"Lift Up Your Face" is a song recorded by the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band Third Day and featuring vocals from The Blind Boys of Alabama. Written by

Mac Powell Mac Powell (born Johnny Mac Powell; December 25, 1972), originally from Clanton, Alabama, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and musician who formed the Christian rock band Third Day with guitarist Mark Lee, with both of them being ...

and composed by Third Day, Bo Rinehart, and Bear Rinehart, it was released to Christian AC and CHR radio on July 11, 2010 as the lead single from Third Day's 2010 studio album '' Move''. "Lift Up Your Face" is a southern rock song with influences from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and gospel, possessing a shadowy and edgy sound accompanied by distorted guitars. Dark and soulful vocals are also present, while the lyrics convey a message of encouragement and hope. Since its release, "Lift Up Your Face" has been performed live in concert by Third Day on the Make Your Move Tour and the Make a Difference Tour, as well as at Rock the Universe 2011. It received a positive response from critics, some of whom praised the vocals of The Blind Boys of Alabama, and was nominated for the

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year at the

42nd GMA Dove Awards The 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 20, 2011, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was broadcast on GMC on April 24, 2011, hosted by Sherri Shepherd from ''The Newlywed Game''. Nominations were announced on ...

. "Lift Up Your Face" peaked at No. 12 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Christian Songs chart, No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian AC chart, and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Christian CHR chart.

Background

"Lift Up Your Face" was written by

; Third Day composed the music to "Lift Up Your Face" with Bo and Bear Rinehard of Needtobreathe. Third Day's bassist Tai Anderson recalls that "We got together in their home studio and had a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

that went with Mac's idea of a song based on the idea of 'lift up your head' from the Psalms... By working with another 'southern' rock band from South Carolina, we got to show our Georgia roots musically with a "gospel" sound"; he further noted that "the big message of the song is 'salvation is calling'". It was recorded at The Quarry in

Kennesaw, Georgia Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its ...

and The Smokestack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Composition

"Lift Up Your Face" is a southern rock song with a length of four minutes and twenty-six seconds. It is set in common time in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

of E minor and has a tempo of 88 beats per minute, with a vocal range spanning from D₄-G₅. The lyrics to the song portray a hopeful message of salvation and encouragement. Lead vocalist Mac Powell commented that "The country is going through hard times, and there are doubts and insecurity. The message of 'Lift Up Your Face' is hird Day'smessage of encouragement – not just to listeners though - to us as well. It's a message we all need to hear". "Lift Up Your Face" opens with an "atmospheric" intro led by "haunting" vocals sung by The Blind Boys of Alabama; this intro is then "blown away" as distorted guitars enter, followed by a mid-tempo chorus. In the second verse, vocalist Mac Powell shifts into

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

vocals; elsewhere in the song, Powell's vocals are "soulful" and "dark". As a whole, the song has a "shadowy" and "edgy" feel which contrasts with its hopeful message. "Lift Up Your Face" also features influences from

and gospel music.

Reception

Critical

"Lift Up Your Face" received mostly positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the vocals of The Blind Boys of Alabama. C. E'Jon Moore of The Christian Manifesto praised "Lift Up Your Face", saying "

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

gets you out of your seat and sticks with you long after the last note has faded". In his review of '' Move'', Glenn McCarty of

Crosswalk.com Crosswalk.com is a Christian website, operated by the Salem Web Network, a division of Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content p ...

regarded "Lift Up Your Face" as an exception to a "ho-hum affair" of an album and regarded the song as a "classic Third Day rocker in the vein of '

Consuming Fire ''Consuming Fire'' is a live Christian worship music album by Darrell Evans and friends released in April 2004. It was recorded at World Revival Church in Kansas City, MO and Trinity Church in Amarillo, TX. Track listing #"Worship Intro" - 1:59 ...

'". John DiBiase of Jesus Freak Hideout regarded the song as "edgy" and the praised the vocal support from The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Brian Mansfield Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist. Early life and education Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School. In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...

of '' USA Today'' listed the song as a download pick from ''Move''. Andrew Greer of ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' regarded the song as a "fiery collaboration with music's legendary Blind Boys of Alabama" and "a hearty charge to look heavenward for lasting hope". Lindsay Williams of Gospel Music Channel said the song gives "a glimpse of the grittiness of Move', but argued "there are stronger songs

n the album N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

that would have made for better 'out of the box' singles". At the

, "Lift Up Your Face" was nominated for the Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.

Chart performance

On ''

'' magazine's Hot Christian Songs chart, "Lift Up Your Face" debuted at No. 39 for the chart week of August 7, 2010. It advanced to No. 30 in its second chart week and to No. 17 in its third. It spent a total of twenty weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 12. It also peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian AC chart, spending a total of twenty-two weeks on that chart, Note: User must manually input the correct search information to obtain the sourced information. Type in "Third Day" in the "Artist" category, "Lift Up Your Face" in the "Single Title" category, and select the cited chart in the "Single Chart Name" category. Then, select "All weeks" in the "Date" category and press "Submit" and at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Christian CHR chart, which it spent twenty-one weeks on. "Lift Up Your Face" was ranked by ''Billboard'' on their 2010 year-end charts at No. 32 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, No. 27 on the Hot Christian AC chart, and No. 28 on the Christian CHR chart.

Live performances

Since its release, Third Day has performed "Lift Up Your Face" in concert. At Rock the Universe 2011, Third Day performed "Lift Up Your Face" as the first song in their setlist. They also performed the song as the opener at a concert in Joplin, Missouri on March 20, 2011; Third Day later released this live recording as a digital download along with the rest of the concert, with proceeds going to relief for the devastating tornado that struck Joplin on May 22, 2011. At a concert as part of their Make Your Move Tour in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on November 6, 2011, Third Day performed the song after returning to the stage from an earlier acoustic set. At the opening night of the Make a Difference Tour, Third Day performed the song as part of their setlist.

Track listing

;Digital download #"Lift Up Your Face" – 4:26 ;Remix #"Lift Up Your Face" (Moak Mix) – 4:24

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes of the 'Deluxe Edition' of '' Move''. Third Day *

Tai Anderson Third Day was a Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee (both of whom were the only constant members) and Billy Wilkins. Drummer David Carr was the ...

–

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* David Carr –

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Mark Lee – Guitars *

– Vocals Additional musicians * The Blind Boys of Alabama – Background vocals Production *Chris Athens – Mastering *Terry Hemmings –

Executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

*Andy Hunt – Engineering *Erik "Keller" Jahner – Mixing assistant *Justin March – Engineering assistant * Paul Moak –

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, programming, engineering *

F. Reid Shippen F. Reid Shippen is a mixer, engineer and producer, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has mixed a wide variety of records including "Cosmic Hallelujah" by Kenny Chesney, " Lights Out" by Ingrid Michaelson, "The Mountain" by Dierks Bent ...

– Mixing

Charts

Weekly Year-end

Release history

References

External links

Third Day's Official website
{{Good article 2010 singles Music videos directed by TK McKamy Third Day songs Songs written by Mac Powell 2010 songs Essential Records (Christian) singles