Songfacts®:

• Vocalist and chief songwriter John Cooper told StereoTruth: "Typically I don't write in a way where a song can have an open ended interpretation, but this is a song about loss and can be applied to a whole range of situations. It has a gist of regret where you wish you had done things differently and it could be about mourning the loss of someone who died or a relationship. It seems sad, but it's strangely hopeful because it gives off the idea that you can change your life right here and now - you have been given a second chance so you can remember to live and love with no regrets."
• This is one of a number of songs that deal with loss on Awake. Cooper explained to Christianity Today magazine: "I have dealt with a lot of loss in my life. My mom died when I was 14 and that same year, my best friend died. There have been times in my life things seemed difficult, but it has caused me to be retrospective and to learn how to deal with loss or emptiness - that feeling that you don't have anything to live for."
• John Cooper chose for some time not to share what it was that inspired this song. Eventually, during a concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis in November of 2010, he opened up to the crowd the true story behind the tune, which he said was very special to him. "Listen up while I tell you a story about a young girl and a young guy who found themselves in a hard situation," he said. "They didn't know what to do when they found out that she was pregnant; they were young, they didn't have any money, they were scared, they didn't want to tell anybody, they didn't know what to do, and the only option that they could see was to terminate the pregnancy. So that's what they decided to do... they went to a clinic, they had the procedure done, and at first they felt relieved that all their problems had gone away."
  
  "But then something happened that they did not expect," he continued, "and that's over the next few weeks, which turned into a few months, they began to feel an intense sadness... and a pain and an agony and a guilt that wouldn't go away. They didn't know what to do, so they finally went to see a counsellor; they said look - tell us what to do, we just don't know, and the counsellor made a suggestion. The counsellor said here's what you need to do - stop acting like you had a procedure, and act like you had a death in the family. So the couple went home and they made three decisions; number one, they decided to have a funeral service for the baby; number two, they bought a tiny little headstone; and the last decision to make was what to name the baby. After a couple weeks they finally decided they would call her... Lucy."