Written in Red

I heard this song the other day on the radio and now it won’t leave my mind. It was one of my favorites when it first came out and it remains a favorite today. It was released in 2005 and I really can’t believe it has been that long since it was popular. It seems like it was only a few months ago, but in reality it has been 9 years. Wow!  In 2006, it won the CMA (Country Music Association - for those that don’t follow country) “Single of the Year”; as well as the “Music Video of the Year”.

It is an absolutely beautiful ballad of a young boy that befriended then observed the faith of his elderly neighbor.  The boy grows up, leaves for college, and later learns of his old neighbor’s death. Yeah, it is heart-wrenching, but it is also up-lifting, as we see the young boy grow up to assert his own faith and “believe” all those Words Written in Red.

Of course, Ronnie Dunn gives this heartrending ballad even that much more power in the way he delivers the lyrics. It will forever be one of my favorites.

The song is Believe written by Ronnie Dunn and Craig Wiseman and performed by Brooks and Dunn.

Believe

Ronnie Dunn and Craig Wisemen

Old man Wrigley lived in that white house
Down the street where I grew up.
Momma used to send me over with things
We struck a friendship up.
I spent a few long summers out on his old porch swing

Says he was in the war when in the navy.
Lost his wife, lost his baby.
Broke down and asked him one time
"How ya keep from going crazy?"
He said "I'll see my wife and son in just a little while."
I asked him what he meant.
He looked at me and smiled, said

(Chorus)
"I raise my hands, bow my head
I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see.
Oh, I believe."

Few years later I was off at college
Talkin' to mom on the phone one night
Getting all caught up on the gossip
The ins and outs of the small town life.
She said, oh by the way son, old man Wrigley's died.

Later on that night, I laid there thinkin' back.
Thought 'bout a couple long-lost summers
I didn't know whether to cry or laugh
If there was ever anybody deserved a ticket to the other side
It'd be that sweet, old man who looked me in the eye, said

(Chorus)
"I raise my hands, bow my head
I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see."

I can't quote the book
The chapter or the verse.
You can't tell me it all ends
In a slow ride in a hearse.
You know I'm more and more convinced
The longer that I live
Yeah, this can't be
No, this can't be
No, this can't be all there is.

(Chorus)
Lord, I raise my hands, bow my head
I'm finding more and more Truth in the Words Written in Red
They tell me that there's more to this than just what I can see
I believe
 

Oh, I
I believe
I believe
I believe
I believe
I believe

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  ~John 3:16

Below is Brooks and Dunn's official video:

 

Or view it here at the 2006 CMA's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9-FQMxO_-Q