"Greater" is the second single by

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

band

MercyMe MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian music band founded in Edmond, Oklahoma. The band consists of lead vocalist Bart Millard, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul. The b ...

for their eighth studio album, '' Welcome to the New'' (2014). It was released as a single on June 20, 2014. The song peaked at No. 2 on the US

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

chart, blocked from the top by "

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" is a song by Australian worship group Hillsong United. It was released on 23 August 2013 as the second and final single from their third studio album, ''Zion'' (2013). The song is led by Taya Smith, and was written ...

" by Hillsong United. It was their record-extending twelfth

Christian Airplay Christian Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since June 21, 2003. This chart lists the 50 most-listened-to records played on multiple Christian radio stations across the country as monitored by N ...

chart topper. It lasted 49 weeks on the overall chart. It also peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. The song is played in a

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

key, and 116

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The song also appears in the compilation album, ''

WOW Hits 2016 ''WOW Hits 2016'' is a two-disc compilation album featuring some of the biggest songs on Christian radio for 2014 and 2015. The standard edition features 33 tracks in total, and the deluxe edition features 39 in total. The compilation was released ...

''.

Background

"Greater" was released on June 20, 2014 as the second single from their eighth studio album ''Welcome to the New''. Bart Millard, the band's frontman, revealed the meaning of the song in an interview with ''NewReleaseToday'', "My kids have memorized the album already. Nothing warms your heart more than to hear your kids sing this message. The thing with 'Greater' is that my middle son Charlie is a lot like me. In fact, I went through a lot of grief counseling these past few years. My grief counselor said if I ever want to know what I'm like when in a healthy family to watch Charlie. One day I was trying to tell my son, because he has a stuttering problem, we were talking, and I said, "Buddy, people may make fun of you, but you have something inside of you that is telling you that you're something different, that you're stronger than that and that you're beautiful. We were at church one day and some kids made of him and he was kind of down. I told him, 'You know what I've told you. That's not them. The enemy may be using them, but these kids are good kids. They're not coming after you, it's just the enemy is taking shots at you. He's taking shots at you because you're something special and he's afraid of something you may do. I've always told him to set his mind on things above, and he started singing this song, 'You are holy, righteous and redeemed.' I just started bawling. From time to time I can hear him singing this song in the house and I've thought that's the reason to make a record."

Composition

"Greater" is an CCM,

Worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

and

Pop Rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

track with Amerciana, folk and country elements and some acoustic elements, which has a "campfire sing-along" vibe, and this takes a cue from Rend Collective's music. It is originally in the key of

, with a tempo of 116

. Written in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, Millard's vocal range spans from D₃ to B₄ during the song.Commercial performance "Greater" spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Christian Airplay chart, and peaked at No. 2 on both the Christian Digital Songs chart and the Christian Songs chart. It also appeared on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at No. 14 and Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 21.

Track listing

;CD release # "Greater" # "Greater (Vocal Demonstration)" # "Greater (High Key with Background Vocals)" # "Greater (High Key without Background Vocals)" # "Greater (Medium Key with Background Vocals)" # "Greater (Medium Key without Background Vocals)" # "Greater (Low Key with Background Vocals)" # "Greater (Low Key without Background Vocals)"

Music video

The lyric video of "Greater" was published on YouTube on July 11, 2014. As of March 2019, the video has received more than 40 million views. The official music video of "Greater" was released on November 21, 2014, through YouTube.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles MercyMe songs Songs written by David Garcia (musician) Songs written by Bart Millard Songs written by Ben Glover