Andrea Bocelli (Feat. Celine Dion) – The Prayer

Andrea Bocelli is an opera singer who had congenital glaucoma since he was 5 months.  He went blind at 12 after a soccer accident.  He became active in 1992 and released a lot of music over his long career, including sixteen studio albums, four live albums, and one EP.  He received numerous awards for his work, including seven World Music Awards, six Classical BRITS, and two Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Andrea-bocelli-the-prayer-lyrics.

NOTE: While I don’t normally do translations based on other languages, the majority of these lyrics are English.  Only the Bridge is completely in Italian.  I’ll also assume that Verse 2’s English is the Italian counterpart.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Bocelli prays to someone.  I’m not sure who he prays to.  It could be the Christian god or an idol.  Bocelli is unclear, leading to a high chance of idolatry.

Whoever it is, he prays for:

• Direction
• Wisdom
• Restoration
• Light to remain within him
• Life without pain
• All to find love

While most of these are great prayers to God, the last two are unrealistic.

Score: 4/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

I deducted two points to assume that Bocelli’s prayer is to the Christian God.

Within that assumption, almost all of it is Biblical, except for two minor issues: praying for a life without suffering and for everyone to find love.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: Bocelli prays that God directs his steps (Psalm 37:23 and Proverbs 16:9).

Line 2: Bocelli prays for wisdom (James 1:5).

Lines 3-5: Bocelli prays God will bring his back to Him when he loses his way, guiding with His grace (Romans 6:1-7).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-13: Bocelli prays that God’s light will remain inside us (Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5-7, and 1 John 2:7-11).

[Bridge]

Lines 1-4: According to Google Translate, this says, “We dream of a world with no more violence.  A world of justice and hope.  Everyone gives his hand to his neighbor.  Symbol of peace, of fraternity.”  This is the world that the early church created in their community in Acts 4:32-35 and will be fully realized when Jesus comes again (Revelation 7:17, Revelation 21:1-4, and Revelation 22:1-5).

[Verse 3]

Lines 1 and 2: While a noble prayer from Bocelli, Scripture tells us that we should expect persecution when we follow Jesus (John 15:18 and 1 John 3:13).

Lines 3 and 4: Bocelli prays for God to be with him, reminding God of His promise (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:8-9, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 118:6, Lamentations 3:22-23, and Hebrews 13:5-6).

Lines 5-8: Once again, a noble prayer by Bocelli; However, Scripture also tells us that singleness is also good (1 Corinthians 7:1-40).  Bocelli’s heart is in the right place, but not everyone is meant to find love and get married.  Instead, Bocelli should pray according to God’s will (James 4:14-15 and 1 John 5:14).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-8: See commentary on Verse 3, lines 1 and 2.

Score: 6/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

While those outside Christianity will recognize it as a general prayer offered to a deity, as mentioned in section 1, there’s no specific deity that’s implied.  Though positive and uplifting, I doubt it will lead anyone to think “Jesus”.

Score: 2/10

4. What does this song glorify?

I don’t know.  It somewhat inherently glorifies God if we assume “You” is God.  It is idolatrous and does not inherently glorify God.

Score: 3/10

Closing Comments

Andrea Bocelli’s The Prayer is unclear.  If we assume God, Bocelli’s prayer is mostly Biblical, asking for spiritual protection, wisdom, and restoration, all of which glorify God.  However, when he asks for an easy life and for all to find love, these work against realities of persecution and calls for singleness in Scripture.  If we don’t assume God, these lyrics could apply to any deity that will listen, leading to idolatry.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 4/10

Artist Info

Track: The Prayer (listen to the song)

Artist: Andrea Bocelli (Feat. Celine Dion)

Album: Sogno

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 1999

Duration: 4:28

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

06/24/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Bocelli’s beliefs.

03/17/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I only removed some slight commentary in section 1.