Photo by Davide Valerio
Elevation Worship is a church-led band that was created in 2007.Ā They join Bethel Music and Hillsong as the ābig threeā that has the biggest reach in modern Christian music.Ā They releasedĀ many albums and EPās.
They also wonĀ nine awards, including two Billboard for Top Christian Artist (2021) and Top Christian Song (Graves into Gardens, 2021), and two GMA Dove awards for Spanish Language Album of the Year (Aleluya (En La Tierra), 2020) and Worship Recorded Song of the Year (The Blessing (Live), 2020).
Also, check out my otherĀ Elevation Worship reviews.Ā
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!Ā ReadĀ About the Berean TestĀ andĀ Evaluation CriteriaĀ prior to reading this review.Ā IĀ strongly encourageĀ you toĀ considerĀ theĀ potentialĀ blessings andĀ dangersĀ ofĀ this artistās theology by visitingĀ Resources.
1. What message does the song communicate?
It’s another list!Ā Jesus is:
- Ruler of the world
- Master over death
- Savior
- Worthy of worship
- Glorified
- I AM
- Powerful
Side Note: To those annoyed by massive repetition, Bridge and Refrain (2) are the worst offenders.Ā Though not nearly as repetitious as other songs I’ve reviewed.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
The entire song.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
I know a Name that can silence the roaring waves
That is, Jesus.Ā He silenced the waves in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25.
I know a Name that can empty out a grave
This has three meanings:
- He literally raises people from the dead (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 7:11-17, Luke 8:40-56, and John 11:38-44).
- He himself was resurrected (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
- Christians who are dead in their lawbreaking have been emptied from the grave that they faced, raised from eternal damnation to life with Jesus (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).
I know a Name, it’s the only Name that saves
As stated in John 14:6 and Acts 4:12.
And it’s worthy of all praise
Amen!Ā See 1 Chronicles 16:25, 2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 96:4-5, Psalm 145:3, and Revelation 4:11.
[Chorus]
I call You, Jesus
I call You, I call You Healer
Jesus is a wonderful Physician (Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, and Luke 5:31).
Risen and reigning in power
Something comes out of the grave
Risen and grave are covered in Verse 1, line 2.Ā Reigning in power is found in Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, Luke 1:32-33, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16.
Every time I call You, Jesus
I call You, I call You Savior
As stated in Isaiah 45:21-22, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, Luke 2:11, Acts 13:23, 1 Timothy 2:3, Titus 2:13-14, and 1 John 4:14.
Worthy of glory forever
See Verse 1, line 4.
Something comes out of the grave
Every time I call Your Name
Repeats/essentially repeats lines 4 and 5.
[Verse 2]
I have a King with dominion over death
He holds the keys in His holy nail-scarred hands
The keys of hell in Jesus’ hand is found in Revelation 1:18.
He is the heel, yeah-eah
That has crushed the serpent’s head
References Genesis 3:15 as a prophecy of Jesus’ crushing Satan amid lethal injury.Ā Also contains “yes”.
Our resurrected Great I Am
Resurrection is covered in Verse 1, line 2.Ā Great I AM comes from Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58.
Come on
Let’s go!
[Refrain (1)]
Chains break, dry bones wake
Every time I call Your Name
References Acts 16:26 and Ezekiel 37, respectively.
The gates of Hell shake
Every time I call Your Name
That is, the gates of hell that will not prevail (Matthew 16:18).
Chains break, dry bones wake
Every time I call Your Name
The gates of Hell shake
Every time I call Your Name
Oh
Every time I call Your Name
Yeah, yeah-yeah
Mmm
Repeats lines 1-4, with fillers including the sounds of Casper the friendly ghost, “yes” several times, and enjoyment of food.
[Bridge]
Where, oh death, is now your sting?
And where, oh grave, your victory?
Quotes from 1 Corinthians 15:55.
Come on now
You know it makes me wanna shout!
Where, oh death, is now your sting?
And where, oh grave, your victory?
Yeah
Where, oh death, is now your sting?
And where, oh grave, your victory?
Yeah
Repeats lines 1 and 2, alongside the filler “yes” twice more.
[Refrain (2)]
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive in the Name of Jesus
See Verse 1, line 2.
Dead things come alive (Dead things)
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive in the Name of Jesus
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive (Dead things come alive)
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive in the Name of Jesus
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive
Dead things come alive in the Name
Repeats/essentially repeats lines 1-3.
[Interlude]
Hey
Horse food.
So much power in the Name of Jesus
As stated in Mark 16:17, Luke 10:17, Acts 3:6, Acts 3:12-16, Acts 4:30, Romans 10:13, and Philippians 2:9-11.
So much power in the Name of Jesus
Repeats line 1.
Found my healing in the Name of Jesus
I was healed in the Name of Jesus
See Chorus, line 2.
Found my freedom in the Name, Jesus
Found my breakthrough in the Name, Jesus
That is, freedom from a former life of sin.Ā See commentary on Verse 1, line 2, specifically point #3.
Come on, sing
Let’s go sing!
[Outro: Brandon Lake, Choir, Brandon Lake & Chris Brown]
And I call You, Jesus
I call You, I call You Healer
Risen and reigning in power
Something comes out of the grave (Of the grave)
Every time I call You, Jesus
I call You, I call You Savior
Worthy of glory forever
Something comes out of the grave
Every time I call Your Name
Oh, yeah
All of this has been covered in previous lines, mostly in Chorus.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
This song is thick with Christianese language that so happens to be easily understood by unbelievers.Ā It is clearly about Jesus and how awesome He is to Christians.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Rufus.Ā I mean Jesus.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Elevation Worship’s I Know A Name is all about Jesus.Ā He’s a miracle working, loving, savior whose power radiates throughout the whole world, accessible to those who are His.Ā These bring Him glory.Ā Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.
This song is suitable for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: I Know A Name (listen to the song)
Artist: Elevation Worship
EP: EW 16
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2025
Duration: 7:09
Agree?Ā Disagree?Ā Don’t be shy or have a cow!Ā Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright Ā© 2025 Songs By That Dog Will Hunt (BMI) Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Elevation Worship Publishing (BMI) / Brandon Lake Music (ASCAP) / Just When Publishing (SESAC) / So Essential Tunes (SESAC) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Comments
Katherine W.
What does āSomething comes out of the grave / Every time I call Your nameā mean? This line bugs me. Jesus is not dying and rising again repeatedly every time I say His name – He died *once*, and the entire message of salvation is that His death and resurrection (singular) was sufficient. Is it talking about many peopleās spiritual resurrection through the power of Jesus? If so, why say āsomethingā comes out of the grave? That almost sounds like some non-human thing is rising from the dead every single time the name of God is spoken. Assuming itās referring to the saving power of Jesusās name for unbelievers, this could have been worded much better in the song. Additionally, I find it somewhat incorrect to state that EVERY time His name is spoken, someone is saved. This seems like a hand-wavey, substance-less way to stir up a congregation to praise without providing much concrete āmeatā/spiritual fodder on which to build.
Suzy Henriksen
Watch Allen Parr’s video on YouTube reviewing this song. PARTS of this song are absolutely not Biblical.
Kaitlin
There was no scripture backing the validity of ādeath things come alive.ā Yes, Jesus has raised people, and He himself from the dead. But āthings?ā Thatās a noun that excludes people and Iām not sure what it could be talking about. If the argument is us being made new in our salvation; that still means āpeopleā not āthings.ā I also agree with being uneasy about the part that says EVERY time I call on Jesusā name (chains break etc) If youāve ever prayed for someoneās salvation, or fight with addiction, maybe you can empathize with me.
Steveo
Exactly. “Things” is too ambiguous. I didn’t think about that it couldn’t refer to a person. The only “thing” important that needs to come alive is our soul.
Laura Ciampa
I understood “things” to be dead marriages, dead attitudes toward my job or serving others, dead desire toward obedience…etc. I could be wrong, just how I heard it.
Jake
I agree, I wish this would have been addressed in the review.
Steveo
This song is Speak the Name of Jesus part 2. So much repetition. So emotionally manipulative trying to whip the audience into a frenzy. Jesus is a genie. One of the worst and most annoying worship songs being sung right now.
June
Repetitions are not all bad. Psalms has a lot of lines it repeats. Repetition does not always mean manipulation. Whatās wrong is repeating what is wrong. Does the massage convey an a different message?
Tim
I struggle with a few of the lines. “Chains break, dry bones wake – Every time I call Your Name. The gates of Hell shake Every time I call Your Name.” There is another line like that too. Every time we call God’s name those things happen? I don’t think so. What am I missing, here?
Nathaniel
This is the one portion of the song that I believe lacks clarity and questions for me too which is a bummer because I enjoy the sound of the song overall.
Eka
I think that we should hope to be transformed by every encounter we have with God. So to say that chains break and dry bones wake every time we call on Jesus’ name is to express our faith in the power of Jesus’ continuous transformation and the holy spirit’s movement in the world even if it doesn’t look or feel that way. But I agree that this could be misinterpreted by those who see Jesus as a wish maker. This is something that should be addressed as we build the worship service but I don’t think we should stray from declaring the truth because of that.
Kevin
Brandon wrote this song based on his own faith experiences. So every time he calls the name of Jesus, he does experience those things. Or he’s a liar (I don’t think he is lying). It’s their testimony, and we either agree with their testimony because we have experienced that or we don’t because we haven’t. Sing it and use the song if it’s authentic to you and your church culture and experience.
Suzy Henriksen
PRECISELY. Watch Allen Parr’s review on YouTube.
Natalie HidalgoNatalie
This is spot on thanks. Iām totally new to your ministry and I hope others will see how needed it is since so much false teaching is hidden and sometimes what comes out of the speaker is hard to hear and when I actually read the lyrics I find some songs just off from the truth. Well done