"The Motions" is a song by
contemporary Christian
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
singer-songwriter
Matthew West
Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs " More", "You Are Everything", and " The Motions". He was nom ...
from his third studio album, ''
Something to Say''. It was released in January 2009 as the album's third
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
. It reached number 1 on Christian
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
radio in April 2009. The single was certified
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
by
RIAA.
The song is about complacency and a desire to "break free from the average, ordinary, lukewarm Christian life",
and was inspired by a June 2007 column that West wrote for ''
CCM Magazine
''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications.
History
''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has be ...
''.
The song appeared in the compilation album ''
WOW Hits 2010''.
Background
The song was originally inspired by a column that Matthew West wrote in the "Writer's Block" portion of ''
CCM Magazine
''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications.
History
''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has be ...
''. During part of 2007, West was a contributing columnist to the magazine, primarily discussing the details and method of his songwriting. In June 2007, his column drew a comparison between songwriting and personal life, talking about "moving through the motions" and writing a "perfectly structured" song; it soon becomes evident, however, that the song lacks inspiration and cannot be "
wokenfrom its apparent slumber". Soon afterward "The Motions" was written, based on that concept.
West said he wrote the song after being "tired of that constant settling for a stale faith. God is a God of passion. His true plan for our lives is anything but boring."
In April 2007, he had experienced vocal problems, which led to surgery and a prescribed period of silence for two months. He said that the experience "brought
hesong to life for me".
Release and promotion
The song was released to Christian radio in the beginning of January 2009. It began rising on Christian music charts in March, and on April 17 it reached number 1 on
''R&R'''s Christian
AC chart.
It remained at the top position for five consecutive weeks. It also placed at number 2 on the Christian
contemporary hit radio format in April. According to
Nielsen SoundScan, "The Motions" was the top downloaded Christian track starting at the last week of April.
In May 2009, the song reached number 10 on ''
Billboards
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which is equivalent to placing at 110 on the
Hot 100.
On April 16, West played "The Motions" at the
Vanderburgh County
Vanderburgh County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 179,703. The county seat is in Evansville. While Vanderburgh County was the seventh-largest county in 2010 population with 179,703 people, it is also the ...
Right to Life event, which was attended by
Michael Steele
Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...
and guest speaker
Sarah Palin.
He also performed the song on
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...
's program
Praise the Lord, which was aired on May 1.
A campaign website was created in promotion of the song, which includes a section where listeners submit "Motions Resolutions".
Reception
The song was generally well received by critics. Jesus Freak Hideout's review noted that the song caused his album, ''
Something to Say'', to be "anything but a buffet of the 'same old stuff'."
On December 3, 2009, the song was
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nominated for the Best Gospel Song category, which was Matthew West's first Grammy nomination.
Music video
Matthew West created a music video for the song, which was the first video he had ever done. It premiered at
tangle.com
GodTube is an online video platform which strives to have Christian content. It is owned by Salem Web Network, the internet division of Salem Communications. GodTube includes music videos, comedy, children, animals, sports, news and inspiratio ...
during the week of March 20, 2009.
The video highlighted on his experience in 2007 with
vocal fold
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound product ...
surgery and two months of prescribed silence. The video includes footage of West performing the song on stage, primarily taking scenes from his 2008 documentary video, ''Nothing to Say''.
Charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
References
External links
Website for "The Motions""The Motions" lyricsat
MTV.com
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motions, The
2009 singles
Matthew West songs
Songs written by Matthew West
2008 songs
Sparrow Records singles