I have to admit that when I wrote the wedding song, “Here We Stand”, I was specifically thinking about the unity candle ceremony. I have always found it odd or entertaining that after the candle is lit by the bride and groom, they return to their positions facing each other in silence until the music ends. Hence my inspiration for writing a unity candle song that captures the 3 minutes of face time for the bride and groom.

I began to think about the unity candle moment and what it really meant to me. Standing in the moment, face to face, God’s blessing reigning down, and cherishing the moment for what it is. The words “Here we stand, face to face, brought here together, by God’s amazing grace” were the first lyrics that I wrote. From there, it all started to fall in place. The words to the song needed to be a vow and they needed to be proclaimed by both the bride and the groom. “Here We Stand, in this moment now. I give my heart, I give my love, this is my vow…”.

I wanted the song to be powerful and emotional. The final lyrics went through about 20 drafts before I was happy. I continued to eliminate words or lyrics that didn’t strongly reflect the moment being shared. After all, the moment is an opportunity to look into each other’s eyes and say how you feel without actually verbalizing it. It’s a look, it’s a smile, and it’s understood.

Looking back on my own wedding day it made me realize that the unity candle ceremony wasn’t about the ritual or the tradition. It was about the 3 minutes that I could look into the eyes of the person that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. It was about the moment. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I believe the same thing can be said for special moments in our lives. It’s my hope that “Here We Stand” captures this special moment.

Here We Stand - Lyrics
Words and Music: Anthony W. Carter

Here we are, face to face
Brought here together
By God’s amazing grace
Into your eyes, I see myself
Living a life
I’ve always dreamed about…

And as I stand here before you
I can’t help but adore you…

Here we stand, In this moment now
I give my heart, I give my love
This is my vow
To you I swear, And I promise to
Give all I can, All I am
I give to you

Here we are, hand in hand
United as one
By the promise of our love
I open my heart, and let you in
To live there forever
As a lover and a friend

As I stand here before you
I can’t help but adore you…

Here we stand, In this moment now
I give my heart, I give my love
This is my vow
To you I swear, And I promise to
Give all I can, All I am
I give to you

Here we are, face to face
Brought here together
By God’s Amazing grace…

Our last blog post focused on “Daddy’s Angel”, our father daughter song, and the behind the scenes look at the inspiration in writing it. Today I would like to re-introduce brides, grooms, and wedding planners to one of my other best selling original songs, “A Mother’s Song”. A Mother’s Song was written specifically for the mother son dance and over the past couple of years, it has gained a lot of momentum on YouTube by reaching over 2 million views!

The mother son son was not a song I had intended to write. I had finished Daddy’s Angel and I felt like I was done writing for awhile. It was my wife who encouraged me to continue writing and that I should focus on a song for mothers of the groom. At the time, I had no inspiration for writing the song, but I did have a simple melody and finger style guitar part that I had been playing for my two little boys around the house.

One day while my wife was getting the boys ready for church I noticed that she was quite busy cleaning their faces and tying their shoes. The image of that moment inspired me to sing “Tying little shoe laces, and wiping off dirty faces…are just a couple of things that a mother will do…”. This became the opening line of the song I was about to write. The rest of the lyrics seemed to fall in place as the verses focused on little boy days and growing up. I wanted the chorus to be a strong statement and the fact that a mother wants to be proud of her little boy is probably where that came from.

After the recording, I decided to have my wife and oldest son do the photo shoot for the CD and the insert. It was a lot of fun. We even used an old pair of baby shoes for one photo. The pictures truly captured the loving bond between a mother and her son. It turned out great!

When it came time to sell the song, I was not sure if it would be accepted well but I did know that the song was her song, my wife’s. I wrote it watching her and my boys. She’s a great mother and the loving bond that they share is strong. It’s been a couple years since the release of A Mother’s Song and it’s still my number one selling song. I’m humbled and amazed by the testimonies that come back to me about this song. God is good! I’m thankful that He has given me the ability to express myself through music and I’m thankful for this song. I hope that mothers will find this song suitable for their special moments with their little boy days. : )

Available now in CD, Mp3 Download, or Sheet Music format! Click HERE!

Check out the video for A Mother’s Song below. Lyrics are also provided.

Tying little shoe laces
Wiping off dirty faces
Are just a couple of things
That a mother will do…

Mending a broken heart
Is only just a part
Of the care and the love
That I’ve given you…

With a Kool-aid smile
And a sparkle in your eyes
I wrap you in my arms
And whisper this advice…

Be strong, be kind
Be patient and in time
You’ll find out, my son
What true love is all about

Be faithful and be true
Show love in all you do
Then you’ll know, just how
You make your mother proud

Now, little boy days have passed
And you’ve grown up so fast
But in my heart
That little boy will never be far…

So on this blessed day
There’s so much I want to say
But above all, I thank God
For the man that you are…

With a tender smile
And a twinkle in your eyes
I wrap you in my arms
And whisper this advice…

Be strong, be kind
Be patient and in time
You’ll find out, my son
What true love is all about

Be faithful and be true
Show love in all you do
Then you’ll know, just how
You make your mother proud

You’ve made your mother so proud…

As the 2013 wedding season begins, I’d like to re-introduce brides, grooms, and wedding planners to one of my best selling original songs, “Daddy’s Angel”. Daddy’s Angel was written specifically for the father daughter dance and over the past few years, it has gained a lot of momentum on YouTube by reaching over 3 million views!

When I originally wrote the song, I did not expect it to compete well with other songs in this category (Butterfly Kisses, I Saw Her First, etc…) because there seem to be a lot of beloved father daughter songs already. I can remember woking on the lyrics. The beginning of the song, “I’m giving you away, but I’m not letting go…” was the first thing I had. All of the other lyrics followed. I had to tap into my wife’s knowledge in this area as she shared some of her treasured memories of her dad while growing up. I waned to write a song that captured what a father and daughter truly cherished about their relationship and I wanted to stress even though he was “giving her away” he’s not actually letting go. A dad will always be a dad to his little girl. : )

Available now in CD, Mp3 Download, or Sheet Music format! Click HERE!

Check out the video for Daddy’s Angel Below. Lyrics are also provided.

Daddy’s Angel - Lyrics
Words and Music: Anthony W. Carter

I’m giving you away
But I’m not letting go
The memories, they flood my mind
Of the little girl I know
Once upon a time
You held my hand so tight
You’d close your eyes and say a prayer
Then I’d kiss your head goodnight

As we dance I keep our love deep within my heart
And thank God for giving me this angel in my arms…

You’re my little angel
So baby don’t you cry
It’s time to spread your wings and fly
If there’s one thing this father knows
The hardest part is letting go
But you will still always be…
Daddy’s little angel

It seems like yesterday
Has come and gone so fast
Now my baby’s all grown up
But the memories will last

It’s hard to say goodbye
When you’ve always been so near
But for now I’ll hold you tight
Like those times that I hold dear

As we dance I keep our love deep within my heart
And thank God for giving me this angel in my arms…

You’re my little angel
So baby don’t you cry
It’s time to spread your wings and fly
If there’s one thing this father knows
The hardest part is letting go
But you will still always be…
Daddy’s little angel

When you were young, I used to laugh
At the funny things you’d say
Right now I just can’t help but smile…
On this blessed day

You’re my little angel
So baby don’t you cry
It’s time to spread your wings and fly
If there’s one thing this father knows
The hardest part is letting go
But you will still always be…
Daddy’s little angel

I’m giving you away, but I’m not letting go…

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