“We started out by leading our peers in worship on Wednesday mornings and we fell in love with it,” recalls Josiah, citing the group’s moniker inspired by the tribe of Issachâr in Joshua 19 that also understood the current needs of its generation. “As soon as we graduated, we all prayed and sought God’s true heart and will. We felt called to full time music ministry, but knew nothing about the music industry. We started playing in the Portland area and four years later we got a phone call from a guy with a ministry called Common Ground. It’s basically a huge production with concerts, games and a gospel presentation in a public school. So here we were thinking we’d have no chance to continue singing to students after having just graduated, and we wound up in front of hundreds and sometimes thousands of teenagers in gymnasiums singing about Jesus.”
Considering the guys possess an ultra-current yet equally timeless combination of The Fray, Jars of Clay, The Afters and Death Cab For Cutie, it’s been a natural fit for audiences of teens and twenty-somethings, though the more word spread about the band throughout the upper Northwest, the more God’s plan seemed to point towards a broader scale. “We never dreamed of becoming famous, but our contacts developed naturally and we found one door after the next opening up for us,” Josiah continues. “What started as giving a demo to a friend at a local Christian bookstore chain turned into it getting passed around the industry and getting to meet up with various contacts at Gospel Music Week in 2008.”
In addition to linking up with current manager Ryan Shrout (former lead guitarist of the career platinum selling act Kutless), Sixteen Cities was invited to an indie artist retreat hosted by Centricity Music, and the rest, as they say, is history. After inking a deal in the fall of 2008, the group hunkered down in the studio to craft its self-titled debut alongside all-star producers/songwriters Jason Ingram (Brandon Heath, Tenth Avenue North) and Rusty Varenkamp (Bebo Norman, Rush of Fools).
“I co-wrote most of the songs on the record and I can say as a whole this project seeks to speak to people’s hearts and convey a message of hope,” unveils Josiah. “I’ve always written with a more personal approach because I believe it’s important to show God’s a real person in my life and not just someone I only talk about with Christianese lingo. In starting out in the public school system, you realize it’s really important to never come across judgmental or condemning and introduce Christ in a relevant way. It’s all about showing them how real God is and to encourage them to rise above the status quo and truly live for Christ. Sixteen Cities is more about challenging and pressing kids to make the most of what God has for their lives rather than living a life of complacency.”
Several of the album’s songs indicate that exact approach, from the contemplative piano pop of “Come As You Are” to the empowering mid-tempo rocker “Someone’s Work of Art” and the joyous jumper “Sing Along.” Perhaps most pertinent to the group’s goal is, “Pray You Through,” an immediate anthem about sincerely blanketing a struggling person with petitions, especially if the problem proves so difficult that mere words won’t provide enough comfort.
It’s truly a bold and authentic approach that’s even more remarkable given the public school settings where the group continues to give the majority of its concerts. But upon closer examination of the cause, those messages are unfurled within a pop culture-friendly entertainment experience possessing the utmost relevance towards today’s teens.
“Our country has basically shut the door to Christianity in schools, but it’s still our calling to reach out to students who may have never heard the gospel or stepped into a church’s door,” confirms Joshua. “The outreach events are typically advertised throughout the week and then we perform on Saturday nights along with a ton of cool things to do, like a cash cage or contests to win a dune buggy or chopper motorcycle. If Jesus came back to earth now, I don’t think He’d go to the churches, and come to think of it, He really didn’t before. He went where no one else was sharing and right now we see students in public schools as one of the biggest voids to hear that message.”
Of course, Sixteen Cities will be supporting the self-titled CD in more traditional terms as well, including shows at churches, clubs or coffeehouses, plus lending opening act support where applicable. Thus far the group’s resume includes dates with the lauded likes of Kutless, Sanctus Real, Building 429, Fireflight, Shawn McDonald, Remedy Drive and Falling Up to name a few. There’s even a three week tour of schools and churches in Denmark, which coupled with Josiah and Joshua’s off the road roles as home church worship leaders, makes Sixteen Cities amongst the most pliable and diverse acts hitting the pavement these days.
“It really doesn’t matter where we’re performing, we just try to break down the barrier between the stage and the audience in hopes that the message can be heard and accepted,” Josiah affirms. “It’s an ideal show if everyone starts off jumping around and having a great time, but then walk away feeling like they’ve had an authentic experience where they’ve either been introduced to Jesus for the first time or feel stronger in their faith than when they first walked in.”
Winter
Sixteen Cities Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never meant to fall this far
I feel like I'm completely frozen
Can I find a way back to where You are?
'Cause I've been searching for the sun
But I don't know if anyone
Could tell me how to find my way home
All the things that I've become
Are all the things I'm running from
I don't want my heart to turn to stone
This cold has been so bitter
Can you save me from this winter?
It came creeping in so slowly
And now it's covered up the truth
In the name of being holy
We got so far away from You
'Cause I've been searching for the sun
But I don't know if anyone
Could tell me how to find my way home
All the things that I've become
Are all the things I'm running from
I don't want my heart to turn to stone
This cold has been bitter
Can you save me from this winter?
Can you save me from this winter?
Can you save me from this winter?
Can you save me from this winter?
Can you save me from this winter?
'Cause I've been searching for the sun
But I don't know if anyone
Could tell me how to find my way home
All the things that I've become
Are all the things I'm running from
I don't want my heart to turn to stone
'Cause I've been searching for the sun
But I don't know if anyone
Could tell me how to find my way home
All the things that I've become
Are all the things I'm running from
I don't want my heart to turn to stone
This cold has been so bitter
Can you save me from this winter?
This cold has been so bitter
Can you save me from this winter?
The lyrics of "Winter" by Sixteen Cities speak to the pain of a broken heart and a longing to return to a place of safety and love. The singer reflects on the mistakes they've made and the distance they feel from their true self and from God. They describe feeling frozen and lost, searching for a way back home but unsure of how to find it. They acknowledge the sin and doubt that have led them away from God and pray for salvation from the cold and bitter winter of their heart.
The imagery of winter and the bitter cold create a powerful metaphor for the feelings of isolation and despair that can come from separation from God. Our hearts can become hardened and frozen when we turn away from love and from the truth. The search for the sun represents the desire for light and warmth, for the hope and guidance that comes from a relationship with God.
The final plea to be saved from the winter is a cry for redemption and restoration, a recognition that we cannot save ourselves from our own sins and mistakes. The song is a reminder that no matter how far we may stray or how lost we may feel, there is always a way back to the safety and love of our Heavenly Father if we are willing to turn back towards Him.
Line by Line Meaning
How did I ever get this broken?
I am broken and I don't understand how this happened to me.
I never meant to fall this far
I didn't realize how far I had fallen until it was too late.
I feel like I'm completely frozen
I am stuck and unable to move forward.
Can I find a way back to where You are?
I want to find my way back to God.
'Cause I've been searching for the sun
I have been searching for hope and light.
But I don't know if anyone
I am unsure if anyone can help me.
Could tell me how to find my way home
I need guidance to find my way back to God.
All the things that I've become
I have become someone I don't recognize.
Are all the things I'm running from
I am trying to escape from the person I have become.
I don't want my heart to turn to stone
I don't want to lose my ability to feel and love.
This cold has been so bitter
This pain has been unbearable.
Can you save me from this winter?
I need help to escape from this painful winter season of my life.
It came creeping in so slowly
This pain and isolation came into my life gradually and unnoticed.
And now it's covered up the truth
This pain has distorted my perception of reality and hidden the truth from me.
In the name of being holy
I have become too focused on religious rules and regulations, losing sight of God's love and grace.
We got so far away from You
I have become distant from God.
Can you save me from this winter?
I need help to escape from this painful winter season of my life.
Can you save me from this winter?
I need help to escape from this painful winter season of my life.
Can you save me from this winter?
I need help to escape from this painful winter season of my life.
Can you save me from this winter?
I need help to escape from this painful winter season of my life.
Writer(s): Jason Walker Copyright: Dayspring Music LLC
Contributed by Aaron E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.