Red Blanket Prelude

(album: My Worship - 2018)

So, Imma talk about my dad, my father
Well, let me start off by saying my mom is the most amazing person I know
I just wanna make sure, you know, my dad's not the one getting all the love
I'm one of eight siblings and we're all somehow involved in full-time ministry which is amazing in itself
And I attribute that to my mom
And for my dad's 70th birthday party
My mom called me and asked me to write a song for my dad
And I remember saying to her, "umm, Mom, writing songs ain't just that easy", you know
So I decided, obviously, I'm gonna sit down and try to do this
And basically all the songs on this project
I wrote them in a very difficult season of my life
So it's like every song is kinda laced with pain
Or at least written from a painful place

When I said on my piano to write this song
It just came rushing into my head probably faster than any song I've ever written
And this one is also laced with pain
Cause the chorus says
And when times got hard
You taught me how to worship God
I'm talking about my dad

I feel the need to explain
I just feel the need to explain one line in the song so that everyone that listens isn't totally lost
There's a line in the pre-chorus that says
But you placed inside of me
A storm-kit that I've held on to
My own proverbial red blanket

When I first sang this song to my siblings, they immediately knew what I was referring to
When I was little, I remember coming downstairs and, you know, in the middle of the night to use the bathroom
And I remember seeing my dad in the living room on his knees praying and he always had this red blanket wrapped around him
He called it his prayer blanket
And I remember him saying to me as a child that the red was for the blood of Jesus
This song is just an emotional song for me
I remember while I was writing it
Shedding a couple of tears as I was singing it
So I just decided, man, I gotta record this
So here's Red Blanket/When Times Got Hard