"Clouds"

I have a little series of videos titled Songs Written and Recorded in Cars. I actually write a majority of my songs in cars (or at least have done so the past five or six years), as the solace of the road has provided ample room for thought and melody to sweep through. Shooting these videos has been a bit of a slow process though.

The song I'm featuring here, "Clouds," is probably the first song I ever wrote in a car. I had just taken my dad to the airport, and was feeling noticeably sad and introspective. The same day, my girlfriend at the time was going to drive home for the summer, and so I remarked at the idea of "losing" two loved ones in one day, even if just for a time.

As I was driving, however, I noticed dark storm clouds that lined the sky, but also the leftover moonlight and pending sunrise, working their way through and above as morning hit. Sunrises are beautiful, but even more so when there are clouds present, which sparked the idea of what makes our lives most beautiful. Is it only the good times, or also the unpleasant -- the clouds of life, if you will?

Our character is what we take with us when we die, and we tend to grow the most in adversity. Really, life is all about us growing and maturing, and then passing along what we learned for a hopefully open-eared generation. Seeing the clouds that morning reminded me that life's beauty is often seen most profoundly when blocked by something else; but that the object blocking is a huge part of what makes the picture more beautiful in the first place.

Hopefully this song reminds you and me to keep life in perspective, and when things aren't working out as we planned, to look to a God who is bigger than our problems, seeing that, ultimately, they are for our good.

LYRICS
Have you ever seen the moonlight in the morning
When all the while you are mourning
Because a loved one has gone away?
And did you notice how the moon behind the clouds is shining
Around the darkness, there's a lining
And you can almost see the rays piercing through?

Clouds make the skyline beautiful
When the light is still shining right beside you
Our souls become more colorful
When our problems aren't as big as our God

Have you ever seen in the same sky the colors brighten
And you can tell that the sun is rising
Even though a loved one has gone away?
And did you notice how the clouds paint the picture
Like they know how much you miss her
Even though they're stopping the rays from piercing through?

Clouds make the skyline beautiful
When the light is still shining right beside you
Our souls become more colorful
When our problems aren't as big as our God
Clouds make the skyline beautiful
When the wonder that I see shows He's looking out for me
Our souls become more colorful
When our problems aren't as big as our God