,
To triumph o’er the monster Death,
And all his frightful powers.
Joyful with all the strength I have
My quivering lips should sing,
“Where is thy boasted victory, Grave?
Where is the monster’s sting?”
If sin be pardon’d I’m secure,
Death hath no sting beside;
The law gives sin its damning power,
But Christ, my ransom, died.
Now to the God of victory
Immortal thanks be paid,
Who makes us conquerors while we die,
Through Christ our living head.
ABOUT THE LYRICS
I loved several aspects of the lyrics in this song:
I think it’s brilliant that Watts personified Death as a Monster. We get this visual imagery of a cruel, calculated, ruthless beast who destroys people’s lives. Death without hope is the greatest tragedy. And the mere fact that the song uses the word “Monster” is pretty awesome.
There were some keys lines in the lyric that were so wonderfully descriptive. “…cheer my dying hours.” “Joyful with all the strength I have” “My quivering lips should sing” It almost has a narrative storytelling aspect to it. The lyrics paint us as tired and beaten down, barely hanging on. “… with all the strength I have” but strong enough to send a nice middle finger to the grave because of what God has done
“Where is thy boasted victory, Grave?”
Our total strength and victory is found in the cross of Christ. Our chains have been removed. The power of death has been destroyed. “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
With the death of her grandfather, my wife and I have talked a lot about death recently. These lyrics and melody have stuck in my head in the midst of many of our conversations.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
As for the music and melody, I really wanted to do a rock song. I like exploding, big choruses. To use my wife’s words, they make you want to fly. Considering the subject matter, I feel like this tone is appropriate. Within Sojourn, I felt like exploring a fast modern rock song was something we hadn’t done in a few years and had never truly done on a recording, except for maybe “What Child Is This” on the Advent Songs.
I also steal music and moods from a ton of different artists. I don’t know if I have ever done anything remotely original. My wife and I have been listening to a lot of music by a band called Monarch and I’d like to think this could have been a melody written by them.
