Carolyn proves that you really can make music that reaches for high standards artistically, yet which is also comprehensible, original, and nurturing at the deepest level.” – Kirk Jordan, Wood Between the Worlds
LOVE WAS HERE FIRST features 10 new Carolyn originals and a reinterpretation of the classic gospel tune “Standing in the Need of Prayer.” New musical twists like vocals from the 3-man gospel group The Sojourners and a crackling horn section surprise and delight, but what’s really on display here is the lyrical prowess of a master songwriter passionate about her subject — the encompassing love of God.
Carolyn explains, “The title, LOVE WAS HERE FIRST, comes from the song “The Last Word,” and that song sums up the story I’m trying to tell right now—with my album and I hope with my life. I heard a theologian say that we tend to be dualists—we imagine God and Satan as virtually equal opponents in an epic battle—but that in reality Satan and all the power of evil wouldn’t cover the head of a pin in comparison to the largeness of God’s love and his power. I love that idea—that however messed up this world is, it was God’s love that brought us into being, and there isn’t any doubt that God’s love is going to win in the end.”
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Produced by Carolyn Arends and Roy Salmond
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10 Arends’ originals, plus a fresh interpretation of the Gospel classic “Standing in the Need of Prayer”
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Gospel trio The Sojourners contribute vocals to “Something Out of Us”, “Roll It” and “Standing in the Need of Prayer”
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First Arends album to feature a horn section; featured on “Be Still”, “Something Out of Us” and “Never Say Goodbye”
NOTE: The physical CD comes with a pdf songbook containing chord charts for all the songs.
SONGLIST:
1. Be Still
2. Standing in the Need of Prayer
3. My Favourite Lie
4. Something Out of Us
5. I Am a Soul
6. Willing
7. Roll It
8. The Last Word (Love Was Here First)
9. According to Plan
10. Nothing Can Separate
11. Never Say Goodbye
Released October 20, 2009