Father, I’m on Fire!
Father, I’m on Fire, a burst of guileless musical joy, plays under the ending credits of my feature film Over-the-Rhine. Expressing the newborn faith of one of the film’s central characters, it’s exuberant lyrics and light country rock sound are not typical of my style. But then it isn’t exactly my song…
Years ago I met a winsome young woman named Kathy who’d just committed her life to Christ. Her joy was uncontainable! So she channeled that joy into lyrics. She had a melody in her head, too, but had never written a song, so she brought her little musical memoir to me. I tweaked the tune a bit and added a third verse, along with chords and a counter-melody, but made sure to preserve the song’s infectious, childlike spirit.
Back to the present:
As I was completing the screenplay for Over-the-Rhine, I began thinking about music for the credits. Nothing I’d written seemed appropriate. Then I thought of “Kathy’s song.” What could better capture the joy of a new believer than the words of a new believer? So I contacted Father, I’m on Fire’s co-writer and originator Kathy Schulz Kiran–who is still a joyful Jesus follower, by the way–and she said yes!
VERSE 1
Father, I’m on fire and I’m burnin’ up for You!
And it’s filled me with desire to know what’s really, truly
in Your will for me. I know that You will show me,
‘cause You answer every knock on Your door.
VERSE 2
Lord, I’m just a baby, but I’m learnin’ how to crawl!
And I hope that someday maybe I can grow up taller
than I’ve stood before. I know that you’ll use me more,
‘cause You answer every knock on Your door.
CHORUS
And I’d like to sing this song out loud so everyone can hear.
And if there’s someone in the crowd who’s longing to get nearer
to Thee, then Father work through me,
‘cause You’ve changed my life. It’s You I’m livin’ for.
VERSE 3
My heart’s overflowin’ with a love I can’t contain!
And I hope that love is showin’,
‘cause, Lord, you know, the world remains
such a broken place, in need of your sweet, sweet grace,
but You answer every knock on Your door.
Repeat CHORUS
≅
This recording was produced and performed by the composer of Over-the-Rhine’s score, Steve Goers.
Wow! A real toe-tapper and a memorable message! Nothing like the deep faith of a newcomer to remind us all of the joy in believing! I’m getting more and more eager for your movie to get to us!!! Thank you so much, Mitch, for your witness! (I love exclamation points…)
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Thanks, Martha!!! ;>)
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Just reading the lyrics fills all the empty spaces.
Listening to it is transcendent.
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I can’t remember how I found you to follow you but am I ever glad I did!
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Aww, thanks, Angel.
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Love the song, and I definitely could feel the childlike joy of first coming to the Lord. Brings up images of long ago…even the style.
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so exciting, looking forward to seeing your movie.
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Very nice!
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Mitch, the message is there and the music is great. Thank you for some inspiration.
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This is a wonderful song ❤️ lyrics are amazing thank you for sharing it with us
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Hey, I read some of your stuff and it’s quite nice. I was hoping you could check out my article: https://theboxmarvin.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/%EF%BB%BFwhats-your-focus-a-review-on-seezs-focus-ep/
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https://theboxmarvin.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/ybn-cordaes-debut-studio-album-the-lost-boy-is-all-sorts-of-mellow/
PLEASE READ AND SHARE
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Dear Boxmarvin, it’s customary to at least pretend to have read a person’s blog post before placing an “ad” on their site.
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Lol I actually did, I apologize it’s just that I’m trying to put my articles out there. I hardly have any followers so could you please help me gain traction
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