On another continent, some 9000 miles from the United States, is a corner of the earth where there is no Internet, no electricity, no telephone. From wherever you stand, you see red dirt and sky, well-adapted wildlife, rock piles next to dirt roads that seem to go on and on forever. Desolate but not empty, the Australian outback offers people the chance to revel in the open space and solitary oneness this striking terrain provides. Had you traveled that same path years ago, you may have passed Jennifer Knapp along the way, a Grammy nominated, Dove Award winning artist, who was happy to let go of all the success she had to live a very different kind of life traveling to the most remote corners of Australia, looking to reclaim a part of herself she felt she lost in all the excitement of her accomplishments.
And then one day she decided to come back.
Before you start with any Eddie and the Cruisers comparisons, please note that Jennifer didn’t fake her own demise. She just decided to take a break, though at the time, she wasn’t sure she’d ever return. Considering Jennifer has over sold over 1 million records, spent years successfully playing to sold out audiences and had a considerable fan base, the choice wasn’t an easy one but definitely necessary. “I didn’t play, I didn’t write, my guitars collected dust for 5 years. I completely had to divorce myself from the whole thing because I never really took ownership of what music meant for me as an individual. I needed to figure that out, so I really left the music business with the idea that I may not ever do it again.”
At first, Jennifer set out to go to all the cities she had toured in, but never had a chance to visit. Growing up in a tiny town in Kansas, the trips across the US and Europe were exciting. This led to a jaunt to Australia, where she decided to stay. Walking away from her career wasn’t easy, as Jennifer was riding high on the wave of success. Having cultivated an audience within the Christian music spectrum, Jennifer’s first 3 albums were all critical and commercial successes. She won her first Dove Award in 1999 for Best New Artist, scored 2 Grammy nods and another Dove nomination in 2003. She opened for Jars of Clay, spent some time on the Lilith tour and continued to grow her audience, who clamored for more of her folk-rock message of spirituality and love. People magazine touted Jennifer as an “uncommonly literate songwriter,” but just as she was at the top of her game she…let go.
After seven years spent traveling, mastering the Playstation and spending time working at an antique store (and actually loving that she dreaded going to work in the morning like a “normal” person), Jennifer began to re-visit what made her happiest. “I had to go through a mourning process of walking away and convincing myself that it didn’t matter if I played music anymore. But it was hard, and the whole time I was gone, it was like I had a shadow following me. I began to return to it in my own private time, getting out my guitar, starting to play and falling in love with music again without any expectations. I just wanted to play because it meant something to me.”
Struggling with being a normal person with an abnormal occupation, Jennifer finally made peace with what she did best. “I was really enjoying the music I was playing at home. Half the record was written in Australia and as I played it, friends were responding to it. It fanned the flame. There are sad parts of working in the industry that made me feel disconnected, but I realized I was just afraid and was hiding. It seemed a shame that I could share my songs with people and I wasn’t doing it. I hadn’t worked in 7 years and there were fans on the Internet holding vigils for me to play again. It took me a long time to understand that connection and now it’s a passion of mine. In a true sense it’s a gift – you give it because you don’t want it back, and you want it to bless the person receiving it. What an amazing opportunity for me to have.”
Returning to Nashville, Jennifer holed up in the studio to begin recording the aptly named Letting Go, her fourth studio album. With Producer Paul Moak, best known as his work as a studio musician for artists such as Mat Kearney, Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, at the helm, Jennifer had no intention of resting on past laurels. With Paul, they put together a whole new band of hungry young musicians and got to work. With the exception of longtime bass player Tony Lucido, the guys in the studio were musicians Jennifer had never even met before, who brought an energy she was craving. “All risk and high reward” is how she explains her new band with which she had an instant camaraderie.
While Jennifer made her initial mark in the Christian market, her time away made her realize that while she would never turn her back on that belief, she didn’t want to exclude any one else, either. As with past releases, she had gotten used to the focus on her song writing, that it was viewed as somewhat unusual for the Christian music industry. However Jennifer was always celebrated for her honesty and human approach to the divine, and she looks at Letting Go as a continuation of pushing those limits. “It was a struggle, because I was used to writing lyrics one way. I had to break that yolk to write a record that was honest about how I feel about life. It is the voice of people that I am concerned in preserving here, our right to express our deepest souls without the fear of condemnation. It’s my hope that the music feels legitimate and meaningful for whoever hears it. I wanted this record to reflect that.”
The result is the astonishing straightforwardness of Letting Go, an album of stripped back folk and country tinged rock that is as intimate as it is expansive. The musical warmth of Letting Go spreads throughout the record. From the wry opening words (“careful what you say, careful who might hear…”) of “Dive In” to the lyrical play of “Want For Nothing” and the evocative rocker “Inside,” Letting Go observes the world around it with captivating perception.
To say that Jennifer Knapp has come full circle would be a fair assessment. Beside the record release, Knapp has been asked to play on the re-vamped Lilith Fair tour, the first one in 10 years. Since Jennifer played on the last one in ’99, being asked to play the re-launch is very special, a reminder of why Jennifer came back to her musical roots. “There is a strong sense of community that has been in the back of my mind throughout this whole process. I want my core audience to find something familiar, but refreshed, on Letting Go. At the same time, I am so happy to throw off any cloak that has been put upon me that would make any music lover hesitate to listen to my music. I am so excited to bring all different types of people to my party. I’ve written this for them.”
Sometimes, you have to let go of everything to be able to come back.
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Biography taken from: http://www.jenniferknapp.com/about
http://www.jenniferknapp.com
A Little More
Jennifer Knapp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I have proved to live a dastardly day
I hid my face from the saints and the angels who sing of
Your Glory
What You had in mind
When we seek we'll find shine show me grace
A little more than I deserve
Unearth this holiness I can't earn
It's a little more than I can give
A little more than I deserve
For all the sin that lives in me
It took a nail to set me free still,
What I do I don't want to do and so goes the story
What You had in mind
When we seek we'll find, shine, show me grace
A Little More than I can give
A little more than I deserve
Unearth this holiness I can't earn
It's a little more than I can give
A little more than I deserve
With all this motivation I still find a hesitation deep in my
Soul
Despite all my demanding I still find You understanding
Show me Grace show me Grace I know is...
A Little More than I can give
A little more than I deserve
Unearth this holiness I can't earn
It's a little more than I can give
A little more than I deserve
Jennifer Knapp's song "A Little More" is a heartfelt plea for God's mercy and grace. The lyrics suggest a sense of unworthiness and guilt, as the singer admits to living a "dastardly day" and hiding from the glory of God. She recognizes that God's holiness is beyond her reach and she cannot earn it. Instead, she asks for a little more grace than she deserves, acknowledging her own limitations.
The singer admits to the sin that lives within her and how it took a nail to set her free. However, even with this freedom, she still struggles and finds hesitation in her soul. Despite this, she finds comfort in the understanding of God and asks for his grace to be shown to her. The chorus is a repeated plea for a little more grace than she can give or deserves, acknowledging the greatness of God and the shortcomings of humanity.
Overall, the song is a powerful expression of faith and a reminder of the need for God's grace in our lives. It acknowledges the human struggle with sin and the limitations of our own efforts, while also celebrating the love and mercy of God.
Line by Line Meaning
Turn Your eyes from on this way
Please look away from me because I have done wrong.
I have proved to live a dastardly day
I have done something very wrong today.
I hid my face from the saints and the angels who sing of Your Glory
I am too ashamed to show my face to those who worship and praise You.
What You had in mind
Your plan or purpose for me.
When we seek we'll find shine show me grace
If we search for it, You will reveal Your grace to us.
A Little More than I can give
I am not capable of giving as much as You provide.
A little more than I deserve
You give me more than I could ever earn or merit.
Unearth this holiness I can't earn
Please reveal Your divine purity to me, which I could never attain on my own.
For all the sin that lives in me
Despite my best efforts, I am still a sinner.
It took a nail to set me free still,
Only by Your sacrifice on the cross was I able to be redeemed.
What I do I don't want to do and so goes the story
I struggle to resist temptation and often fall short.
With all this motivation I still find a hesitation deep in my Soul
Even though I want to be better, there is often a barrier holding me back.
Despite all my demanding I still find You understanding
Even when I ask for much, You are always patient and forgiving.
Show me Grace show me Grace I know is...
Please continue to give me Your undeserved favor and kindness, I am certain of it.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: JENNIFER LYNN KNAPP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@StephanieHarris-eu7jn
Now this is a voice from my childhood that I haven’t heard in a long time!!! I had the very end of Faithful To Me in my head this evening, and I was blessed by this when I looked it up!
Edit to add: Looks like I missed you “coming out.” I want to just say that I struggled with a pretty serious perversion for most of my life, starting when I was about 10 years old. I lived my life keeping it my own dirty secret, praying for so long for God to take it away. This isn’t something I chose, and God didn’t give it to me. We live in a fallen world, sis.
I learned in the last year what kind of one-two combo punch it is to take captive every thought and to resist the devil and he shall flee.
Whenever those thoughts came, I took them captive. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to right my mind. I resisted the temptation of the devil, and he fled. I did this over and over.
Pursue Him above all things, pursue Him above yourself. That’s what this is about.
One day at the altar I saw in a vision that he slammed that door to that perversion shut and it crumbled away. I dare not reconstruct it and open it again. When the thoughts try to come back, I put them back in place as a daughter of the King.
I know I’m a nobody, and the chances of you reading this are next to none, but I have to share that testimony even if it helps just one person.
God shows his love for us in that WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS CHRIST DIED FOR US. Brother, sister; Christ loves you in the midst of your worst sins. He wants you to come to Him. He doesn’t expect you to stay in sin. It’s one thing to accept and act upon our sinful desires, it’s another to be fighting them. To chase after God’s heart is to fight against our flesh. You can do it.
@monicaleyva9872
One of my faves STiLL..who's still listening in 2020?
@patgarrett3746
I am. She is my favorite recording artist.
@lindat.7520
Meeee ❤️❤️❤️ some songs are etched in our hearts forever.
@megbrown2292
2021
@themaine.m.p8340
Take me back
@FlappyBelly
Not me, but I am in 2021.
@elisabethmontoya7109
Honestly this song is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. It just touches my heart so deeply. The music, the words, her voice!!!
@rafaeldasilvabonfim5743
I was a young gay man in my Christian teenage years and Jennifer's music saved me from depression. Jennifer, many thanks for your songs. No matter what people say, no matter if you are LGBTQIA+, the important thing is to follow Christ's example and love everyone, to be human beings more like Jesus. This pleases the heart of God.
@vacuumblink2300
I relate so much to this. It’s still a struggle being an adult and having my family still trying to convert me 😢
@rafaeldasilvabonfim5743
@@vacuumblink2300 I'm very sorry.
Try to focus on the good things life has given you and the great friends you've made along the way. Together we will win.