Story Behind the Song
July 7, 2000 in Plano, Texas...It's Friday morning, and Steve Israel, and I (Larry Holder) are sitting in Elton Smith's living room talking about compulsory licensing and other copyright trivia, when Elton sits down with a guitar and says, hey, I've got a melody for you to hear. As he begins playing the chords and humming the melody, Steve joins in with another guitar, and the two work out the chord progressions. Meanwhile, I've decided it's high time to grab a pad of paper and at least write down the chord progressions and sketch the notes of the chorus in case we put the song away and forgot how it went. Steve almost decided to take a short break, but somehow the music was compelling, and we all three just stayed right there. Elton had an idea for the first line: "Stand up and follow Jesus". We discussed the word "standing" a bit (in an invitational setting, folks are usually already standing, etc.) I suggested an alternate word, "arise", which can be taken in the spiritual sense of the soul arising from death into life when we come to Jesus. Agreeable with Elton and Steve, I wrote that down, and leaving some space for the rest of the verse yet to be written, I also wrote down a line for the start of the chorus: "Now arise ---".As Steve and Elton kept playing through the chords and humming melody and the beginnings of harmony, words finally began to flow onto my notepad for the first verse and chorus. Handing the pad over to the other two, they began to sing it through. With mutual approval of the work so far, I began waiting for the second verse, which came through likewise. Elton and Steve discussed the possibility of a bridge, how it should relate to the rest of the song, how long or short it should be. Very soon, the lines expressing the compelling need to turn to Jesus came through: "Don't wait until tomorrow, for tomorrow may never come."With a borrowed digital 8-track Roland unit, we set up a microphone in one of the kid's bedrooms, and in the early afternoon began recording the basic tracks in our makeshift recording studio. To keep noise at a minimum, we turned off the overhead fan and turned off the air conditioner during takes. Steve began by recording a track of guitar strumming which provided the basic timekeeping throughout the song, followed by a track of guitar finger picking. The instrumental tracks were then followed by Steve's singing of the melody. A final lyric change was made when Steve sang "as we are meant to be" instead of "as we were meant to be", and it was agreed that this subtle change was better than the original, and kept it. Elton added high vocal harmony, and then I added harmony an octave lower (seeing as I have the lowest voice of the three of us), plus the "echo" part on "Now arise ---" in the final choruses that are after the bridge.After several hours of going at it, the recording is essentially complete. Elton and Steve figure out how to get the digital unit to add some reverb to the tracks. The next morning, Elton and Steve also listen through the song several times and determine final mix settings, prior to uploading it into Elton's computer as a WAV file, for later encoding an an MP3 for online use....We had no idea this song was about to come at us. The Lord dropped it into our lap, and it was a joy to spend the rest of the day seeing the song through from the beginnings of a melody and lyrics, to the completion of a full-scale recording. I took some photos along the way, hopefully to be developed soon, that will pictorially help to show some of the activity of the day as things progressed. All we can say, looking back on this remarkable day, is Praise The Lord. May this song, "Now Arise", be a blessing to many, and cause individuals everywhere to hear the call to "arise and come to Jesus."
Lyrics
NOW ARISECopyright (c) 2000 Elton Smith, Larry Holder and Steve Israel(music: Elton, Steve / words: Elton, Larry, Steve) 7-7-2000(verse 1)Arise and come to JesusHe calls to you todayTo follow where He leads youInto a better Way.He gave his all with love untoldTo bring you safe into the fold.With arms outstretchedTo welcome you home...(chorus)Now arise ---As He calls to your soul.Now arise ---Let His love take control.Yes, arise ---He is all you need to know.He will meet you where you areAs you arise.(verse 2)Arise and come to Jesus,Creator, Lord, and King.Though we can give him nothing,He gives us everything.He paid the price to set us free,To become all we are meant to be,To know the peace, the joy,The victory!(repeat chorus)(bridge)Don't wait until tomorrowFor tomorrow may never come...(repeat chorus)
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