BETTER DAYS: THE SONGS
Date Posted:
Author: Robbie Seay



meaning of ‘ten thousand charms,’ which is a very good question. All I can seem to find is that Joseph Hart was a poet who used very provocative words to describe the love and embrace of his God. My favorite line in his lyric though is: ‘if you tarry until you’re better, you will never come at all.’


Breathing Air Again (written in my garage and at Rhythm Room rehearsal studios – spring 2004

Don’t you just want to drive sometimes to nowhere in particular, where destinations become secondary to the actual journey and time spent in your car? Sometimes just driving is such great medicine for me…and I live in Houston so I get plenty of opportunity. This song is just about starting over, simplifying, and driving your car for awhile…or walking down your street tonight…or looking intently at the stars…or doing whatever it is in your life that allows you to step back and breathe deep and enjoy being alive.


Rescued Ones (written at my computer desk – winter 2004)

Don Miller is a friend and an author. You will enjoy his books but they can hit you like a ton of bricks, and sometimes life is easier to live if you hadn’t read them. His book ‘Blue Like Jazz’ spoke of God’s charity and the idea that, especially in this country, we are somehow above the need for it, that we are self-sufficient and God’s grace is a lovely ideal, but needed more in the poor places of the world. This song comes from Don’s thoughts. For me, my mouth is full all the time…I eat great food and I’m a selfish pig. But it’s my soul that’s starving for God. So I stand in line with the poor and the blind and those who are starving physically and declare ‘WE ARE ALL THE SAME HERE’…in desperate need of redemption no matter where you live, what color your skin is, or what’s in your wallet.


Peace (written at the Microtel motel – Nashville – fall of 2001)

I really despise motel rooms. Most are dirty and used - just no fun to be in. I’m more of a sucker for really nice hotels – spoiled might be the appropriate adjective. But I’ve noticed that it’s the cheap places where I always drag my guitar inside and write. If I’m staying at say the Westin, no way that any songs are coming out of that building. Why is that? Anyway, this song was written on a trip to Nashville, although the idea had been planting itself within for a few weeks leading up to that visit. It’s a simple song but has become one of my favorites on the album.


You Have Stirred My Soul (I wrote this sitting on my guest bed and at Hyde Park Studio – spring 2004)

I’m thrilled this song made the album. We weren’t sure for a while if there would be room for it. It’s one of my favorites to play live, and the lyric is still powerful to me. The chorus lyric is actually taken from an old Robbie Seay Band song called ‘More than Yesterday.’ I was really hoping to use the lines ‘love more beautiful today...with offerings of grace...You’re calling me away...’ and it seemed to be a good fit for what I had already started on this song. Oh and by the way, our friend Jill Paquette, the great Canadian singer/songwriter, joins us on this tune and really makes the vocals a delight.
Better Days (written in middle-of-nowhere Mississippi and in Houston – spring 2004)

So many people talk to me about how hard their life is and I hear that and just go ‘me too…sometimes it would be much easier to give up,’ but then I go on a long drive, or I lay down on green grass, or I share a great meal with friends and realize that for all of us – life may be hard, but it’s worth the breathing. ‘Better Days’ is a song of hope for all of us who have struggled and by God’s grace fought our way to a new day.


Hallelujah God Is Near (written in a hotel room in Tulsa and back in Houston – spring 2004)

If you’re like me, you spend your days searching for God…waiting on His next move, hoping to get a glimpse of what He will do next. And I’m sure God is going, ‘Hello…the sunset yesterday, the laughter of your children, the homeless man asking for food, the lightning storm this morning? Wake up.’ This song comes from a sermon that one of our pastors gave. If you’re searching for God today and don’t know where to begin, look around you…in creation, in people, in the Bible, in the glorious and the mundane things of life…He is near you.


Faith Of Our Fathers (written in Houston – spring 2004)

My grandma, my father, Martin Luther, my mother, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, Peter, my friend Clint Matthews, St. Francis and the list could go on. This is a song written out of the realization that my faith was very small and very 21st century-focused. When I sat down with my grandfather, my father and two brothers to write a book about our family and the faith that has been passed down, I began to not only respect those who are alive and sharing their faith with me, but the saints, the martyrs, and the believers who have gone before. We are not alone. Faith did not just show up yesterday. Here’s to all who’ve gone before, all who will go ahead – the men and the women of faith.


We Are Free (written on Shane Barnard’s bus while stuck in the desert sand near Bakersfield, CA – fall 2003)

This is a simple song… You chased, You loved us, we are free…let us respond to Your grace, God.


Jesus Garden Of My Rest (written at Hyde Park Studio in Houston – winter 2004)

This song came to us in the form of a few lines of lyric from a friend in California. When I read the line ‘Jesus Garden of my Rest,’ I knew I wanted to do something with it. Just that phrase seemed to strike such balance of ancient and intimate that’s very hard to write in spiritual music. This has become one of my favorite songs on the album and we hope you guys enjoy it as well.


Eternal God (written in my living room in Houston – winter 2003)

Somehow the themes of struggle and hope creep their way into my lyrics, not fully by design…more by accident, which is the best way I can describe my songwriting anyway. Eternal God comes from Psalm 90, Moses’ outlet to vent, despair, and hope. How can we not connect with the story of the Israelites as they cry out to God, ‘How long will you have us wait?’ or find strength in their journey as they hope for God to ‘surprise them at daybreak with love.’ Our stories are connected. Moses was not alone. You are not alone -- nor I. Again, life will be hard but God will be greater than our struggle.


Come Ye Sinners (lyrics written in 1759 by Joseph Hart – music and melody written in my dining room – spring 2001)

Very few songs have meant as much to me as ‘Come Ye Sinners.’ I remember sitting in my dining room four years ago reading through the lyrics that were penned in the 18th century, and just being so moved by such honest poetry. I had hoped that I could write a new melody and arrangement so that the song would be introduced to a whole new generation that might not pick up a hymnbook. I get asked all the time about the
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