Michael W. Smith Comes To Morristown!


by John A. Wilcox



The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been an essential part of Morristown culture sing opening its door in 1937 as the Community Theatre - a fine movie house for decades. Time saw its decline, but in 1994 it was reborn and in 2011 re-named the Mayo Performing Arts Center and has brought live performances to northern New Jersey by a glittering array of stars ever since! A fantastic venue to showcase the talents of Michael W. Smith!



With 3 Grammys, 45 Dove awards, a Golden Note lifetime award from ASCAP, and over 18 million sales, Smith could very easily be content to rest on his substantial laurels. Albums like Go West Young Man, Worship, Change Your World, A Million Lights, and This Is Your Time and songs like Friends, I Will Be Here For You, Live The Life, Agnus Dei, and Place In This World are not only essential Christian songs, they are essential listening regardless of genre. April 11 saw the release of a new Michael W. Smith gem titled Arms Around The Sun, supported by a fantastic video. The day before its release, I asked Smith about the seeds for the song: You know what? It was really Michael Olson. Michael used to be an artist on Rocketown Records. He's now a worship leader in Jacksonville Florida. He's a really dear friend of mine. He's a grrrreat writer. We've written some songs together in the past. He knows that I'm sort of enamored by space and the cosmos. I can just look up in the sky at the stars and have a God moment. I've always been that way. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Just fascinated by it all. And Michael's always known that.

So I kinda had this little melody. I wasn't sure if it was right. I said "Michael, what do you think?" We started talking about space and whatever. So he sends me some of these lines from the song and I kinda had it in a shuffle (Sings shuffle rhythm). Kind of that 123-456. It's so weird. I went and found the old demo of it and it kind of worked with his lyric but I didn't think it was right. Then I sent it to him and he sends something back. Then all of a sudden he's got this line: "I can't see the wind, but it's filling up my lungs. Providence before the beginning had begun. I believe you are a love that never ends. But trying to get my head around You. Is like trying to wrap my arms around the sun." When he sent me that section I straightened out the music and all of a sudden I just finished the music and I thought "Oh my gosh! I think we have something here!" So it was more going back and forth texting-wise. Going "Hey - what do you think about this?" Sending voice memos. Which is not always the case when I'm writing with people. But boy it sure works with him and I'm extremely, extremely happy with the song! I think he just penned an amazing lyric.



"Smitty" as he is often called is excited about bringing new music to audiences from New Jersey to Sweden to Bulgaria and back on his Beyond The Far Horizon tour. In addition to Arms Around The Sun, Smitty plans on having Kingdom Come and Hymn For Communion in the set as well. I asked him about both: It's what I pray every day. I pray the Lord's Prayer. You've got to look at the world. It's a mess and you're sitting there going "Oh God, may your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." I've kinda always wanted to write something - Kingdom Come. I thought it would be a more worshipful thing but I never could just figure it out. I kept trying. I'm not just going to just beat this thing to death. And then I wrote this piece of music. I wrote the whole music before we had a lyric. Then I called Michael. We had just finished Arms Around The Sun. I go "Michael? I've got this piece of music that I really, really love...and I think it might need to be called Kingdom Come." So, again, texting back and forth. Voice memos. That's how the whole thing came to be. It was that simple. I can't wait to do it live!



Hymn For Communion: This is another Michael Olson song. Michael sent me the lyric to the Hymn For Communion and I wrote the music in 3 1/2 minutes. It just sort of fell out of the sky. I wasn't sure it was right but the more and more I listened to it... I would be driving down and it hits the chorus and all of a sudden I have one hand on the wheel and the other hand's lifted up in the air. John, it's so, so powerful. It's an invitation for people to come to the table. It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done - His arms are open wide. It's a beautiful moment on the record.



They will join a packed set full of radio hits and fan favorites. Perhaps even a rarely played gem or two! We discussed our mutual love for Wired For Sound from 1986's The Big Picture: It never made its way to radio and that's OK. There's something about it. It feels prophetic to me, John. When you listen to those lyrics and look at where we're at in this world today. It's actually the chorus. "Word of mouth is the counselor there is no need for proof in a world that's wired for sound." And probably my favorite line is "Wisdom from the sacred page is turned and ignored in a world that's wired for sound." So we might just have to throw that in the set! Make your way to the Mayo and be prepared for an unforgettable evening!



Michael W. Smith
Thursday, April 24, 7:30 PM
Mayo Performing Arts Center
100 South Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973)539-8008
Mayo Performing Arts Center
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