"Lead Me On" is a 1988 single by

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

singer

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

. It was released as the second single from the '' Lead Me On'' album.

Content

"Lead Me On" was written by Amy Grant, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Michael W. Smith. It is a fiery song, both in terms of lyrics and in music. The lyrics, according to Grant, deal abstractly with slavery and

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. The lyrics also talk about man's relation to these events and man's relation to man. The message of the song makes it very strong, unusual for Amy Grant, who was known as a pop/contemporary artist with meaningful, but light lyrics. The music only adds to the drama of the lyrics. This is helped along by the unusual

time signature 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 ...

of the verses, with odd-numbered bars adding heightened tension. The intro on the album version is also in 6/8 and 4/4 simultaneously. It is mostly electric guitar, in stark contrast to the natural sounding songs on the rest of the ''Lead Me On'' album. Another seemingly important aspect of the song was when it was being recorded. Grant was recording on the night of September 24, 1987, when she went into labor. She went to the hospital and had her first child, Matthew Garrison Chapman, the next day.

Chart performance

Like almost all the other singles from the album, it topped the Christian radio chart. "Lead Me On" became the only single to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #96 and remaining on the chart for two weeks. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the single fared slightly better, peaking at #89, her first single to register on the charts there.

Personnel

* Amy Grant – lead vocals *

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

– keyboards *

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

– keyboards *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

–

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

– guitars * Jerry McPherson – guitars *

Mike Brignardello Giant is an American melodic rock band that was formed in 1987. The band originally consisted of founding members Dann Huff (lead vocals and guitar) and Alan Pasqua (keyboard), and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello on ...

– bass *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– drums *

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. H ...

– backing vocals * Tommy Funderburk – backing vocals

Charts

Cover versions

*"Lead Me On" was performed by

Bethany Dillon Bethany Dillon (born September 22, 1988), known since 2008 by her married name, Bethany Barnard, is a Contemporary Christian music artist. Her self-titled 2004 debut album was the highest selling female solo debut for that year, and attracted ...

on her self-titled debut album in 2004. *

Krista Branch Krista Branch is an American singer whose 2010 song "I Am America" has been called the anthem of the Tea Party movement. Branch produced "I Am America" with her husband, who wrote the song, to protest the treatment of the Tea Party by Democrats ...

performed Lead Me On, promoting it as a "pro-Israel" song.

References

{{authority control Amy Grant songs 1988 singles Songs written by Wayne Kirkpatrick Songs written by Michael W. Smith 1988 songs Songs written by Amy Grant A&M Records singles