Behind The Song: Crowder Shares The Heart Behind His Song “Red Letters”

This week’s featured song story comes to us from Crowder. We’re excited to share with you the story behind his song “Red Letters.”

“When I was a kid I remember sitting in the church pew next to my grandmother and asking her why some of her bible was written in red. She explained it was the Red Letter edition and whenever Jesus, God’s only Son, spoke, it was written in red.As a kid I thought that was just how God wrote it. Nope. I was wrong. About this and other things. Turns out it was a guy by the name of Louis Klopsch. It was the late 1800’s and he very much wanted the common man to not only have access to scripture but for the story of God’s reconciliation to jump off the pages as it had for him. One evening, he was reading in Luke 22:20, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you,’ and that is when Mr. Klopsch had an idea -the words of Jesus in red. He didn’t stop there, he and the editors went all the way to the beginning and took any scripture in the old testament foretelling the arrival of a messiah as well as any scriptures that Jesus was quoted as quoting and put them in red as well; a scarlet thread woven through all of time and creation.” – Crowder

Click on the video below to hear Crowder share the story. Scroll down to listen and read the full lyrics of the song.

From the album I Know A Ghost.

“Red Letters” Lyrics

There I was on death row
Guilty in the first degree
Son of God hanging on a hill
Hell was my destiny

The crowd was shouting crucify
Could’ve come from these lips of mine
The dirty shame was killing me
It would take a miracle to wash me clean

Then I read the red letters
And the ground began to shake
The prison walls started falling
And I became a free man that day

Felt like lightning hit my veins
My dead heart began to beat
Breath of God filled my lungs
And the Holy Ghost awakened me
Yeah, the Holy Ghost awakened me

When I read the red letters
And the ground began to shake
The prison walls started falling
And I became a free man that day

For God so loved the whole wide world
Sent His only Son to die for me
Arms spread wide for the whole wide world
His arms spread wide where mine should be
Jesus changed my destiny

Thank You, God, for red letters
When the ground began to shake
The grace of God started falling
And I became a free man that day
The prison walls started falling
And I am a free man today