Top Ten Songs by Matthew West
“The Lie”, from Matthew West’s album Happy, touches on the subject of teenagers and peer pressure. West says not to listen to the lies of the world. The world might tell you to do one thing or another but just because everyone does it that is no reason for you to do it too. West goes on to tell people that they’re purpose in life is so much more than what the world’s purpose says and that if they stand up for what they believe then they won’t be alone because God will be by their side.
9. Next Thing You Know
So far in each of Matthew West’s albums he has at least one song that is really fun and a lot lighter than his other songs. “Next Thing You Know” is that song on his second album History. “Next Thing You Know” is the story of how Matthew West discovered God one day while watching Billy Graham on TV and how the next thing he new he had become a brand new person.
8. The Last Ones
“The Last Ones” is a true story from when Matthew West met a 10-year-old girl named Taylor who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. West best describes the songs himself in a quote not long after he met Taylor, West said, “From the moment I met her, I felt like there was something really amazing about this girl.” He explained, “In the past when I would walk by a child or adult with Down Syndrome, my first thought was to feel sorry for them because I thought they’d never be like everyone else. But the more I got to know Taylor, I realized that maybe she was feeling sorry for me. She seemed to have something inside that told me she knew something I didn’t. She loved people regardless of where they came from. She didn’t care what color they were or what was different about them. She taught me the lesson that history makers come in all shapes and sizes.”
7. You Know Where to Find Me
The song “You Know Where to Find Me” is a very encouraging song about being able to depend on God. Throughout the song West talks about how God continually tells us that we know where to find him no matter where we are, what we’re doing or who we are with. If we just had the worst day of our life or even if we’ve completely turned away from God he’s still there waiting for us.
6. My Finest Hour
“My Finest Hour” from, Matthew West’s Happy album, always reminds me of my favorite verse in James 1: 2 – 5. It says, “Consider it a pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” In “My Finest Hour” West says that when all his friends are gone, when his money is gone, and all your pride is gone it will be your finest hour because the material possessions of earth don’t really matter and the trials he faces will make him stronger thanks to God’s strength, and it will be his finest hour.
5. A Few More Days
In the song “A Few More Days” West talks about the longing he has to leave this earth and go to his home in heaven, not because he is depressed and wants to die, but because this world is full of pain and emptiness and things that ultimately are meaningless and he looks forward to when it’s all over and he gets to spend eternity in Heaven where there is no pain and hurting and he gets to be with his Savior.
4. I Know You’re There
“I Know You’re There” is a song about faith. In the world we live in we are constantly told that God doesn’t exist. We are taught to believe in the big bang theory and some people will go as far as to make fun of or ridicule people who believe in God. But in this song no matter what Matthew West continues to say “I Know you’re there”
3. The Turnaround
Probably my favorite line of any Matthew West song comes from the song “The Turnaround” when West sings, “if I wasn’t drowning I wouldn’t need you to save me, if I wasn’t broken I wouldn’t need you to heal me, oh Lord I’m drowning.” It goes back to what I was saying in a previous song. Not only is it ok that we go through a lot of trials but it’s actually a great thing. If nothing bad ever happened to us we wouldn’t even need God to depend on. “The Turnaround” is exactly how we should react to problems, we should tell God we need his help and give ourselves completely over to him and have faith that he will help us to turn things around.
2. More
A lot of time when we go to church we’re told how awful humans are; we hurt each other, we lie, we cheat, we steal, and we even kill. We’re pretty much told that humans are pretty evil, but sometimes I think it’s taken to an extreme. There’s nothing wrong with being humble and we obviously are nothing compared to God, but I also don’t think it’s wrong for us to realize that of all the creations on this earth, humans are the best. “More” backs that up, talking about how God loves us more than anything else in this world. He has made a lot of wonderful creations: the sun, the moon, the stars, the ocean, and the animals. But out of all those things he loves us the most, not only does he love us more than those other things, but he made those other things for us. Humans might sin but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking joy from the fact that God still loves us anyway.
1. Get Away
My favorite Matthew West song of all is “Get Away” from his History album. I have to admit that on most of this list my descriptions have been about the message of the song because that’s what I feel is most important, but Get Away really sticks out as the best sounding song musically (not that the rest don’t sound good). It’s got a very rockin tune to it, one you wouldn’t normally hear from his other songs, and there is also a choir that sings backup that makes the song even more powerful. Like his other songs, “Get Away”, also has a good message too. There are a lot of things that we allow that we shouldn’t whether it be what we watch, who we hang out with, or how we talk. This song is telling us we need to get away from those things, it’s hard and we can’t do it alone, so we must ask God to give us the strength to get away.
