Watching while sanity dies, Touched by the madness and lies.
These two lines from the first verse of this song are more relevant today than ever. Sometimes it seems as though humanity is experiencing a period of collective insanity, which has increased during this current pandemic.
Social Media is rife with misinformation and lies.
World leaders are misleading their populations, either unintentionally; or deliberately for political gain. It is great news if true, that Russia has developed a safe vaccine against COVID so rapidly. Time will tell......
Conspiracy theories are rife and quite frankly, I am amazed that intelligent people are taken in by some of the most outrageous theories.
More than ever, those of us who believe that Jesus Christ can change lives, hearts and minds, are saying “Come, Lord Jesus – please help us”. This is a time of great challenge but also of great opportunity. The second verse says:
May now Your church rise with power and love,
This glorious gospel proclaim.
The seed of this song was birthed on a 'Spring Harvest Tour' event at Newcastle City Hall (UK), when I was leading worship. At one point, I remember singing out the words 'Come, Lord Jesus', as a spontaneous refrain. Afterwards, I made a note of the melody and this simple chorus.
Several months later, I was in Ludenscheid, Germany, leading worship at a conference with my good friend Gerald Coates. We had some time to spare one afternoon and as we often did, began to brainstorm song ideas and lyrics.
It is such a long time ago, so it is difficult to remember all the details as to how we developed the melody and structure of the song. But it is worth mentioning that when we came up with the phrase: “Great is the darkness”, we thought it would not be the most encouraging start to a worship song!
Also, I was really not sure about the lines mentioned above. “Watching while sanity dies” did not feel like the right kind of line for a worship song! But that is one of the benefits of co-wriitng. In this case, two heads were definitely better than one.
I have been so encouraged to see how this song has been used over the years, since it was published in 1992.
The recording of this song, taken from my “Thunder in the skies” album of 1992, features the amazing voice of Faye Simpson, who sang the first verse.
Over many years, Faye and I have met up at various events but have never sung together publicly.
However, last year, we were touring together on the Ez Az A Nap (This is the day) Roadshow in central Europe. Faye was singing in Martin Smith's band throughout the tour.
The tour organiser Viktor László, was very keen for Faye and I to sing a duet.
So on the final evening, for the first time ever, we sang “Great is the darkness” together.
Click on the image of Faye below to watch the video on YouTube.
The video opens with me singing “All Heaven Declares” in English and Hungarian.
However, the link skips to the point at 4.59 minutes in, when I introduce Faye and we sing together.
I hope you enjoy this world exclusive!!