We Owe This To Ourselves

Album: Dark is the Way, Light is a Place (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This anthemic track is from Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Anberlin. The song is a resounding call to action - "we owe this to ourselves/to fight, to lead/we owe this to ourselves/we just can't let this go."
  • The track was the main song used on ESPN's X Games in the summer of 2010. X Games is an annual sports event staged by the network that focuses on extreme action sports.
  • Frontman Stephen Christian wrote this song about one of his heroes, Martin Luther King Jr. He recalled to AntiMusic: "I was listening to the radio on a drive home from a show and heard this NPR report about the end of MLK's life. He felt lonely and isolated and basically predicted his own death at one of his speeches.

    I was so inspired, and on that drive home jotted down the line 'if every man became a king, then we could do more than just dream'. I feel that our generation can not let up on the fight to end racism. We must continue along the path of the trail that has been etched out for us by such great men.

    If you turn up 'You Belong Here' in the beginning, you can hear talking. We actually tell the world the meaning of life, so turn it up and you will have it all figured out."
  • The song was originally supposed to be titled "King," but Anberlin's record label persuaded them to change it. However, Christian still believes it should have been called "King" and it remains under that name on the band's set lists.

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