I Lift Up
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Lyrics
[0:00–0:22 — FIRST PASS / FIRST LIGHT, STILL QUIET] Psalm fifty-nine, sixteen through seventeen, and Psalm one hundred forty-three, eight. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. [Start with dry phone-mic tenor, faint dawn road hiss, soft Rhodes, warm bass guitar and one clean electric-guitar harmonic. No full drums. Let “mercy in the morning” feel like the sky is barely starting to change. Keep “for in thee do I trust” intimate and settled.] [0:23–1:01 — SECOND PASS / THE ROAD TURNS GOLD] Psalm chapter fifty-nine, verses sixteen through seventeen, and Psalm chapter one hundred forty-three, verse eight. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. [Bring in dusty boom-bap drums, cracked snare, warm bass guitar, soft sub and wide clean alt-rock guitars. Keep the groove moving like the final miles before sunrise.] [LEAD] I will sing aloud of thy mercy— [MICRO-SILENCE] In the morning. [ROUGH OFF-MIC VOICE] Morning. [ALT-ROCK MICROBURST: one bright overdriven guitar bloom opens wide for two seconds, then disappears.] For thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. [ONE LOW VOICE] My defence. [Move on immediately.] [1:02–1:34 — INTERLUDE / TRUST FINDS DIRECTION] Ooh. Yeah. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. [Let the bassline keep moving while the guitars widen slightly. Add faint road ambience, muted guitar scratches and one rough falsetto “ooh.”] For in thee do I trust. [ACOUSTIC MICROBURST: one tiny bright fingerpicked acoustic lick after “trust,” barely one second, then gone.] Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. [PSYCHEDELIC MICROBURST: one reverse guitar tail bends backward briefly, then snaps forward into the groove.] For I lift up my soul unto thee. [Let the lead throw one short raw upward run, imperfect and human.] [1:35–2:20 — THIRD PASS / MORNING ARRIVES] The book of Psalms, Psalm fifty-nine, verses sixteen through seventeen, and Psalm one hundred forty-three, verse eight. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. [Start with bass and close lead only. Let the boom-bap drums return piece by piece. Bring the widest clean guitars of the album in under “mercy in the morning,” but keep them raw and slightly loose.] [LEAD] I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning. [ROUGH CREW — ONE WARM RESPONSE] Mercy in the morning. [Cut them immediately.] For God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. [SHORT SILENCE] Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. [ONE ROUGH VOICE] Morning. [LEAD] For in thee do I trust. [Let this be the emotional center. Dry, close, no harmony.] Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk— [SECOND ALT-ROCK MICROBURST: brief wide guitar swell under “walk,” then vanish.] For I lift up my soul unto thee. [OUTRO / SUNRISE, NO BIG SPEECH] Ooh. Yeah. [No more scripture repetition. Let the groove ride with dusty drums, warm bass guitar, wide clean electrics, faint Rhodes and morning road ambience. One friend hums roughly in the background. A guitar line slowly climbs.] [One tiny reverse-guitar flash.] [Let the snare drop out.] [Then the kick.] [Leave bass guitar, clean electric shimmer and room tone.] [Hard cut.] [OVERALL VOCAL DIRECTION] [The architecture is MERCY → DEFENCE → TRUST → DIRECTION → WALK → SOUL LIFTED. This is the sunrise finale, but it should feel like making it through the night rather than winning a movie. Male tenor stays dry, grainy, tired-but-open, conversational and slightly behind the beat with restrained imperfect runs. Boom bap remains the spine; alt-rock adds width through wide clean guitars and rare two-second overdriven blooms. Rough friends sound like people who drove through the night with him—low yeahs, worn oohs, sparse one-time catches. Psychedelia stays tiny: reverse guitar tails, tape bends, warped Rhodes. Acoustic appears once or twice only. No glossy CCM finale, pop-punk, arena rock or cinematic]