Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.
Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.
Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).
Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.
Star Search
In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".
Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.
American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."
A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.
Be Still My Soul
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
The song "Be Still My Soul" by David Archuleta is a comforting and reassuring reminder that God is always by our side, guiding us through the storms of life. The first verse encourages the listener to have faith and trust in God's plan, even when faced with trials and tribulations. The second verse reinforces this message by reminding us that God has guided us through the past and will continue to guide us through the future, no matter how uncertain it may seem.
Line by Line Meaning
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Remain calm, my soul, for God is always there for you, helping you to overcome any obstacles or hardships in life.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Endure the difficulties and suffering that life might bring, with patience and perseverance, without giving up.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
Trust in God to take care of your needs, to arrange your life events in your favor, and to provide for you.
In every change, He faithful will remain.
No matter how much changes in life, God's love, support, and faithfulness remain the same.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Stay calm, my soul, for God, your closest and the most trustworthy friend, always has your best interests at heart.
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Despite the difficult and challenging path, God leads you on the right path that ultimately leads to a happy and fulfilling outcome.
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
Stay composed, my soul, for God assures to guide you in the direction, and take care of anything that might come your way.
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Just as God has helped you out in the past, he sees your future and promises to guide you in the direction you ought to take.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
Do not let anything get in the way of your hope and faith in God, remaining steadfast in trust for him.
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Everything unclear or baffling in your life shall be clear to you in the end, and lead you on to a brighter future.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
Remain calm, my soul, for the same God who controlled the waves and winds before will continually have power over them now.
His voice Who rules them while He dwelt below.
The voice of the Lord Jesus, who had the power to keep the wind and waves calm upon the sea of Galilee, still retains its authority on earth.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
Be composed, my soul, as the hour approaches when we will be forever in the presence of the Lord.
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
The day will soon come where we will be in the company of our Lord, forever and content.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
On that day, all the pain, sadness, and fear that affects us now will disappear forever.
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
With sorrow now a thing of the past, only the unadulterated joys of sacred love will remain for us to cherish forever.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
Stay calm, my soul, for when all the trials and tears of life are behind us and when things settle, the Lord will reward us for our faithfulness.
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
When we ultimately meet with the Lord, the journey to get there and all our efforts will be worth it, as we will receive his blessings and safety ever more.
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Capitol CMG Publishing, Bluewater Music Corp., Integrity Music, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Jean Sibelius, Katharine Von Schlegel, Paul Mickelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
F Gregory
"Be Still My Soul" inspired by Psalm 46 by Jean Sibelius
Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to thy God to order and provide, in every change He faithful will remain.
Be still my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still my soul; thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still my soul; the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still my soul; the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief and fear are gone.
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be Still my soul; when change and tears are past. All Safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Amen
Christinea Mclearly-Halton
Sounds beautiful and pureness of his voice is so heartfelt ♥️ from Australia xx
Joey Faith
It’s 2022 and I’ve recently watched his video where he pours out his heart and soul for the world. His inner anguish and pain and confusion broke my heart. David is a man of God and his love for our Father in Heaven and our savior Jesus Christ is so strong! He is still a great example of what it’s like to love the Lord and do your best to live a Christ like life. He has morals, which a lot of people lack. He is loving, sincere, honest and an all around beautiful spirit. David, you are perfect just the way you are. Your voice gives me goosebumps! It’s so pure and angelic just like you ❤️🙏🏼 You are loved my brother in Christ. Take care of yourself 🙏🏼 The world needs David Archuleta
DJ Jecker
So well said. It is sad in our civilized world that young people are so often put through that, and many do not make it out the other side. So happy that through the Lord Himself David is now living his true self. He has given the world and is giving the world SO MUCH.
Lola Ottinger
There were several young men who were contestants on American Idol that let us know that their faith was strong, Jason Castro, David Archuleta, and Scotty McCreery, there may have been others, but these three really stood out in my mind. David is such a sweetheart.
Charlene Mack
So beautifully said. Thank you very much.💖💖💖
Christian Gibbs
Ya gotta love that "Aw, shucks" smile he gets at the end. He's just so genuine. It's a nice change from so many performers these days.
Mom Mom
The Talent of this young man, is from Heaven The Holy Spirit carries the song to my heart....Thankyou Dear Soul....love your voice.
Ed Randall
Beautiful sweetheart 🌹❤️🙏
Alice Goetz
Wish more young people had this kind of interest in this kind of music
Beckie aka Odielion
just watched this for the first time, tears streamed down my face, as this young man, recognized the magnitude of his audience and so humbly and beautifully delivered one of the best performances of this song I have ever heard.