Photo by Neil Thomas
American Contemporary Christian, rap, and pop artist Jamie Grace began her career in 2006, posting YouTube videos of her music. She was discovered by TobyMac, who signed her to his record label, Goatee Records.
She released three EP’s and three albums, including:
- Hold Me (EP, 2011)
- One Song at a Time (2011)
- Christmas Together (EP, 2011)
- Ready to Fly (2014)
- ’91 (2017)
- Normal (EP, 2020)
Grace won a Dove in 2012 for New Artist of the Year.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
This song is about intimacy with “You”, that “You” embraces her and builds her up. “You” is the object of her affection.
In terms of the identity of “You”, Grace explicitly mentioned “Lord” in the Chorus. There is nothing else in the lyrics that would have pointed us to God by itself. Without this singular word, this song could be easily interpreted as a boyfriend.
Grace errs slightly when she implies that it’s possible to figure God out. There are some things she can understand, but God is beyond human comprehension.
Score: 7/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Most of the song aligns with God’s inspired Word, except when Grace thinks she might have figured God out.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Intro]
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me
This references the tender love that God offers to His children, much like a shepherd holds and carries his sheep (Psalm 63:8, Psalm 139:10, Isaiah 40:11, and Luke 15:4-5).
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You, the way You
Repeats line 1.
[Verse 1]
I’ve had a long day, I just wanna relax
Grace finds it important to enjoy the fruits of her labor (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).
Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit chat
At least, not right now. After all, it’s not good for Grace to be alone (Genesis 2:18).
Problems at my job, wonderin’ what to do
Gracie goes to God with her problems, hoping to find rest (Matthew 11:28-30).
I know I should be working but I’m thinking of You and
It’s important to think upon the Lord and live a life of continual prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), yet Grace is not saying that she intends to replace working with prayer, avoiding criticism that she should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). She finds it difficult to work due to its problems and would rather spend time with God.
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That’s when your smile comes around
God is in the business of taking the bad things that happen in her life and turns it around for good (Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28).
[Chorus]
Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
Repeats part of Intro. Also, to put the second part in the negative, God does not forsake those who are His (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:8-9, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 118:6, Lamentations 3:22-23, and Hebrews 13:5-6).
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
See Verse 1, lines 5 and 6.
I love the way You hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
Essentially repeats the same idea as line 1,
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
Repeats line 2.
I love You more than the words in my brain can express
I can’t imagine even loving You less
Grace shows how much she loves God through her actions, which speak volumes more than her words (1 John 3:18).
Lord, I love the way You hold me
Whoa, oh, I love the way You hold me
Whoa, oh
Repeats part of Intro, combined with Casper the friendly ghost.
[Verse 2]
Well Ya, took my day and You flipped it around
Calmed the tidal wave and put my feet on the ground
See Verse 1, lines 5 and 6.
Forever in my heart, always on my mind
It’s crazy how I think about You all of the time
Grace prays without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
And just when I think I’m ’bout to figure You out
You make me wanna sing and shout
For Grace to suggest that she might have figured God out is to elevate man further than one should. While Grace should increase in her knowledge of God (Psalm 27:4 and Philippians 3:8-10), Job 36:26 tells us that God is beyond human understanding. She cannot “figure God out”.
[Bridge]
I’m so grateful and thankful for all You’ve done
Wish I could tell You in a short story or poem
But all I have is my voice and this guitar
And You have my heart
Grace recognizes that she has nothing to offer God except her heart, voice, and guitar. After all, her heart is deceitful and separately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and the sum of her works are filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). Yet, God has her allegiance (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).
Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way You hold me, in your arms I’ll always be
You take each and every day, every day, every
Repeats Chorus, lines 1-4.
[Outro]
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me, hold me, hold me
Essentially repeats Intro.
Score: 9/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
It will be easy for unbelievers to think that Grace is talking about her boyfriend, unless they happen to catch the word “Lord” in the Chorus. The jury’s still out on how easy it would be to miss that singular word when hearing the song or reading the lyrics. Whoever this person is, they care deeply for Grace, earning her gratitude and her heart.
Score: 6/10
4. What does this song glorify?
While the word “Lord” contextualizes the song as intimacy with God, its lack of attributes in the song and error regarding knowledge hamstrings God’s glory throughout these lyrics.
Score: 7/10
Closing Comments
Jamie Grace’s Hold Me is average, with room for improvement. When properly understood, it’s about a God who’s there for us when we are weak, comforting and guiding us. This brings glory to God. However, it lacks pointers that distinguish God from a human lover. It also contains an error, where Grace suggests that God is comprehensible, both of which veil God’s glory. It’s hard to know how unbelievers will interpret this, though it does depend on how well they pay attention to the word “Lord” in the Chorus, which I find easy to miss.
I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship or personal use.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Artist Info
Track: Hold Me (listen to the song)
Artist: Jamie Grace (Feat. TobyMac)
Album: One Song at a Time
Genre: Pop
Release Year: 2011
Duration: 3:34
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2011 Achtober Songs (BMI) Regisfunk Music (BMI) Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Tunes (SESAC) Songs Of Third Base (SESAC) Grape Jam Music (SESAC) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
03/24/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.
Comments
Sarah
Guys, she has said in interviews that this song was originally written about her Snuggie….not a boyfriend. Good grief.
Vince Wright
Sarah,
Thank you for your comment!
I couldn’t find much of anything to corroborate this comment, as this post is on a blog that hasn’t been maintained since 2018. While I found one page that contained a broken link and another that says it’s about trusting in God, I found another source that said, while her original intention was her snuggie, she realized that “God’s love embraced her so much more than any physical commodity ever could”.
-Vince Wright
Sarah
https://evolutioneventsllcblog.wordpress.com/tag/jamie-grace/
trougot
You feeling kind again, Vince 😁 … 3/10 My take. Well actually 1, but let me also be kind 🤣
As you rightly said, apart from the expression “Lord” , absolutely nothing else indicate it as a Religious song, never mind a Christian song. Which correct me if I’m wrong, is what I believe this website mainly review for? That said the word “Lord” is not per say a Christian only term & for all we know this girl might mean lord krishna or whoever & thus being universal as the trend nowadays is?
I will go further and say in the event of taking “Lord” in the Christian context, this might even be seen as used in expletive form i.e the sentence going ” LORD, I love the way You hold me” can be similarly taken as “GOLLY, I love the way you hold me”… [An expletive is a word or phrase inserted into a sentence that is not needed to express the basic meaning of the sentence. It is regarded as semantically null or a place holder – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expletive%5D … Thus used without real intention or actual meaning behind it & additionally could now be seen as Blaspheming, similarly as would be “G_D Almighty, it’s warm today” would be Blaspheming!
This song I feel comes across like so many “Christian” songs today being romanticised beyond what could be regarded as sound discernment, or proper view towards Christ. But fully exploring that will make this comment way too long.
Furthermore the words of the video is not the same as the words within Sarah’s provided link. Which have a sentence or two more Religious like. This begs the question, if the video portray the final version from the artist. Then the song is intentionally watered down even further, to be mainly received worldly universal & marketable to the masses, with slightly having the Christians feel they can associate with the song through the Religious universal word Lord …. that’s just sad!
Not my style, I personally cringed throughout this song & I absolutely had no sense or felt any closeness with Christ through it!
Vince Wright
trougot,
Thank you for your comments!
You make some interesting points about other uses of the word “Lord”; However, my thinking is that most people (including myself and unbelievers I know) will automatically substitute the word “God” for the word “Lord” when the context of “Lord” is unclear. At least, when we consider the nature of the song and the capitalization of the word “You”, the song’s context doesn’t seem to show expletive deleted as a reasonable conclusion.
Also, I agree that I was generous with this review. I tend to interpret charitably.
-Vince Wright
andreweastham
trougot,
Exactly what I came here to say!
I just skimmed through a few reviews and thought some comments were pretty cold (thinking about an Audrey Assad song). Then I see this and I honestly thought is this a joke.
Anyway, thanks for what you do.
Blessings friends
Sarah (Prodigal Daughter)
Thanks for allowing my comments to be posted. The link was to support my stamens that the song originated from a snuggie….I highly doubt this is meant to be a worship song. My belief is the heart behind songs like these is to draw people who wouldn’t normally listen to worship music.
Isn’t that what Jesus came to do? Reach the sick? Sorry, but we aren’t necessarily drawn by holy sounding music. I started listening to a Christian radio station in my hometown on accident because the artists sounded similar to the worldly ones I listened to, and that is a major way God still speaks to me after following Him for 10 years. Jamie’s not trying to be a pastor. She is a fisherwoman…. 😉
racefangurl
The words in the blog are her song It’s A Beautiful Day. Same artist, but not same song.
trougot
As Christians we tend to look for the good instead of the bad & therefore for instance we are quick to jump on the band wagon if there is a whisper of any celebrity saying something Christian like & immediately with joy we shout out to the world ” hey, we got one “, only to soon realize, Oops; just the worldly form & not the Biblical form of Christian. Hence also why we rather want to associate general words/terms that are also used within the Christian sphere, as JUST that; a Christian term with a Christian meaning, whilst disregarding it’s application within other spheres of life.
This in itself is not wrong to do & using it like that, we AS CHRISTIANS get most value from it. Though in accepting general terms, cross religious words and so forth, does not really strengthen Christianity as a whole & dangerously might not point out a clear pathway for those not being a Christian on maybe wanting to become a Christian with best practice doctrine supporting it.
Again hence why we see so many people “worshipping” [small C] christian ROCK, HIPHOP, HOUSE, JAZZ – they have them all now, bands” … partly definitely due to watered down terms and meanings amicably accepted by we the loving, forgiving, generous Christian community … ???
WE HAVE BECOME WORSHIPPERS & CONSUMERS OF “christian” & yes, even CHRISTIAN MUSIC – INSTEAD OF GOD’S WORD ! … WE LOVE HEARING IT & A LOT LESS IN FOLLOWING IT!
How can I say this, very easy … Most reading this, answer yourself this simple question … How long do you usually / Daily listen to your Christian music, WITH EVERY POSSIBLE EMOTION BEING DRAWN OUT FROM YOU, almost uncontainable so ! …. VS … The time you actually spend to learn from reading and examining God’s Word, watching a Sermon or Christian teaching video channel & how often are you equally overcome with emotion doing such, reflecting on the horrors of the lost people around you, bursting into tears realizing the wretched souls we actually are & the need we and others have for Christ Salvation … I gander not comparable & sadly one must apply this question to everything else we love & spend time on!
One could never have all the songs & neither should one have too many. But the songs one have, should preferably clearly define Christianity, contain saving Doctrine & glorify / point to / exalt Christ our only Saviour in who He is or what He has done for us …. I myself strive to do this … I know it is tough, but also; it should be !
CHRISTIAN MUSIC IS GOOD – BUT GOD’s WORD IS THE ONLY TRUE GOLD STANDARD TOWARDS RIGHTEOUS LIVING & SALVATION ! … Scale down the music etc & scale up through His roadmap, the Bible.
Vince Wright
trougot,
Thank you for your comments! Well said!
I have a friend who told me that the music we listen to should reflect God’s Word. Lyrics are not a replacement for study nor are they sermons. Yes, I tend to review favorably and generously when there’s a hint or whisper of Christianity within song lyrics; However, part of the reason why I’m able to see Christian themes is because of the amount of time I spend studying the Bible.
I pray and hope that by reading these reviews, others will also spend more time in the Word.
-Vince Wright
trougot
Thank you Vince, true & I with you, pray His Word to become more imminent in our own as well as in those peoples lives seeking the true Christ & not the illusion being sold around every corner, through satan blinding them in worshipping a Christ-like idol more palatable according to their own accustomed worldly habits.
It is frightening to think & see the world turning full circle. The coming fight will resemble what is written happened in the Bible & which caused the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. As you know the heathen were not responsible, but God fearing people not accepting Jesus Christ. As described in John 16:2 “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”
A world wide revival is coming, but it will be one where a false saviour is followed & those of us clinging to what is pure, will be hunted as dissidents. Truth is already being twisted in becoming subjective & the lie will soon be accepted in favour of it. As we see all around us with regards to false news spreading, CGI & video image manipulation etc.
May we be granted the wisdom to sow only that which will assure whoever we have contact with in whatever way or form, they will receive only that which add Christian clarity & real advancement of Christ’s Kingdom, to in turn be passed on again by them.