Shovel In Hand

Album: How Mercy Looks From Here (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Amy Grant penned this ballad about her then 19-year-old son Matt burying his best friend after he passed away. The singer told Billboard magazine that she wrote it on the airplane flying out to the Academy of Country Music Award in Las Vegas. "I had come from the cemetery watching my son and his friends bury one of their classmates," she recalled, "It's always songs inspired by people in my life."
  • The song features Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge, who has opened for such acts as Needtobreathe, Sugarland and Michelle Branch.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.