[Part 1]
TobyMac: Hey, what's up? I’m TobyMac, and I want to tell you the story behind my song, "Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)." Year and a half ago, um, I lost my firstborn son, and I wrote a few songs after that—immediately following that—and it was hard. It was hard to think about anything, any promise, anything exciting. And I wrote a lot of songs that were kind of down, um, as you can imagine. I wrote a lot of songs that were deep in the trenches. And then this pandemic hit. And, man, it took me a while to kind of figure out— I was cryin' out to God, goin', you know, "I need something. I need something that I can hold onto." I think we all need something we can hold onto right now. I found in the Psalms a Scripture that said, uh… I don’t know exactly what it said, but the thing that stood out to me was "God is rolling up His sleeves / Help is on the way." It's like the promise of God—the God of all Creation—rolling up His sleeves on my behalf, on our behalf. It felt like promise to me. It felt like something that a big God that I can count on cares about a little me. I started quickly writing. I wrote "May be midnight or mid-day / He's never early, never late / He's gonna stand by what He claims / I've lived enough life to say / "Help is on the way." God has not failed us. God has not failed me.
["Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)" by TobyMac plays]
[Part 2]
TobyMac: Man, the creative process for me this time was tough. It was really walkin' through a dark valley as I lost my firstborn song a couple years ago. First few songs I wrote, man, they were just very sad songs, very difficult songs to write, as you'd imagine. It was a valley, and I was in it. The first time I thought I could write an up-tempo song was when I wrote this song called "Help Is on the Way," and it just reminded me of God's help that’s comin’ for me. I never thought I would write an up song again, honestly—something that had joy in it—until I wrote some words on a piece of paper. I said: "You're still the goodness in my life." And I wrote that to God. And then I wrote this song called "The Goodness." I’m reminded of a quote that pushed me along in the writing process, and the quote is, "A saint is not always someone who is good but someone who experiences the goodness of God." That drove me to write the lyric, and then I had Blessing Offor come. And, uh—I don't know—every time I text Blessing or call Blessing, he was like, "Man, I can't believe I get to do what I do. I can't believe I get to…" If anybody knows the goodness, a blind guy comin’ from Nigeria to make it in music, Blessing knows the goodness. So I'm honored he's on it with me, and I can honestly say that God is still the goodness in my life.
["The Goodness" by TobyMac & Blessing Offor plays]
[Part 3]
TobyMac: The story behind the song "Deeper" starts with a friendship—a friendship of Tauren Wells and I. We've done a lotta life together. We've toured together a lot, even when he was in his former band, Royal Tailor. I walked with him through some things. We text each other often. So, uh, because we did talk about and do talk about the deeper things, I wanted to include him in this song called "Deeper" that I wrote with my friend, Micah. Uh, "Deeper" is a song that… It pushes beyond the surface—conversations that push beyond the surface, that—that move away from social media in sort of imaging ourselves, whether real stuff—this stuff that life is made out of, the things that I feel like we're starting to miss a little bit. I think it's not easy in this day and age to talk about hard things—the things that hurt us or the things that, uh, go beyond the surface. So, when I thought about getting Tauren on there, it was a perfect match to me. So, he came to Nashville the night his bus was going to leave on tour, and he said, "I—I— My plane lands at 9. I have to be on the bus at midnight. I'll come by the studio, and we'll do this." And he came, and he just sang it. And he did what Tauren Wells does, and that is, he crushed it vocally and brought his thing to this track, "Deeper." So, I'm so honored to have him on it, and I'm so proud of this song.
["Deeper" by TobyMac & Tauren Wells plays]
[Part 4]
TobyMac: This is the story behind the song for "Show Up Choose Love." Seems like we've wrestled and wrestled my entire life with race relations. Sometimes it's glowing and big, and other times it's sort of in the shadows. But I've always acknowledged it with my music, 'cause I've always wanted us to be together. I've always wanted us to come together, and maybe people would think, "That's easy for you to say, Toby," and I understand that. The only way we will ever reconcile is—is if we confess and we forgive. It's the only way forward. Without God, I just don't know how that's gonna happen. But there does have to be some action, and showing up is the first action. Show up for people. Show up to talk about it. Show up to have conversations. And then choose to love. Jon Reddick and I, along with a bunch of other writers—including Tommy Sims and some great writers in this town—wrote this song. This song is dear to my soul, because, uh, I've lived my whole life in this. Jon Reddick is a Black man from Memphis, TN. He's seen a lot; he's felt a lot. I'm a white guy from northern Virginia. I've seen a lot; and I've felt a lot. Us choosing to come together—us choosing to show up for each other, in each others' lives, in real community—is the heart of this song.
["Show Up Choose Love" by TobyMac & Jon Reddick plays]
[Part 5]
TobyMac: Hey, what's up? I’m TobyMac, and I want to tell you the story behind my song, "Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)." Year and a half ago, um, I lost my firstborn son, and I wrote a few songs after that—immediately following that—and it was hard. It was hard to think about anything, any promise, anything exciting. And I wrote a lot of songs that were kind of down, um, as you can imagine. I wrote a lot of songs that were deep in the trenches. And then this pandemic hit. And, man, it took me a while to kind of figure out— I was cryin' out to God, goin', you know, "I need something. I need something that I can hold onto." I think we all need something we can hold onto right now. I found in the Psalms a Scripture that said, uh… I don’t know exactly what it said, but the thing that stood out to me was "God is rolling up His sleeves / Help is on the way." It's like the promise of God—the God of all Creation—rolling up His sleeves on my behalf, on our behalf. It felt like promise to me. It felt like something that a big God that I can count on cares about a little me. I started quickly writing. I wrote "May be midnight or mid-day / He's never early, never late / He's gonna stand by what He claims / I've lived enough life to say / "Help is on the way." God has not failed us. God has not failed me.
["Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)" by TobyMac plays]
[Part 2]
TobyMac: Man, the creative process for me this time was tough. It was really walkin' through a dark valley as I lost my firstborn song a couple years ago. First few songs I wrote, man, they were just very sad songs, very difficult songs to write, as you'd imagine. It was a valley, and I was in it. The first time I thought I could write an up-tempo song was when I wrote this song called "Help Is on the Way," and it just reminded me of God's help that’s comin’ for me. I never thought I would write an up song again, honestly—something that had joy in it—until I wrote some words on a piece of paper. I said: "You're still the goodness in my life." And I wrote that to God. And then I wrote this song called "The Goodness." I’m reminded of a quote that pushed me along in the writing process, and the quote is, "A saint is not always someone who is good but someone who experiences the goodness of God." That drove me to write the lyric, and then I had Blessing Offor come. And, uh—I don't know—every time I text Blessing or call Blessing, he was like, "Man, I can't believe I get to do what I do. I can't believe I get to…" If anybody knows the goodness, a blind guy comin’ from Nigeria to make it in music, Blessing knows the goodness. So I'm honored he's on it with me, and I can honestly say that God is still the goodness in my life.
["The Goodness" by TobyMac & Blessing Offor plays]
[Part 3]
TobyMac: The story behind the song "Deeper" starts with a friendship—a friendship of Tauren Wells and I. We've done a lotta life together. We've toured together a lot, even when he was in his former band, Royal Tailor. I walked with him through some things. We text each other often. So, uh, because we did talk about and do talk about the deeper things, I wanted to include him in this song called "Deeper" that I wrote with my friend, Micah. Uh, "Deeper" is a song that… It pushes beyond the surface—conversations that push beyond the surface, that—that move away from social media in sort of imaging ourselves, whether real stuff—this stuff that life is made out of, the things that I feel like we're starting to miss a little bit. I think it's not easy in this day and age to talk about hard things—the things that hurt us or the things that, uh, go beyond the surface. So, when I thought about getting Tauren on there, it was a perfect match to me. So, he came to Nashville the night his bus was going to leave on tour, and he said, "I—I— My plane lands at 9. I have to be on the bus at midnight. I'll come by the studio, and we'll do this." And he came, and he just sang it. And he did what Tauren Wells does, and that is, he crushed it vocally and brought his thing to this track, "Deeper." So, I'm so honored to have him on it, and I'm so proud of this song.
["Deeper" by TobyMac & Tauren Wells plays]
[Part 4]
TobyMac: This is the story behind the song for "Show Up Choose Love." Seems like we've wrestled and wrestled my entire life with race relations. Sometimes it's glowing and big, and other times it's sort of in the shadows. But I've always acknowledged it with my music, 'cause I've always wanted us to be together. I've always wanted us to come together, and maybe people would think, "That's easy for you to say, Toby," and I understand that. The only way we will ever reconcile is—is if we confess and we forgive. It's the only way forward. Without God, I just don't know how that's gonna happen. But there does have to be some action, and showing up is the first action. Show up for people. Show up to talk about it. Show up to have conversations. And then choose to love. Jon Reddick and I, along with a bunch of other writers—including Tommy Sims and some great writers in this town—wrote this song. This song is dear to my soul, because, uh, I've lived my whole life in this. Jon Reddick is a Black man from Memphis, TN. He's seen a lot; he's felt a lot. I'm a white guy from northern Virginia. I've seen a lot; and I've felt a lot. Us choosing to come together—us choosing to show up for each other, in each others' lives, in real community—is the heart of this song.
["Show Up Choose Love" by TobyMac & Jon Reddick plays]
[Part 5]
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