Raising Up the Dead is the newest and highly anticipated release from Caedmon's Call. With career sales exceeding 1 million albums and going on 16 years in the industry, the Texas-based band has made the leap from independent act to Christian music mainstay. Caedmon’s Call has launched 16 national releases and seven No. 1 radio singles.

"This is our most collaborative project ever," member Derek Webb says of Raising Up the Dead. "Everyone was involved in the writing process because we wanted to make a record that reflected the idea of community very strongly. It's a big theme on this project."

Each of the 12 songs found on Raising Up the Dead was written as a group. I've been a long-time fan of Caedmon's Call and have collected every album since their major label self-titled debut in 1997 which spawned "This World," "Bus Driver" and "Hope To Carry On." If you liked that album and the folk-oriented, worshipful style, then you need to get Raising Up the Dead.

If you're like me, and you've always wanted more from Danielle Young, then this album is totally for you. Danielle contributed lyrics to six of the 12 songs and is highlighted on lead vocals in half of the tunes, including the powerful closing song, "Free."

"Writing for this record has been a life changing experience," shares Young. "I discovered I love to write. I discovered that the cathartic nature of revealing what is in my heart is worth the challenge it poses. I am thankful for this experience and for Derek and Sandra who held my hand and helped me through this process."

I had the great opportunity to speak with Danielle Young about her song "Free." This is what she shared with me. You can listen to our entire conversation here.


Please tell me the background story behind writing the song "Free."

The song means a lot to me. It is the song that really got me writing. I had been reading the book Prodigal God by Tim Keller. It was a life-changing experience. I was seeing in my life that the good works that I do can be more of a hindrance than even the bad things that I do. I found that I was seeing myself as the elder brother in the book, which is a re-telling of the Prodigal Son passage from the Bible. He highlights the story of the elder brother and it is the basis of the song. The book was so convicting I had to put it down for a couple of weeks and just think about chapters before I could keep reading. I was so compelled about what I was learning. I was compelled to write a song. I approached Derek Webb and said I needed to write a song and he was really encouraging. Sandra McCracken helped me write the second verse. I compare my good works to a medallion around my neck that is causing me to sink. I need Jesus to take that burden from me. It is so freeing for me to know that I can't earn God's approval. God doesn't owe me anything, and I don't bring anything to Him. Everything I have is because of His work on the cross for me. So the chorus is just the word free. That's all I could say was free. Derek wanted me to just sing free over and over and he was so excited about the song. We want people to take away that message that it's all about the freedom we have in Christ.

Did you base the song on any Bible verses?
Matthew 11:29-30: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Galatians 2:20-21: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

What is the take-away message for listeners about the song?

We have freedom when we accept that grace is a gift from Christ and isn't something we can earn with our good works. I learned that the mindset of the Prodigal Son's elder brother--thinking he could earn favor by being good--is actually a hindrance to accepting God's free gift of grace. Jesus wants us to celebrate that our freedom from the burden of our sin was taken away by His sacrifice on our behalf on the cross. It took months to write the bridge, and that sums up the message of the song that freedom means we get to have Christ's righteousness in place of our attempts at good works. God really used the book Prodigal God to really convict me that even good things can be a hindrance to fully receiving the full gift of redemption.

Here are the lyrics:

Around my neck is a beautiful stone
I made it from the good that I've done
It is close to my heart with a meter of its own
but the weight it bears on me from the good I want to be
it cuts me in half, a blade, a sword, a golden calf

Now I am sinking under the load
I see it was only fool's gold
And it falls on me, brings me low
Around His neck He carries the stone
He takes my burden, makes it His own
And it takes Him down, the bread, the wine, the golden crown

Free

A rose shoots up from the ground
the sky cracks open, sun through the clouds
the old has changed, the earth, the bride, the family name

Broken down and shot through, all the good I mean to do
the prison shakes, the man goes free, I am Him and He is me

Jesus promises us in Matthew 11:29-30 that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus came to claim us and set us free from the burden of sin. When we are in communion with Jesus, it is joyful and not a burden. The song reflects that truth beautifully with the lyrics,"Around His neck He carries the stone, He takes my burden, makes it His own." I get goosebumps when Danielle sings "free" over and over. Jesus invites us to come to Him and He'll give us rest. Grace is freely given and isn't something we can earn by our good works. It is a gift from God by faith in Christ Jesus. This song helps me sing a prayer of Thanksgiving that I'm free in Christ. Thank You Jesus!