Songfacts®:

• "People got the power" is revolutionary cry common in rock music, notably in songs by John Lennon and Patti Smith. Daniel Lanois revisits this idea on "Power."
  
  "We have an opportunity to stay fit physically and mentally, to consider kindness in one's life and to make a difference to the house, the street, the neighborhood, the state, the country, the world," he said in a Songfacts interview. "But it starts with the person in the mirror. And I just want to remind everybody that that is still intact, and still something we can operate by."
• Lanois made this song during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 with his collaborators Rocco Deluca (guitar), Jim Wilson (bass) and Johnny Shepherd (organ) - his "Heavy Sun Orchestra." They all share vocals on the track.
  
  According to Lanois, the quarantine informed the song. "We can't tour anymore," he told NPR. "So it's a chance to make an assessment of one's life and take a look in the mirror and see what kind of an improvement. In my case, I'm trying to be a better person. And so 'Power' means that it gives me a little more time to check myself out and see what the right thing to do might be."
• The song runs 3:18, but the vocals don't come in until 1:03. Many of Lanois' songs are ambient instrumentals that come about through experimentation in the studio, so he's always building soundscapes. Lanois is exceptionally skilled as a producer, with a client list that includes Bob Dylan, U2, The Killers and Neil Young.