Early years
Third Day began in 1991, when singer Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Lee finished studying at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. They had already played together in a garage band called Nuclear Hoedown, but now wanted to form a band where they could express their faith in God. Powell and Lee added a keyboard player named Billy Wilkins, and dedicated their time to write songs and perform around the state of Georgia.[1]
In 1992, they were playing at Lee's church the same night that drummer David Carr and bassist Tai Anderson were playing with a band called Bullard Family Singers. Their youth director asked the band to perform at their church. The group took along quickly and were invited to join the band.[2] The album that Carr produced would be released the next year under the title Long Time Forgotten.
In 1993, while dealing with their studies, the band started playing more aggressively around Atlanta and saved $3,000 to record a full-length album. Also, during this time, original member, Billy Wilkins, who was working as a school teacher, ended up leaving the band.[3] Still, Third Day continued to work on their first full-length album, recording at Furies Studios in Atlanta. The album was finally released in 1994 with 2,000 copies available.[4] In 1995, the band started looking for a second guitarist. They had heard Brad Avery play with singer Chris Carder and asked him to play with the band. After playing "Consuming Fire" during their first rehearsal, Avery officially joined the band.
As the band completed its line-up, they also started playing steadily around the South-east area. They also started playing at an Atlanta venue called the Strand Theatre. The management of the local decided to sign the band to a new independent record label called Gray Dot Records. That same year, the band released the album Third Day, which ended up selling 20,000 copies. Shortly after, Reunion Records signed the band to a multi-album deal.[5]
International Success
In 1998, the band started working on their next project titled Time under the production of Monroe James. They had compiled around 30 songs to choose from during the last year, and ended up choosing only ten. The album was also nominated for a Grammy and won another Dove Award for the band. Some of the other songs the band recorded, but were left out can be found in the EP Southern Tracks.[8] Also, during the band's live shows, the worship part was becoming more "powerful", which prompted them to release an album exclusively of worship songs, titled Offerings: A Worship Album. The album was recorded in about a week, and they followed it with a tour alongside Jennifer Knapp. They also collaborated in the project called City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise.[9]
In 2001, the band played in Australia and New Zealand on the heels of the success of the Offerings album. They continued to tour in the States, and recorded one of their concerts in Atlanta to be released as their first DVD, The Offerings Experience. The concert was held at the Hi-Fi Buys Ampitheatre with an attendance of close to 15,000 people. That same year, the band won a total of five Dove Awards as well as their first Grammy. They followed that year with the release of Come Together which ended up winning two Dove Awards and one more Grammy. The album was certified gold the next year, along with Time.[10][11] In 2003, they also released a follow-up to their hit Offerings titled Offerings II: All I Have to Give.
The band appeared in the 2002 film "Joshua", the movie version of the Joseph Girzone novel of the same name. The Third Day song "My Hope is You" was included in the Joshua soundtrack album.
Recent Years
In 2004, the band released their next album, Wire, and toured the States with tobyMac and Warren Barfield. In June of the same year, the band traveled to Europe for a two-week tour. Upon returning, the band recorded a concert at Louisville which ended up as their next project, Live Wire, released later that year. During that year, they also collaborated on the soundtrack for Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, they played at the Republican National Convention, and were featured in the show 60 Minutes.[12] In January 2007, the band played one night each in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia.[13]
Their next album, Wherever You Are, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #8.[14] It also won the band their third Grammy. They have followed it with the holiday album, Christmas Offerings in 2006, and with a compilation of their hits titled Chronology in 2007. On February 28th, 2008, Third Day released a statement announcing Brad Avery's departure from the band after 13 years and over 1000 concerts.
Their best album to date entitled Revelation was released July 29, 2008.
Third Day released Miracle on November 6, 2012. The band toured Miracle on the Miracle Tour with artists Colton Dixon and Josh Wilson as their opening acts, commencing on February 21, 2013 in Fairfax, Virginia and concluding on May 19, 2014 in Orlando, Florida.
Third Day released the worship album Lead Us Back: Songs of Worship on March 3, 2015. The album, produced by the duo The Sound Kids, composed of Jonny Macintosh and JT Daly, peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart, No. 5 on the Top Rock Albums chart[27] and No. 13 on the Digital Albums chart. The album has had one single, "Soul on Fire", that spent 19 weeks on the Billboard charts, peaking at No. 2 on Hot Christian Songs and No. 3 on Christian Digital Songs.
Just to Be With You
Third Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of Calvary
There's no price I would not pay, no
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
And I would give my life away, yeah
And I've heard it said that a man would swim the ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
All of those dreams are in empty motion
It can never be done
I've never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea
Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay, no
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
And I would give my life away, yeah
And I know that you don't understand the fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize how much that I give you
And I promise, I would do it all again
Just to be with you, I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay, no
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away, yeah
I gave my life away
Yeah, just to be with you
Oh, just to be with you
Oh, just to be with you
Oh, just to be with you
Offerings album version:
Spoken:
Oh, has anyone had a good time tonight?
Amen. Amen.
We've had a good time tonight. I'm tired there. I'm tired.
I can't go home. I can't go home.
Mark, can you go home?
Yeah.
All right, let's do this.
I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done
Well, I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of Calvary
Just to be with you, well I'd do anything
Where there's no price I would not pay, no
And just to be with you, I'd give anything
Oh yes, I would give my life away
Yes
And I've heard it said that a man would swim the oceans
Just to be with the one he loves
But all of those dreams are in empty motion
It can never be done
Well, I've never swam the deepest oceans
But I walked upon the raging sea
Just to be with you, well I'd do anything
Where there's no price I would not pay, no
And just to be with you, well, I'd give anything
Oh yes, I would give my life away
Yes
And I know that you don't understand the fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize how much that I give you
But I promise, I would do it all again
And just to be with you, I've done everything
Well, there's no price I did not pay, no
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Oh yes, I gave my life away
Yes, I gave my life away
Yeah, yes, just to be with you
All just to be with you
All just to be with you
All just to be with you
(empty space until 3:16)
Don't Let Me Go
Take my heart and help me feel
Take my faith and make it real
Take my eyes and help me see
All the love surrounding me
Don't let me go
Hold me close to where You are
Don't let me go
Take my heart, take all of me
Take my loss and take my gain
Take my trials and take my pain
Take my life and let it be
All that You would have for me
Don't let me go
Hold me close to where You are
Don't let me go
Take my heart, take all of me
Don't let me go
Hold me close to where You are
Don't let me go
Take my heart, take all of me
Don't let me go
Take my heart, take all of me
The lyrics of Third Day's song, Just To Be With You, describe the depth of the love that the singer has for the person he is addressing. The song draws from the popular notion that people would go to great lengths just to be with the ones they love, such as swimming the ocean or climbing a mountain, and applies it to the singer's love for the person he is addressing. The singer emphasizes that he would do anything and give anything just to be with this person, even going so far as to give his life away.
The song also touches on the concept of divine love, as the singer relates the extent of his love for this person to the love that God has for humanity. The lyrics suggest that the person does not fully understand or appreciate the depth of God's love and sacrifice, but that God would do it all again just to be with them.
In addition to its message of deep love, Just To Be With You also portrays themes of sacrifice, commitment, and devotion. Overall, the song speaks to the universal desire to be with the ones we love, and the lengths to which we will go to make that happen, whether in human or divine relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
It is said that men climb mountains for the ones they love
Just to be with the one he loves
In order to be with someone they love, they would go to great lengths
How many times has he broken that promise
However, promises to climb mountains haven't always been kept
It has never been done
It is almost impossible to do
I've never climbed the highest mountain
Although I have never climbed high mountains
But I walked the hill of Calvary
I have walked through struggles and suffering
Just to be with you, I'd do anything
For the one I love, I would do anything
There's no price I would not pay, no
There is nothing I wouldn't do or sacrifice for them
And I would give my life away, yeah
I would even give up my own life for them
And I know that you don't understand the fullness of My love
You may not fully comprehend the intensity of my love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
I gave my own life to take away your sins
And I know that you don't realize how much that I give you
You may not recognize all the gifts and blessings I offer you
And I promise, I would do it all again
I would do it all over again, if I had to
Well, I've never climbed the highest mountain
I haven't literally climbed mountains
But I walked upon the raging sea
But I have been through turbulent waters
And I've heard it said that a man would swim the oceans
It is also said that men would even swim oceans for the ones they love
But all of those dreams are in empty motion
However, those thoughts are just wishful thinking
Just to be with you, well I'd do anything
For the one I love, I would do anything
And just to be with you, well, I'd give anything
I would give up anything
Yes
And just to be with you, I've done everything
I have done everything possible to be with you
Well, there's no price I did not pay, no
I have paid any price necessary
Yes, I gave my life away
I truly gave up my own life
All just to be with you
All of this was just so I could be with you
Oh, just to be with you
All of my actions were motivated by my love for you
Take my heart and help me feel
Please help me open up my heart and experience emotions
Take my faith and make it real
Strengthen and make my faith a reality
Take my eyes and help me see
Grant me guidance and enhance my vision
All the love surrounding me
So I can see and feel the love around me
Take my loss and take my gain
Accept both my triumphs and losses
Take my trials and take my pain
Bear my difficulties and pains
Take my life and let it be
Grant me direction for my life
All that You would have for me
So I can be all that you desire me to be
Don't let me go
Please don't let me go away from you
Hold me close to where You are
Keep me close to You and Your love
Take my heart, take all of me
Take all of who I am and make it Yours
Contributed by Bentley H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Anderson Souza
Thank you Jesus for giving me another day of life!