Song of the Week - You Are Good

Where do I start with this one?

This is by far the most popular song in the Gospel Light worship team catalog. "You Are Good" is the "go to" song, the "feel good" song, the "in a pinch" song, the "what'll we play?" song.... You name it, it fits all occaisions.

"You Are Good" is one of Israel Houghton's first hits, coming on his sophomore album New Season in 2001. It also found a place on Lakewood Live: We Speak to the Nations in 2002, and - my favorite rendition - on 2005's Alive in South Africa, where it was part of a medley with "Your Latter Will be Greater", "Again I Say Rejoice" and "Friend of God." Along the way, it's been covered by the likes of the Katinas, Point of Grace and Shout Praise! Kids. It's been recorded in Spanish, German, Dutch and Swedish, along with probably some others as well.

The phrase "the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever..." is one of the most popular in scripture, finding it's way into 1 Chronicles 16; 2 Chronicles 5, 7 and 20; Ezra 3, Psalms 100,106, 107, 118,136, and Jeremiah 33. Probably some other places as well. It is a basic tenent of faith. The message of the song is so very simple:

We worship you, halleluia
We worship you for who you are
You are good!

We've played this song so many different ways, I've lost count. That's one of the great things about the song - it's so adaptable to situation and musical style. Sometimes we play it full out, sometimes toned down. Lately we mix that up - play it full out until the last chorus, then take it down to a slow a capella.

It always comes down to the basic four chords - for us E-B-D-A. If you want to go crazy, you can do a E- B/E- D/E- A/E kind of thing if you can keep you bass player awake. Into the prechorus A - B/A - Am7 - D/A, and then back to the basic progression with the chorus.

The bridge, the bridge.... you can get as funky or as simple as you want... I like to play a simple Em-G-A- Em- D- A kind of thing... sometimes I play open, sometimes I move up and down the neck. I've seen people throw in some C7, D7, E7 kind of things... strings, brass, percussion... there's no end to the fun you can have playing this bridge.

Come on, admit it, you like this song. In fact, it's probably running through your head now.

You are good, all the time
and all the time, you are good!