NEEDTOBREATHE – Hard Love

Rock band NEEDTOBREATHE started in 1998, releasing The Feature in 2001 and two EP’s, Fire and Turnaround (both in 2004) before signing with their first audio:  Lava Records.  They released nine albums and six EP’s, including:

• Daylight (2006)
• The Heat (2007)
• The Outsiders (2009)
• Live Horses EP (2010)
• The Reckoning (2011)
• Keep Your Eyes Open EP (2012)
• Cercas Blancas EP (2013)
• Rivers in the Wasteland (2014)
• 60/50 Ocean Way: The Live Room Sessions (EP, 2014)
• Live from the Woods at Fontanel (2015)
• Hard Love (2016)
• Hard Cuts: Songs from the Hard Love Sessions (EP, 2017)
• Acoustic Live Vol. 1 (2018)
• Forever on Your Side (Niles City Sound Sessions) (EP, 2018)
• Out Of Body (2020)

As of this writing, NEEDTOBREATHE received thirteen GMA Dove awards.

Also, check out my reviews of Able, Testify, and Multiplied.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Needtobreathe-hard-love-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

It is a vague message about fighting internal darkness and becoming better for it.  I have many questions:

• What answer does NEEDTOBREATHE require to fight their demons?
• What is the standard?
• In what way does NEEDTOBREATHE fight?  Is it through their effort or God?
• What is this “fire” inside NEEDTOBREATHE?  Is it their inner-strength or the Holy Spirit?

I offer my best guesses to address these questions section 2 under the assumption that the Holy Spirit is their strength; However, it’s not inherently clear.

Side Note: To those who are sensitive to massive repetition, Refrain repeats itself twelve times.

Score: 4/10

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

I subtracted two points to assume the “fire” burning inside is the Holy Spirit.  With that in mind, some of is Biblical, others are unclear, where I guessed the Scipture, and one line in Chorus is not always true.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: References internal warfare (Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 6:12-17, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and the need to put to death fleshy desires (Matthew 5:29, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Mark 9:43, Luke 9:23, Acts 20:24, Philippians 3:2-11, Hebrews 11:25, and 1 Peter 2:11).

[Verse 2]

Line 1: An answer to what?  My best guess is to give an answer for the reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15), but NEEDTOBREATHE doesn’t make this clear.

Line 2: What standard is that?  My best guess is the standard of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but NEEDTOBREATHE doesn’t make that clear.

Lines 3 and 4: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 1-4.

[Chorus]

Line 1: Bridge talks about a “fire” that is the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, it would be His strength that NEEDTOBREATHE relies upon.

Line 2: This is not always true.  Sometimes the things that don’t kill us drive us away from God.  NEEDTOBREATHE hopes it doesn’t, but unfortunately, some walk away (1 John 2:19).

Lines 3 and 4: Trials and tribulations build good character (Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2-4).

Line 5: See commentary on line 1.

Line 6: Repeats line 3.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary on Chorus, line 1.

See commentary on Chorus, lines 3 and 4.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary on Chorus, line 1.

Lines 3 and 4: That is, the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).

Line 5: Casper the friendly ghost.

[Refrain]

Line 1: See commentary on Chorus, lines 3 and 4.

Lines 2-12: Repeats line 1.

Score: 6/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

As stated in section 1, NEEDTOBREATHE is unclear in their communication.  The only clear message is that NEEDTOBREATHE struggles with their behavior and they learn from it.  There’s no hope in Jesus offered in a way that unbelievers will comprehend it.

Score: 2/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It’s difficult to justify that it glorifies God when NEEDTOBREATHE is ambiguous about how they fight their battles.  At best, it glorifies the Holy Spirit as the One who helps.  At worst, it does not glorify God because NEEDTOBREATHE operates on their own steam.  I’ll go halfway, subtracting a point for their error in Chorus.

Score: 4/10

Closing Comments

NEEDTOBREATHE’s Hard Love is opaque.  If their method for fighting their internal struggle with flesh is through the Holy Spirit, it glorifies God.  If not, it is contrary to Scripture, which does not glorify God.  Unbelievers will have a worse time discerning which interpretation is correct.

I cannot recommend this for corporate worship.

Final Score: 4.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Hard Love (listen to the song)

Artist: NEEDTOBREATHE

Album: H A R D L O V E

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2016

Duration: 3:54

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

Updates:

06/16/2021 – Added links to previous reviews.

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I moved my commentary to a side note and increased section 1’s score, raising the overall rating from 4/10 to 4.5/10.