Sidewalk Prophets initially made a name for themselves at Indiana’s Anderson University where front men and main songwriters Dave Frey and Ben McDonald met. "Although we don't consider ourselves to be a worship band" said Dave, "we probably do more worship music than our original music, and that's fine with us.” Integrating worship with real life is one of the simple truths Sidewalk Prophets has learned to live by.

These Simple Truths, the debut album by Sidewalk Prophets, centers on the hope that Christ’s love provides. "The more we look at today’s problems the more we see that a lot of times people are fearful of being themselves," explains Frey. "Finding our identity in Christ is one of the most crucial steps in loving others. Once people start realizing this and living confidently we’ll see a visible change from households to communities to ultimately the world. That’s what we’re all about. The name ‘Sidewalk Prophets’ even means that we are common people speaking the truth about life from our perspective as followers of Christ."

I got the chance to interview Dave Frey about their current hit single, “You Love Me Anyway.” You can listen to our entire interview here.

Please tell me about the background in writing the song "You Love Me Anyway."

Like all good stories, it all began on a dark and stormy night. Actually it was seriously stormy and we were in Ben’s basement in Anderson, Indiana wanting to write a song about what Jesus meant to each of us. The background of the first verse comes from a real life experience I had as a kid. I loved aquariums and owned a goldfish and one day my parents were out and left me and my friend with a babysitter. I decided to play with my goldfish named Mortimer, and I accidentally killed it. My babysitter seemed to have a danger radar and sensed something went wrong and asked who murdered the fish? I lied and blamed my friend Joel and to my surprise he took the blame for me.

The next Sunday, I felt terribly guilty for blaming my friend, and I knew I had sinned. In church, I sat in the balcony and started sobbing uncontrollably for what I had done, and I told my mom I was sorry for hurting her and for hurting Jesus. She smiled and said, “It’s okay, Jesus loves you no matter what you’ve done.” So this song is about me and how I sometimes feel like the lowest of all, but I know that Jesus loves me anyway. It was there in that silly, little lie that I began to realize the power of grace. Faults and downfalls will occur, and the true measure of a man or a boy is what we do after those moments. Some tragedies occur and the reason is never known, but in the midst of all storms there is a place where we are safe, a place where we are truly loved, in the arms of Jesus Christ.

Do you have any Bible verses you used in writing the song?

John 11:35: Jesus wept.

Luke 23:34: Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here are the lyrics:

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie
It didn’t mean much
But it lingers still
In the corners of my mind

Still you call me to walk
On the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future’s so far
My heart is so frail
I think I’d rather stay inside

CHORUS
But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me

It took more than my strength
To simply be still
To seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die?

CHORUS

I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway

See now, I am the man that called out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

But You love me anyway
Oh, God… how you love me

CHORUS

You love me, You love me
You love me, You love me
How You love me
How You love me
How You love me

Our shame and guilt was taken away by Jesus at the cross. I know that my sins are the reasons for His crown of thorns and the nails in His wrists and feet. Jesus died for my sins, and His sacrifice is the most beautiful moment in history. The reason for His sacrifice is despicable, our sins. His resurrection is cause for the greatest celebration. God love us that much. It is because of His blood that we can experience true unconditional love and forgiveness. This song is an amazing reflection of the truth that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus.