The hottest Christian song in America was written after its artist, Lauren Daigle, faced a bout with depression and panic attacks that only stopped thanks to the love and support of two close friends.
The tune, Thank God I Do, is in its fourth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs Chart and tells of Daigle facing darkness and trials but finding comfort in others: “I don't know where I'd go if you ever let go; So keep me held in your hands; … I don't know who I'd be if I didn't know you, Thank God I do.”
Daigle told Christian Headlines she wrote it during the pandemic.
“COVID impacted everybody in multiple ways. But for me, it was the epitome of devastation. I was on this world tour that was going to be the biggest tour of my life at that time. And we got the phone call, and everything had to just be shut down. And I remember going home and thinking, ‘Okay, they said this will last a couple of weeks, this will be good, … it'll be a reset.’ And little did I know [that] the world was going to be sitting for a hot minute,” she said, smiling. “And the pain of that and just such disappointment was really hard to overcome.
“But the thing that was the most difficult was the animosity in the world at the time. And seeing people that were against each other. And this idea of love that I have for other people and unity that I have for other people, it was the thing that completely shook my foundations, if you will. And so it led to a lot of panic attacks, anxiety, depression.”
The song is part of Daigle’s self-titled album, Lauren Daigle.
“I had this panic attack that lasted for like seven hours. And my mom and a friend sat with me through it. I'd never known what this was, I didn't know what was happening. And I wrote the song right after that with [singer/songwriter] Jason Ingram. ... And I wrote it just because it was the clearest picture of God that I had seen in a long time. Just seeing Him love me through other people who didn't give any element of shame or rejection or like, ‘This girl's losing her mind.’ They were just with me in the process. And it set me free. That's why I ended up writing a song about it.”
Daigle won Female Artist of the Year last week at the K-Love Fan Awards. It was televised on TBN.
Photo courtesy: ©Jason Davis for K-LOVE Fan Awards, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
