"Receive the Power" is a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

song written by

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

and

Gary Pinto Gary Pinto is an Australian singer, songwriter and musician and was the lead singer of dance group, CDB. Early life Gary Pinto is an Australian musician of Indian descent. His parents were from Chennai and members of a minority Christian Indi ...

, and performed by Sebastian and

Paulini Pauline Curuenavuli (born 15 October 1982), known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer and songwriter. Born in Suva, Paulini moved to Sydney with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the ...

. It was chosen in May 2007 as the official anthem for the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's XXIII World Youth Day (WYD08) held in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 2008. "Receive the Power" was used extensively throughout the six days of World Youth Day in July 2008, and also in the television coverage which went around the world. Sebastian performed at the concert after the Opening Mass which officially welcomed the Pope to Australia. The Mass and concert at

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

, Sydney, had an estimated crowd of 150,000. Sebastian and Paulini also performed both the English and International versions at the Final Mass at

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney ra ...

on 20 July. An estimated 400,000 people attended the Mass. Sebastian and Paulini were invited to perform "Receive the Power" at the Pope's Farewell and thank the volunteers on 21 July.wyd2008. Pope Benedict XVI thanks volunteers and leaves Australia happy and blessed
. Retrieved 1 March 2009.

Versions

The song has been released in two versions, one in English and an international version with the chorus in English and verses in Italian, Spanish and French. The English version was interpreted by its composer,

, and also features the vocals of Paulini. The international version, with the chorus in English, also includes performances by Robert Galea (Maltese), German Silva (Spanish) and

Amelia Farrugia Amelia Farrugia (often misspelled as "Ferrugia", born 28 July 1970) is an Australian soprano opera singer of Maltese descent. She won awards in the Sydney Eisteddfod and the 1996 Australian Singing Competition, and the 1995 Metropolitan Opera ...

(French).

About the lyrics

The lyrics are based on the theme of the WYD08, extracted from the book of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

, : "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses".

Track listing

References

{{Guy Sebastian singles 2007 songs Guy Sebastian songs Paulini songs Gospel songs Songs written by Guy Sebastian Songs written by Gary Pinto