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Miss Daigle has been busy this year! Hot off the heels of her “I don’t know” response to homosexuality, she has performed on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dancing With The Stars, and the Billboard awards. She has come to American Idol as a celebrity mentor, despite rejection when she auditioned ten years ago. Her song You Say peaked at 34 for the top 100 Billboard songs last February. It also won a Grammy for best CCM performance/song. She also won Best Contemporary Christian Album for Look Up Child.
Things are looking up for Lauren! I can’t say the same thing about her Berean Test scores. Maybe First will be a different story?
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1. What message does the song communicate?
The song’s core message is about Daigle seeking “You” first with all her heart. Who is “You’? There is nothing in the lyrics that point to God as the identity of “You”. My friends, this is another “Jesus as my boyfriend” song! How unfortunate. However, the object of her affection is the focus, not her. I must give her credit for that!
Score: 4/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
We will assume that “You” refers to God for this section and invoke a 2 point penalty.
With this assumption in mind, all the lyrics are biblical. Lyrics are posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
Before I bring my need, I will bring my heart
Before I lift my cares, I will lift my arms
This is the implicit attitude of Jesus in the Lord’s prayer, where we thank and praise God before asking for “daily bread”, that is, our needs and worries brought before God (Matthew 6:9-13).
I wanna know You, I wanna find You
In every season, in every moment
That is, personally, relationally. This is what it means to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Before I bring my need, I will bring my heart
Repeats line 1.
And seek You
We seek God and His Kingdom by focusing on Him rather than our worries and struggles (Deuteronomy 4:29, 1 Kings 22:5, 2 Chronicles 30:18-20, Psalm 14:2, Psalm 63:1, Psalm 78:34, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9, Acts 17:27-28, and Hebrews 11:6).
[Chorus]
First
I wanna seek You, I wanna seek You
First
I wanna keep You, I wanna keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First
See commentary on Verse 1, line 6.
[Verse 2]
Before I speak a word, let me hear Your voice
A close equivalent would be Proverbs 18:13, although that is more about human interactions. Despite not finding an exact Bible verse, it is nonetheless good practice to listen to God before speaking to Him. I do this by reading His Word, the Bible.
And in the midst of pain, let me feel Your joy, ooh
I believe Daigle is looking to experience God’s incredible joy. I am sure that is how the Apostles felt once they realized they had seen the risen Jesus. At least, Thomas’ expression is recorded in Scripture (John 20:28).
I wanna know You, I wanna find You
In every season, in every moment
Before I speak a word, I will bring my heart
And seek You
Repeats verse 1, line 3-6.
[Bridge]
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
Where Daigle’s treasure is, there her heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).
I seek You
First
I wanna seek You, seek You, seek You
Derivative of Chorus.
Score: 8/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Boyfriend. Definitely boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Possibly God, but doubtful.
Score: 3/10
4. What does this song glorify?
I’m not sure. I want to believe that this is about God, but there isn’t any evidence to justify that assumption.
Score: 4/10
Closing Comments
Lauren Daigle’s First has a clarity problem. If we assume it was talking about God, it agrees with the Bible and would have implicitly glorified Him. However, without any evidence to justify that assumption, it compromises her message, especially towards unbelievers.
If you wish to still sing this one at a congregation, that is your choice. However, I would recommend lyrics that tell God all the great things He does for us. I don’t see anything like that in this song.
Final Score: 5.5/10
Artist Info
Track: First (listen to the song)
Artist: Lauren Daigle
Album: How Can It Be
Genre: Pop
Release Year: 2015
Duration: 3:48
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2015 CentricSongs (SESAC) See You At The Pub (SESAC) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Flychild Publishing (SESAC) / So Essential Tunes (SESAC) / Upside Down Under (BMI) / Windsor Way Music (SESAC) / So Essential Tunes (SESAC) / West Main Music (SESAC) / Bentley Street Songs (ASCAP) / Be Essential Songs (BMI) / All Essential Music (ASCAP) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
08/05/2022 – Updated scoring in sections 3 and 4 to align with similar reviews. This raised this song’s score, from 4.5/10 to 5.5/10.
03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.
05/21/2020 – The original review incorrectly stated that Lauren Daigle is seeing “You”. It now says seeking.
Comments
Niqui
I don’t know Lauren Daigle’s music much at all, but I read an article where she said something along the lines of not wanting to be referred to as a Christian artist. Even though she states somewhere that she is a Christian.
While Christians may connect with the lyrics personally, I wouldn’t rate her songs as church worship songs, so wouldn’t consider to ever sing them in church.
Vince Wright
Niqui,
Thanks for your comments! Having reviewed much of her songs, I would have to agree. They aren’t generally church material.
-Vince Wright
Kevin
I will say that I’m somewhat of a fan of Lauren Daigle: her voice is as beautiful as Adele’s, but unlike Adele, she doesn’t sing mind-numbing depressing songs of what-could-have-been that makes me want to go and shoot myself. However, I strongly feel that Lauren (and a lot of Christian musicians) need to go get a theology degree before being seen as emissaries of the Christian faith. It’s a big burden to carry for someone who in essence is only an entertainer, albeit a talented and redeemed one.
My real question/comment is regarding category #3, and not specifically concerning this song only, though it applies. I’ve had many arguments with fellow Christians who think that CCM is the devil’s music, and one argument that they often use is the “I can’t tell if they’re singing about Jesus or their lover” line.
Frankly this really blows my mind, because the words to effectively describe Jesus (which English can’t do anyways, but let’s try) totally transcend any words to describe even the kindest and selfless of humans. I’m interested to hear from an unbeliever who actually believes that their lover can match up to any CCM lyrics used to describe Jesus. I work in a workplace that only play Christian music, and my unbelieving co-workers actually take in the lyrics and ask some very intelligent questions. I think we’d all benefit from giving unbelievers a bit more credit for being able to understand a song’s contextual message.
Every conversation I’ve had with unbelievers about songs like this has been formed from or led to questions that have allowed me to share about my personal relationship with Christ, or clarify misconceptions about who God is and what He expects of His children. Either that or it makes them quiet and uncomfortable because they are under conviction, LOL! Bring the gospel down!
That said, if Lauren WAS singing about her boyfriend, he’d be a pretty terrible guy. In that case, the song describes an abusive relationship more than anything else:
-She has to lift up her arms to him before she tells him her problems? So he can feel her up?
-He won’t listen to her needs until she goes after whatever he wants?
-His happiness is more important than her physical safety?
-She may not speak unless he deems it acceptable?
-His wants come first every time
Without the understanding of redemption and consecration, these lyrics make no sense; but with the prior understanding, AND used in progression with other lyrically-rich worship songs and interludes, they have much potential.
Vince Wright
Kevin,
Thank you for your thoughts! I was looking for the question and clearly missed it if you asked one. However, here is essentially what I got out of your commentary regarding category 3. Let me know if I am in error.
-We should take an interest in unbelievers, to hear their thoughts on Christian song lyrics rather than making assumptions.
-We should give unbelievers more credit than perhaps I have done.
-In this song, if Lauren Daigle was singing about a boyfriend, he would be a terrible person; However, it makes more sense in the context of a Holy God.
If these are your points, then I can agree with you. I need to spend more time with unbelievers, to hear their thoughts to see if they generally align with my commentary. Perhaps it will also give me an idea of how much credit (or lack thereof) I ought to extend for reviews, including this one.
-Vince Wright
Kevin
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Yes, it was more a comment than anything. But also a desire to open to dialog with any of your readers. I’m interested to hear if my experiences match with others who have observed unbelievers exposed to Christian music.
I’m also interested if anyone else has felt that the whole “I can’t tell if they’re singing about Jesus or their lover” line used by those who speak out against CCM as sin has been overused and misrepresented. (I came out of a church where this and similar arguments were used to control believers and stifle the Spirit.)
Chero Tuga
Hello,
My comment is on the introduction. It seems unnecessarily harsh on her. Or maybe I simply do not like sarcasm. But the review is good. You’re doing a good job 👍
tastywallet
Chero,
Thanks for the compliment! The end of the introduction was meant to be a small joke about my past reviews. I’ve done five Lauren Daigle reviews and only two were in green.
-TastyWallet