The band’s recent history is pretty impressive. Since its 2008 debut album, Over and Underneath, Tenth Avenue North has become one of Christian music industry’s most successful acts, saturating Christian radio with such memorable songs as “Love is Here,” “Hold My Heart,” and “By Your Side,” a number one single that was Billboard magazine’s No. 3 overall Christian song for the decade. They won New Artist of the Year in 2009 at the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards and in 2010 “By Your Side” was named Song of the Year.
The band’s 2010 sophomore album, The Light Meets the Dark, debuted at No. 1 on the Nielsen Christian SoundScan chart and No. 15 on the Billboard 200. The album hit the No.1 Christian Album chart position at both iTunes and AmazonMP3, reaching Top 5 on iTunes’ Overall chart, propelled by the lead single, “Healing Begins.” The compelling ballad “You Are More” was 2011’s No. 1 Song of the Year on Billboard’s Christian Audience Chart.
As the band approached its third album, it would have been easy to take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude, but the word complacency is not in its vocabulary. Band members Mike Donehey (lead vocals), Jeff Owen (guitars), Jason Jamison (drums), Ruben Juarez (bass) and Brendon Shirley (keyboard) took a totally different approach in how they wrote and recorded The Struggle. Instead of waiting until they got home to Nashville to begin recording demos, the songs were written and demoed on the road while the band was on tour.
“We wrote ‘Don’t Stop The Madness’ in January of 2011,” Owen says of the confessional anthem. “That’s when we first started writing as a band and we were recording demos as we were writing. On the last two records, Mike would write most of the songs with Jason, or on his own. He would show up and the song would have lyrics and melody and acoustic guitar, and then we’d take that and make it our own. We’d put a beat to it and shake it, but this time we started basically from scratch.”
Recording on the road led to some interesting sessions. “When we recorded, ‘Where Life Will Never Die,’ there was an amp in our bathroom,” Jamison says with a smile.
“Sometimes there were things on the demo that we couldn’t replicate in the studio,” Donehey adds, “so we ended up finding the files from the demo and putting them on it. We recorded drums in the front of the bus at one time. They sounded amazing.”
The Struggle is also the first album to include the two newest members of Tenth Avenue North-- Ruben Juarez and Brendon Shirley.
“Ruben and Brendon are more technically knowledgeable than Jason, Jeff and I are,” says Donehey. “They really added to the musical structure of these songs. Plus, we all get along so well creatively, I couldn’t see doing this record without them.”
In an innovative twist, Tenth Avenue North invited fans to be part of the creative process and invited them to sing on the record. “It started on the Third Day tour,” Owen says of the trek last fall. “We sent out Twitter and Facebook [messages] to our fans and said, ‘Hey, come sing on our record.’ We have people from Nebraska singing with people from Fargo and Albuquerque.”
In various cities on the tour, the band would invite fans to show up and then they’d record their voices to add to different songs on the album. “It’s cool,” Donehey says. “These are the people that support us and listen to this music. It is music that affects their lives and now they are actually a part of it.”
Working again with producer Jason Ingram (six-time winner of SESAC’s Christian Songwriter of the Year award), the members of Tenth Avenue North have crafted a sonically diverse record that mirrors the passion and intensity of its live show. “We got a lot of comments over the past several years about how our live show is much different than our recorded music,” says Donehey. “It has more energy and more of a rock edge to it. We try to be more musical and create different moments, so I think going into this we wanted to make sure we were aware of our live show and how these songs were going to play out live.”
As always, the band was ever mindful of the power of its songs and the messages in its lyrics. Though the word “struggle” tends to evoke thoughts of challenge and strife, leave it to Tenth Avenue North to illuminate the possibilities and show that struggle is ultimately a privilege. “Hallelujah! We are free to struggle. We’re not struggling to be free,” Donehey sings in the title track.
“We want to give people permission to struggle, to realize that there’s grace and you don’t have to be good enough,” says Donehey. “It’s the theme of a lot of our music, but we also want to challenge people to not stay there, to not stay in that place of struggling. There is power and there is grace, not only to forgive your struggle, but to redeem you from the struggle. . . We’re going to struggle until the day that we die, but we don’t have to struggle to earn what God has provided for us.”
The lead single, “Losing,” is a song that challenges believers to forgive because we’ve been forgiven. Offering forgiveness may sometimes make you feel like you're "losing" but only in showing others the grace God has shown us are we truly free. Such powerful yet poetic messages continue to populate every song on The Struggle. “Strangers Here,” inspired by Hebrews 11 reminds us of better things to come. As Donehey sings the emotional lyric he urges us to remember that this life is only temporary and one day we will touch the face of our God.
“Worn” is a tender ballad that acknowledges our human frailty and the rest that awaits in our heavenly Father’s arms. As a young father, balancing the responsibilities of music ministry and raising two young daughters, Donehey is well acquainted with physical and emotional exhaustion; and in the song, he shares one of the most vulnerable vocal performances on the record. Yet even in the midst of struggle, fatigue and alienation---all emotions every human battles---the songs celebrate the sovereignty of God in every aspect of our lives. Song after song, the band offers up the kind of lyrically substantive lyrics people have come to expect from Tenth Avenue North wrapped in the most adventurous music they’ve ever crafted.
“Grace” boasts a vibrant melody and some of the record's most compelling lyrics as Donehey sings: “Grace, only grace can roll your dead heart's stone away. Grace only grace can move us to a rhythm that can changes our ways.” “We’re going to struggle until the day that we die," says Owen of the song's message, "but we don’t have to struggle to earn what God has provided for us.”
“All the Same” acknowledges the fact that though we might appear very different on the surface, at the core we are all the same, desperate for the love of God. “You Do All Things Well” is yet a soothing prayer that celebrates the power of God to meet our every need. The worshipful chorus is a soaring celebration of God's majesty.
Tenth Avenue North has come a long way from sharing the Gospel with students at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida to playing for more than a half a million people in concert last year. It’s a platform and privilege they take seriously. “When I’m playing, I look out and I can see people’s eyes,” says Donehey. “I’ve always carried an ache for people. I want people to experience the freedom I’ve experienced. I want people to experience the forgiveness I’ve experienced.”
Music can provide a healing balm to those breaking hearts and through its music, Tenth Avenue North continues to shine a light not only on the struggle, but the hope that changes lives forever.
Members:
Mike Donehey - Lead Vocals/Guitar
Jeff Owen - Guitar/BGVs
Jason Jamison - Drums
Ruben Juarez-Bass Guitar
Brendon Shirley-Keys
Former Members
Bryan Homan
Daniel (Danny) Zayas
Scott Sanders - bass guitar, keyboard
Andrew Middleton
Genre:
Rock/Christian/Religious
Hometown:
West Palm Beach, Florida
Record label:
Reunion Records
Break Me Down
Tenth Avenue North Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like the rain against my skin
And I hear you calling
Your voice like thunder in my head
But now I am stallin'
'Cause I'm afraid to let you in
Yeah, come break me down with your mercy
Come break me down again
I'm yours tonight
I'm yours, you can break me down
Break through these walls I hide behind
I'm yours tonight
Come and break me down
Won't you break me
(Won't you break me down, breaking me down)
I feel it inside me
I feel you underneath my skin
These walls could not hide me
They could not keep you from coming in
So now here you find me
Right back to where I began
Oh, come break me down with your mercy
Come break me down again
I'm yours tonight
I'm yours, you can break me down
Break through these walls I hide behind
I'm yours tonight
Come and break me down
Won't you break me down
(Break me down, oh oh, come and break me down)
'Cause I need your strength to feel this weak
I need your touch to fill my need
I need your strong hands to carry me
Take me, break me, set me free
'Cause I need your strength to feel this weak
I need your touch to fill my need
I need your strong hands to carry me
Take me, bring me to my knees
I'm yours tonight
I'm yours, you can break me down
Break through these walls I hide behind
I'm yours tonight
Come and break me down
Come and break me down
Come and break me down
Yeah, won't you break me down
The lyrics of Tenth Avenue North's song Break Me Down are an invitation to God to enter the singer's life and break down the walls that he has built up. In the first verse, the singer acknowledges that he can feel God's presence ("I feel you falling like the rain against my skin") and hear his voice as if it were thunder in his head, but he is afraid to let God in. The singer is then presented as being willing to be broken down by God's mercy, and he invites God to do just that ("Come break me down with your mercy").
In the second verse, the singer admits that while he has tried to hide behind walls, God has managed to find him and bring him back to where he began ("So now here you find me / Right back to where I began"). The singer then pleads with God to "take me, break me, set me free," acknowledging that he needs God's strength to feel weak, his touch to fill his need, and his strong hands to carry him.
The theme of the song is one of surrender and being vulnerable before God. The singer recognizes his own limitations and weaknesses and realizes that only through surrendering to God can he find true freedom and strength. The song is a call to all who feel trapped or stuck in their lives to let go and allow God to break them down and set them free.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, I feel you fallin'
I sense your presence descending upon me
Like the rain against my skin
Your influence is palpable and significant
And I hear you calling
Your voice is reaching out to me
Your voice like thunder in my head
Your voice is strong and attention-grabbing
But now I am stallin'
I hesitate to respond to you
'Cause I'm afraid to let you in
I fear opening up to you and exposing my vulnerability
Yeah, come break me down with your mercy
Please bring me to a state of humility with your kindness
Come break me down again
Repeatedly bring me to this point of surrender
I'm yours tonight
I am submitting to your authority and will
Break through these walls I hide behind
Help me overcome my emotional barriers
Won't you break me
Please, break me down and remake me
I feel it inside me
I can sense a change that needs to happen
I feel you underneath my skin
I am acutely aware of your presence within me
These walls could not hide me
My defenses were inadequate to prevent you from reaching me
They could not keep you from coming in
Your influence could not be stopped or slowed by my walls
So now here you find me
I am once again open and exposed to you
Right back to where I began
I am back at a place of surrender and dependency
Oh, come break me down with your mercy
Show me your compassion as you bring me down
I'm yours, you can break me down
I am yours to mold and shape as you see fit
Won't you break me down
Please, help me become a better version of myself
'Cause I need your strength to feel this weak
I require your power to overcome my own weaknesses
I need your touch to fill my need
I am dependent upon your love to fulfill me
I need your strong hands to carry me
I require your guidance and support to move forward
Take me, break me, set me free
Use me as you see fit, help me become whole
Come and break me down
I am ready for you to bring me to a place of surrender
Come and break me down
Repeatedly do whatever it takes to bring me to submission
Yeah, won't you break me down
Please, continue the process of refining and remaking me
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Mike Donehey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind