Some MWS Song Questions

[Snooze]

Hi,

Can't get enough of Live the Life. I love "Missing Person". I'm so
glad it's the first track!

Anyway... the last song on the Live the Life CD, "Hello, Good Bye",
talks about this Noah, who, based on the inscription, lived 2.5 days.
Who is he?

This also got me curious about the people he specifically sang about
in the past. For instance:
Emily ("Emily")
Rebecca ("Old Enough to Know")
Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")
Could someone tell me who these people are and the story behind them?

One more: on which album can I find the song with these lines (I
think):
"My silent eyes can tell,
That You're alive and well"
I think the song is called "Move in Me", but I'm not sure.

Thanks.

[Mike Halbrook]

On Mon, 04 May 1998 15:28:35 GMT, Snoo...@REMOVETHIS.juno.com
(Snooze) wrote:

>Anyway... the last song on the Live the Life CD, "Hello, Good Bye",
>talks about this Noah, who, based on the inscription, lived 2.5 days.
>Who is he?

Noah was the child of friends, whom you accuratly figured lived 2.5.
days.

>Emily ("Emily")

Could possibly refer to his Daughter, or be a name he liked.

>Rebecca ("Old Enough to Know")

Not sure of this one.

>Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")

Girl who was killed in a car accident. He wrote the song for the
family. I don't think he knew the family prior to writing the song, I
think it came from a letter Leesha's sister wrote to him, but I can't
remember the story.

>"My silent eyes can tell,
>That You're alive and well"
>I think the song is called "Move in Me", but I'm not sure.

That would be on "My Utmost for his Highest" the first one of the
series

[John v.]

once upon a time mike.h...@poboxes.com wrote:
>On Mon, 04 May 1998 15:28:35 GMT, Snoo...@REMOVETHIS.juno.com
>(Snooze) wrote:
>>Emily ("Emily")
>Could possibly refer to his Daughter, or be a name he liked.

seeing as how the song came out 2 or 3 years before Emily was born, I doubt
it's about his daughter ... and he did say emily was a name he always liked
..

>>Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")
>Girl who was killed in a car accident. He wrote the song for the
>family. I don't think he knew the family prior to writing the song, I
>think it came from a letter Leesha's sister wrote to him, but I can't
>remember the story.

From what I heard when the song came out, leesha was a close teenage friend of
his and amy grant's (supposedly even baby-sat for them ...) I'd heard that he
actually sang the song at her funeral...
Even if the above isn't accurate, I think there most likely was a personal
connection to her, seeing as how he bawled his eyes out while he was singing
it at the concert I went to ...

John v.

Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a
Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; If you don't
believe in the resurection, you're not a believer.
-John Irving _A Prayer for Owen Meany_

[MeghanKori]

>n a time mike.h...@poboxes.com wrote:<BR>
>>On Mon, 04 May 1998 15:28:35 GMT, Snoo...@REMOVETHIS.juno.com<BR>
>>(Snooze) wrote:<BR>
>>>Emily ("Emily")<BR>
>>Could possibly refer to his Daughter, or be a name he liked.<BR>
><BR>

>seeing as how the song came out 2 or 3 years before Emily was born, I doubt

><BR>

>it's about his daughter ... and he did say emily was a name he always liked

><BR>

Actually, the song Emily was first released way back in the 80's when I was
just a young pup. His daughter was born when I was in high school. I heard on
the radio at the time that he named her after the song, sort of. :)

[MtnDewYUM]

>This also got me curious about the people he specifically sang about
>in the past. For instance:
>Emily ("Emily")

>Rebecca ("Old Enough to Know")

>Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")

>Could someone tell me who these people are and the story behind them?

Smitty wrote "Emily" and "Old Enough To Know" about letters he got from
teenagers. He named his youngest daughter Emily a few years later.

"I Hear Leesha" is about a girl who died in a car accident near MWS's home
about 10 years ago. She was just a teenager at the time, too.

Noah was the son of MWS's friends. He only lived a few days after birth.

>"My silent eyes can tell,
>That You're alive and well"
>I think the song is called "Move in Me", but I'm not sure.

It is called "Move In Me" and it is from the original "My Utmost For His
Highest" CD.

Hope that helps!
Julie

"But even I can see the sacrifice You made for me...To show that I have never
been unloved."
--Michael W. Smith

[John v.]

once upon a time megha...@aol.com (MeghanKori) wrote:
>Actually, the song Emily was first released way back in the 80's when I was
>just a young pup. His daughter was born when I was in high school. I heard on
>the radio at the time that he named her after the song, sort of. :)

ooops you're right, totally forgot about _the live set_

John v.

_____________________________________________________________________
It seems these days we find it much easier to confess we are sinners
than to admit that our actions have consequences - Steve Taylor.
_____________________________________________________________________

[Naileddwn]

Noah was the 2 day old son of MWS's good friend and old road manager, Joey
Ciccoline. MWS wrote the song for Joey and his wife after Noah passed away. I
think that Joey now is the road manager for Jars of Clay.

[chari...@gmail.com]

On Monday, May 4, 1998 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, Snooze wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can't get enough of Live the Life. I love "Missing Person". I'm so
> glad it's the first track!
>

> Anyway... the last song on the Live the Life CD, "Hello, Good Bye",
> talks about this Noah, who, based on the inscription, lived 2.5 days.
> Who is he?
>

> This also got me curious about the people he specifically sang about
> in the past. For instance:
> Emily ("Emily")
> Rebecca ("Old Enough to Know")
> Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")
> Could someone tell me who these people are and the story behind them?
>

> One more: on which album can I find the song with these lines (I
> think):

> "My silent eyes can tell,
> That You're alive and well"
> I think the song is called "Move in Me", but I'm not sure.
>

> Thanks.

Leesha was my sister. Michael knew my father casually as we went to the same church but I hadn't met him. My sister died in a car accident, and he called and said he felt led to visit me. I told him a story about how I'd felt she'd spoken to me in the hospital to let me know she was okay. The story inspired the song. He kept my family apprised of the progress of its production because he wanted us to approve all of it. He was so sensitive to our grief and feelings. It's really cool to stumble across things like this now and then so I can share the story

[joeyrob...@gmail.com]

Oh wow. Thank you so much for sharing about your sister. I’ve always loved that song, since it was released. Later in my life, in 2010, my best friend died suddenly and that song took on a new, more personal meaning for me. I lost another good friend suddenly in 2017. Again, when I hear ‘I hear Leesha”, I hear the reassurance of my friends in heaven. That song just came on (June 3, 2019) and for the first time I wondered if Leesha was a real person. Google brought me here, and I saw your comment. Thank you for sharing, again.

~ Joey

[irenaj...@gmail.com]

On Monday, May 4, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Snooze wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can't get enough of Live the Life. I love "Missing Person". I'm so
> glad it's the first track!
>
> Anyway... the last song on the Live the Life CD, "Hello, Good Bye",
> talks about this Noah, who, based on the inscription, lived 2.5 days.
> Who is he?
>
> This also got me curious about the people he specifically sang about
> in the past. For instance:
> Emily ("Emily")
> Rebecca ("Old Enough to Know")
> Leesha ("I Hear Leesha")
> Could someone tell me who these people are and the story behind them?
>
> One more: on which album can I find the song with these lines (I
> think):
> "My silent eyes can tell,
> That You're alive and well"
> I think the song is called "Move in Me", but I'm not sure.
>
> Thanks.

Back in the late 80's...when I was just out of High School, I read a book MWS wrote. In it, he talked about the song Emily (which I first heard at a 1986 concert of his). The song was written for a girl who had written him about the peer pressure she felt and her inadequacies she felt she had.

His music has always been very personal. Even his first album really just touched you in those little trouble spots we all have and spoke to you.

Blessings on him for his work to bring the Gospel to so many.