The Eye On It Songfacts reports that Eye On It, TobyMac's fifth full-length… Read Full Bio ↴The Eye On It Songfacts reports that Eye On It, TobyMac's fifth full-length studio album was released on August 28, 2012. Said TobyMac regarding the album title: "I want my music to depict what I'm going through. I want to write about the things that upset me, move me, hurt me and haunt me. The things that are real. With Tonight, I was determined to live more passionately with God. I was laying down the gauntlet. Eye On It is a continuation of that. It's saying, 'This is the person I want to be and I'm going to keep my eye on it, God willing!'"POOP"
The ascension of TobyMac’s solo career has been nothing short of spectacular. In an era of declining music sales he has consistently defied the odds and has seen his sales increase with each new album release. This is no small feat. With his fourth studio album TONIGHT released on Feb. 9, he is poised to take things higher yet again.
Having climbed the mountain once with the group dcTalk (4 Grammys, more than 8 million albums sold), TobyMac knows how difficult the journey can be and how much work the process actually takes. Rarely does an artist get to soar to great heights for a second time, but soar he has. He took home his first Grammy as a solo artist last year after receiving Grammy nominations for each of his first four solo projects (Momentum, Welcome To Diverse City, Portable Sounds, Tonight). And last year TobyMac topped 2 million in total albums sold during his solo career. TobyMac has also remixed the Welcome to Diverse City album and Momentum, calling the new albums Renovating Diverse City and Re:Mix Momentum, respectively. He has done it with a combination of talent, hard work and humility which has produced songs that resonate with people from all walks of life .
Upon embarking on his solo career, Toby sought to surround himself with a talented and diverse cast of characters, aptly named the Diverse City Band. The result has been a musical fusion that radiates with an unquenchable energy and a penetrating message.
A self-professed perfectionist when making records—he’s been known to relentlessly tweak and massage every little thing in an inexorable effort to make it sound better—Toby is the first to admit that he has to work really hard to make great music. “That’s what drives me,” he says. “I feel like I have to work harder than other people to get there. Sometimes I feel like I’m slightly under-gifted; I usually don't sit down and write a great song in just a few minutes like others can. But I think my work ethic makes up for that.”
Starting with dcTalk, and then going solo when the group disbanded in 2000, Toby still clings to such rootsy notions as hard work, persistence, patience and—perhaps most relevant of all—the power of music, which he insists is still what keeps him going.
“It’s the truth,” he says. “I still believe that a song can penetrate a heart. I believe God can use a song to open someone’s mind and heart. Other songs can just drop what I call, 'the joy bomb' on somebody. I fight really hard to remain unjaundiced—to keep believing that you can actually walk into a studio and write a song that breathes life. That’s the hardest fight for a guy who’s been doing this for a while; it’s easy to fall into the trap of just making it your job. But I still believe that songs matter.”
The songs on TONIGHT certainly matter—everything from the prayerful first single “City On Our Knees” to the testimonial “Changed Forever,” from the worshipful “Captured” to the confessional “Start Somewhere,” and even down to the put-on-your-party-hat grooves of “Funky Jesus Music” and “ShowStopper.” One theme that runs loud and clear throughout is the idea that we all need God, and we need him now—this morning, this afternoon, tonight.
“Right here, right now / Under the stars / I promise You my heart / ’Cause it starts tonight,” Toby sings on the chorus of the title track. “If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now?” he asks on “City on Our Knees.” And “I wanna straighten this before the sun goes down tonight,” he proclaims on “Start Somewhere.”
“There’s definitely a sense of urgency on this record,” says co-producer Chris Stephens, who has worked on TobyMac’s last three CDs. “And it’s an album that speaks of unity, of coming together and finding common ground to worship God.”
Toby has long had a passion for racial reconciliation and unity, a recurrent theme in his music. TONIGHT includes songs of reconciliation of another kind—between husband and wife. Toby and Amanda have been happily married for 15 years, but like all couples, it can be hard work sometimes. For Toby, who best expresses his emotions through music, it was a natural step to write about it. In “Hold On,” he sings, “If you move just a little bit closer / You can put your head on my shoulder . . . / Wipe away those tears / This one’s for you.” And on “Start Somewhere,” he’s downright confessional: “I said some things that I regret / And if I could, I’d take ’em back / But here I am, and there you are / The space between us is not so far / I’m reaching out my hand in love.”
“‘Hold On’ is very personal,” Toby says. “Many lines are there to encourage my wife, but I know those lines could encourage anybody in a relationship. As for ‘Start Somewhere,’ any time you’re in love with somebody, you’re going to bang heads from time to time. I don’t know how many times I’ve been lying in bed, sweating it out and thinking, How am I going to make this right? But then you reach that moment of apology and forgiveness. That’s one of my favorite songs on the record; it’s a personal perspective on confrontation and reconciliation.”
And then there’s “Wonderin’,” in which Toby reminisces about the past with Kevin Max and Michael Tait in dcTalk, one of Christian music’s biggest acts in the 1990s. “We was ridin’ in style, clockin’ them miles / With the songs that He put down deep in our hearts . . . / I’m wonderin’ ’bout the way I spend my days / Wonderin’ if it’s even worth the chase / Wonderin’ if they’re stealin’ me from you.”
“It’s just a warm look back at dc Talk,” says Toby, almost wistfully. “It’s reminiscing about Michael and Kevin and what we did together, and recognizing their influence on me. I love what I do today, but there are times when I wonder,What if we stayed together? I’ve got these dreams I’m pursuing now, but are they stealing me from you? I think about Kevin and Michael on every song I write. That's the truth man, we climbed a mountain together.”
Sonically, TONIGHT is typical TobyMac in many ways—an eclectic mix of rap, rock, pop and funk, all laden with catchy hooks and melodies just itching for airplay and audience singalongs. There’s even a healthy dose of reggae on the album closer “Break Open the Sky,” where Toby flexes his Jamaican family ties while Israel Houghton provides guest vocals. Other visiting vocalists include Skillet’s John Cooper on “Tonight” and Relient K’s Matthew Thiessen on “Wonderin’.”
Of course most of the vocals belong to the artist himself. Stephens says Toby “has stretched himself as a vocalist, he writes about things he is passionate about and his vocals reflect that urgency''. Toby agrees: “I do more singing on this record than ever before. I’m learning to use my vocal instrument in different ways, and I’m getting more comfortable with it everyday''.
It all adds up to a project that reflects one man’s desire to push himself beyond “very good,” to dig deep in the quest for that other country where greatness resides. He certainly reached for it. Hard.
“I’ve worked very hard not to fall into the trap of making this just a gig,” he says. “If it is a labor, it’s a labor of love. I know music can’t change the world, but who says God can't speak through a song."
Right here, right now. TONIGHT.

TobyMac is usually styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC

Captured
TobyMac Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

All I wanna do
All I wanna do

I'm Your prisoner by choice
I will rest at Your feet
And I'll only lift my voice
When You want me to sing
It's the beauty of Your covering that's stealing my heart

And it's the mystery of You that tears me apart

If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
And if I should get a peaceful sleep
I wanna wake at my Father's feet

All I wanna do is get into You
You got me captured
By Your love
All I wanna do is stay here with You
You got me raptured
Can't get enough

Let's go
The sun's on the rise
The sleep's in my eyes
The dew's on the ground
The night is disguised
There's hope in the air
I'm fresh off a prayer
The blue mountain bean is clearin' my stare
I make recompense
It's all makin' sense
Like blood in my veins
You're my sustenance
A moment of trust
The "me" becomes "us"
The "we" become "one"
Your gift is my gust of wind
'Til we meet again

I'm Your prisoner by choice
I will rest at Your feet
And I'll only lift my voice
When You want me to sing

All I wanna do is get into You
You got me captured
By Your love
All I wanna do is stay here with You
You got me raptured
Can't get enough

All I wanna do is get into You
You got me captured
You got me
You got me
You got me

So faith, don't fail me now
If you touch my heart
You can feel it pound
So faith, don't fail me now

So faith, don't fail me now
If you touch my heart
You can feel it poundin'
So faith, don't fail me now

So faith, don't fail me now
When I touch my heart
I can feel it pound
Gotta get myself up off this ground
Faith, don't fail me now

All I wanna do is get into You
You got me captured
By Your love
All I wanna do is stay here with You
You got me raptured
Can't get enough

All I wanna do is get into You
You got me captured
By Your love
All I wanna do is stay here with You
You got me raptured
Can't get enough

You got me, and You won't let go

You got me, and You won't let go
You got me, and You won't let go

Overall Meaning

The song "Captured" by TobyMac is about the singer's devotion to God and how he willingly surrenders to God's love and guidance. The chorus of the song repeats the lines "All I wanna do is get into You, You got me captured by Your love," which means that the singer wants to get closer to God and be completely enveloped by His love. He sings about feeling like a prisoner by choice, meaning that he has willingly given himself over to God and is content being under His authority.

The lyrics talk about how the singer only wants to lift his voice and sing when God wants him to, showing that he values obedience and trusts God's timing. He also refers to God's covering as the beauty that's stealing his heart and the mystery of God's love that tears him apart. This showcases the singer's appreciation for the complexity and depth of God's love for him.

In the second verse, the singer speaks about his renewed perspective in the morning after spending time in prayer. He describes feeling hopeful and like things are starting to make sense, which emphasizes the importance of spending time with God and seeking His guidance. The singer ends the song with a plea for his faith not to fail him, knowing that God is holding onto him and won't let go.

Line by Line Meaning

All I wanna do
The singer desires above all else

All I wanna do
The singer restates their desire

I'm Your prisoner by choice
The singer has chosen to be completely devoted to God

I will rest at Your feet
The artist will find comfort and shelter in God's presence

And I'll only lift my voice
The artist will only sing when called to by God

When You want me to sing
The singer will respond joyfully to God's call to sing

It's the beauty of Your covering that's stealing my heart
God's love and protection are mesmerizing and captivating the singer's heart

And it's the mystery of You that tears me apart
The artist is consumed with curiosity and wonder about the depths of God's character

If I should die before I wake
The artist recognizes the fragility of life and the possibility of death

I pray the Lord my soul to take
The artist prays for God's mercy and guidance in life and beyond

And if I should get a peaceful sleep
The singer acknowledges the possibility of a peaceful death

I wanna wake at my Father's feet
The artist desires to be reunited with God in death

All I wanna do is get into You
The singer reiterates the desire to be close to God

You got me captured
God's love and presence have taken hold of the singer's heart

By Your love
The source of the singer's capture is God's love

All I wanna do is stay here with You
The artist wishes to remain in God's presence

You got me raptured
God's love has brought the artist to a state of ecstatic bliss

Can't get enough
The singer is insatiable in their desire for God

The sun's on the rise
The singer is observing the beginning of a new day

The sleep's in my eyes
The artist has just awakened from sleep

The dew's on the ground
The artist notices the presence of dew on the ground

The night is disguised
The artist notes the transformation from darkness to daylight

There's hope in the air
The singer perceives an atmosphere of possibility and optimism

I'm fresh off a prayer
The artist has recently prayed

The blue mountain bean is clearin' my stare
The singer is being refreshed by a cup of coffee

I make recompense
The singer is seeking to make amends and compensate for past mistakes

It's all makin' sense
The singer is beginning to understand the meaning of their experiences

Like blood in my veins
The artist compares their relationship with God to something vital and life-giving

You're my sustenance
God is the source of the artist's emotional and spiritual nourishment

A moment of trust
The singer has a moment of complete trust in God

The "me" becomes "us"
The singer becomes united with God

The "we" become "one"
The artist and God become completely unified

Your gift is my gust of wind
The artist sees God's presence as a source of inspiration and energy

'Til we meet again
The artist acknowledges that their time with God may be fleeting and temporary

So faith, don't fail me now
The singer implores their faith to remain strong

If you touch my heart
The artist recognizes the intimate connection between faith and emotion

You can feel it pound
The singer experiences a physical response to faith

So faith, don't fail me now
The singer reiterates their plea for their faith to remain strong

When I touch my heart
The singer is feeling emotional

I can feel it pound
The artist experiences a physical reaction to emotion

Gotta get myself up off this ground
The artist is motivated to overcome obstacles and challenges

Faith, don't fail me now
The singer repeats their plea for their faith to remain strong

You got me
The singer is acknowledging their dependency on God

And You won't let go
The artist recognizes that God's love is steadfast and unchanging

You got me
The artist reiterates their dependency on God

You got me
The artist repeats the acknowledgment of God's hold on their heart

And You won't let go
The singer emphasizes that God's love is unrelenting

Lyrics © CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP, Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: TIM J. ROSENAU, CHRISTOPHER E. STEVENS, TOBY MCKEEHAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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