"I Believe" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

. It was written by Strait, his son Bubba, and

Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...

. It was released on July 15, 2013, as the second single from his album '' Love Is Everything''.

Content

Strait and his band were finished recording the album when Norma, George's wife, made everyone unpack and cut the Newtown, Connecticut-inspired single "At its core, ‘I Believe’ is about faith — a subject this singer has approached with underrated deftness" and "puts his faith on display as never before" "Strait was hesitant to include the song, as he didn’t want to misrepresent the families of the victims or be accused of somehow profiting from their tears... his sincerity triumphs on this beautifully crafted tribute to the victims." The victims that inspired this song where the lives taken from a school shooting in Newtown Connecticut in December 2012.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country rated "I Believe" 4.5 out of 5 stars and calls it "arguably the best of the 13" and shouldn't keep him from earning a Song of the Year consideration. Leeann Ward of Country Universe gave the song an A. She states, "Strait’s voice is as solid as ever" and that "he perfectly emotes the sincerity and compassion that a song of this magnitude requires." She finishes by saying "I Believe" is "just a tribute from a humble man conveying a simple sentiment of real heartbreak, buoyed by faith and hope."

Chart performance

"I Believe" debuted and peaked at number 50 on the U.S. '' Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week of August 3, 2013, making it the first single of Strait's career to miss the Top 40.

Later uses

Performed as the last song of Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief it was, by Strait and others, in September 2017, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 singles George Strait songs Songs written by Dean Dillon Songs written by George Strait Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) MCA Nashville Records singles 2013 songs