Peace Be Upon Us

Album: Detours (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Bass guitarist and producer Mike Elizonda played on this. Elizonda is best known for his collaborations with Dr Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent, including co-writing Eminem's hit single "The Real Slim Shady." Sheryl Crow told Billboard magazine about how she came to write this song and why she invited Elizonda to play on it: "I play bass and so does Bill (Bottrell producer of Detours), but I don't play like Mike. On the song 'Now That You're Gone,' both Bill and I were like, 'we need a real bass player on this.' We called Mike and he brought down two pieces of, like little germs of music and one of them was this little figure for 'Peace Be Upon Us.' I started working on melody for it and lyrics and kept getting hung up.
    In the morning when my son Wyatt's up really early, that's when I found I could kind of be clear. I started singing a bunch of syllables that just sounded great and I told Bill I wish I could just sing these syllables and he said 'well, why don't you?' I said I don't want to waste it and then it occurred to me that maybe it should be a different language. It became 'what if the song's about peace,' because it already had a Middle Eastern feel."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sugarland

SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Meet the "sassy basket" with the biggest voice in country music.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."