A Reason to Try
Against the Odds
August 1, 2023
This track starts with a phone call on a summer afternoon. Harry Hess had a voice memo on his phone — a chorus melody, waiting for words. The original lyrical hook was “water to wine.” I heard it, liked it right away, and we started writing. What we landed on was “A Reason to Try.”
The song’s radio story began with a pitch to a major Christian network. The music director there listened because, according to her, I had moxy. She was honest enough to say that getting a listen at all is the hardest part when you’re not represented by a label or an indie rep making calls on your behalf. Spotify’s own Loud & Clear report puts that listen in perspective: over 120,000 tracks are uploaded every single day. That is what I’m up against — before anyone even presses play. Her answer was no: a “very nostalgic sound” that doesn’t work with contemporary Christian formats, and a song she felt lacked a really strong hook — she wasn’t sure it would cut through with her audience. She left me with the question that stuck: why do you do what you do? Not every ministry, she said, results in airplay — and her station adds less than a third of the songs that are potential adds. That’s the reality of the industry. One person’s opinion isn’t the end-all, be-all. The song found its audience anyway: many other stations around the world have added it and play it in heavy rotation. And the chorus answers her question better than any argument could — when we’ve got nothing, God gives us a reason to try.
A Reason to Try — lyrics
In everyone’s life
A little rain will fall
Another mountain to climb
Lost in the valley below
Feeling our way through the dark
Even in a sun lit sky
Trying to make sense of it all
Forever wonderin’ why
It’s all we got
Am I close to God?
Is this the greatest story never told?
We all want love
We all need love
Just open your heart and you’ll find
That only God’s love
Can ever save us
When we’ve got nothing
He gives us a reason to try
Even when things go right
We may stumble and fall
Never give up the fight
Can’t run until we crawl
Finding our way through the rain
Even in a cloud filled sky
Having faith things will change
Knowing that the sun will rise
It’s all we got
Am I close to God?
Is this the greatest story never told?
We all want love
We all need love
Just open your heart and you’ll find
That only God’s love
Could ever save us
When we’ve got nothing
He gives us a reason to try
Ohh Ohh
Ohh Ohh
[Bridge]
We All
We All
We all want love
We all need love
Open your heart and you’ll find
That only God’s love
Could ever save us
When we’ve got nothing
You give me a reason
We all want love
We all need love
Just open your heart and you’ll find
That only God’s love
Could ever save us
When we’ve got nothing
You give me a reason to try
“A Reason to Try” — Written by Harry Hess and Franklin McKay. © 2023.
— Franklin
The players on the record:
- Sil Simone — guitars. Sil’s guitar solo is a clinic in shredding — he raised the bar with his efforts. And he’s one of the nicest guys around — a true gentleman.
- Harry Hess — backing vocals, producer
- Creighton Doane — drums
behind the music · franklin mckay