Empty Me

I remember sitting in a little writer’s room in the Provident building with Tony Wood and trying to figure out what to write. I turned to Tony and told him I wanted to write about the "American Idol" experience, but from the perspective of seeing how fame and fortune can tug at my heart...but all I need is Christ. He thought for a moment and then told me he had a snippet of a lyric that might be the chorus, and he pulls out the chorus to this song. From there, we quickly wrote verses, explaining the "American Idol" experience in just a few lines. Tony took a bathroom break, and while he was gone, I wrote the simple lines for the bridge. That summed up the entire song: “Everything is a lesser thing compared to You, so I surrender all.” As Tony and I worked, I wrote the music as an upbeat rocker, which I quickly demoed out and sent to Brown [Bannister], the producer of my record. He loved the sentiment of the lyric but thought that the music didn’t really grasp the sincerity of the lyric, so he asked me to take another pass. I was a little ticked because I thought the music was just fine, but in trusting Brown, I decided to at least give it a try.

The next day I had my first writing session with a writer named Clint Lagerberg. We hit it off immediately. We had the same sense of humor and loved a lot of the same music; and within 10 minutes we were fast friends. As we tried to decide what to write, I pulled up this lyric and asked if we could try to write new music for it. Literally, within 30 minutes we had the music for this song. We changed a couple of lyrics and quickly laid down a demo track. Though I loved the original music, this take on the lyric I believe really captures the sincerity and frailty of the lyric. And this is my prayer: That God would empty me of me so that I can be filled with Him. –Chris Sligh

"Empty Me" is nominated for Song of the Year at the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards. The song can be found on Chris Sligh's debut, Running Back to You (Brash). For more info, visit chrissligh.com.

Empty Me

Chris Sligh, Clint Lagerberg, Tony Wood

I’ve had just enough

Of the spotlight when it burns bright

To see how it gets in the blood

I’ve tasted my share

Of the sweet life and the wild ride

And found a little is not quite enough

I know how I can stray

And how fast my heart could change

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds onto
Lord, empty me of me so I can be filled with you

I’ve seen just enough

Of the quick buys of the best lies

To know how prodigals can be drawn away

I know how I can stray

And how fast my heart could change

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds onto
Lord, empty me of me so I can be filled with you

‘Cause everything is a lesser thing

Compared to you, compared to you

‘Cause everything is a lesser thing

Compared to you, so I surrender all

Empty me

Of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition

And the poison of my pride

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds onto
Lord, empty me of me so I can be filled with you

© 2008 Chris Sligh, Clint Lagerberg, Tony Wood; Foolish Tool Music (ASCAP), Word Music LLC (ASCAP), Kindacrazy Music (BMI), Row 7 Seat 9 Songs (ASCAP), New Spring Publishing (ASCAP), Bridge Building Music (BMI)