I was surprised when my dad told me that I Know A Savior had never been recorded before. While some of his other songs talk about the Christmas story in poetic, story telling ways, embedded at the heart of this song there is genuine personal human experience expressed in the “I know” phrases – “I know a trouble, I know a sorrow” – I also know that this song is particularly dear to my dad’s heart.
I took a few steps to make this recording as genuine and honest as possible. What I mean by that is, through trial and error we attempted to not over produce, over complicate or bring in some artificial gloss to smooth of the rough edges. To explain what I mean by this, let me take you a little behind the scenes.
It took us three separate recording sessions to finally hear what we were after. Initially, we’d agreed on recording the piano part first and then adding the vocal part overtop of it. While this works for many different songs, even making the process easier in the long run, something felt unnatural about piano and vocal parts being disconnected, having not been recorded together. In light of this we decided to recorded them together, live in the living room at the piano.
Basically, what this means is that we get one take. Because studio recording microphones aren’t generally hyper directional, meaning they pick up noise to the sides of whatever you are trying to record, sound from another source bleeds into each and every track during a recording. So the piano part is picked up the in vocal mic and vice versa. It makes taking mistakes out rather difficult in the editing process…
I hoped that all of this (plus more tech stuff that I assume you wouldn’t want me to go in to detail on…) would amount to you being able to picture yourself around the piano in my dad’s living room…even though you weren’t there when we recorded this whisper of I Know a Savior.
– Trailand
I Know a Savior
Words and Music by Douglas C. Eltzroth
I know a trouble I know a sorrow
I know a grieving I know a pain
I know a trial I know a hardship
I know a burden I know a weight
Chorus:
But I know a Savior
He’s so much greater
Everlasting is His love
I know a Savior
He’s so much greater
Everlasting is His love
Verse 2
I know a failing I know a lying
I know a stumbling I know a sin
I know a bending I know a falling
I know a promise that is broken again
(chorus)
Verse 3
I know a terror I know a darkness
I know a danger I know a fear
I know a sadness I know an evil
I know a dying I know a tear
(chorus)
Ending:
He’s so much greater
Everlasting is His love
Everlasting is His love
Everlasting is His love
© 1995 Douglas C. Eltzroth c/o http://www.collage.org
37 Days of Christmas 