Audrey Assad began her music career while attending college at 19, working odd jobs and performing at local venues to support herself. She broke into the music industry after meeting Christian artist Matt Maher, who took her to his shows to sing back-up vocals and learn about performing on stage. While she performed for Maher, she signed with EMI Christian Music Group Publishing, writing music for other artists and created an EP, Firefly, which got the attention of Sparrow Records.

In 2009, she signed with Sparrow Records and created her first studio album in 2010: The House You’re Building. It was named “Christian Album of 2010” on Amazon and “Christian Breakthrough Album of the Year” on Apple’s iTunes. She released Heart in 2012, after which she parted with Sparrow Records and released albums under her self-titled studio: Fortunate Fall Records.

Her third overall and first independent album, Fortunate Fall, was created using a Kickstarter campaign, as well as a live concert EP O Happy Fault. It also contains the song Good To me, the subject of this review. All were released in 2013.

With her studio established, she also released Inheritance in 2016 and recently, Evergreen in 2018.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Audrey-assad-good-to-me-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Assad’s main thrust is that God is good, at least, to her. He is her foundation, her source of mercy, and is worthy of her adoration. Unfortunately, she does not explain why God is so good nor the promises God made, expecting us to already know what they are. If we are to praise God, the least we can do is explain why.

The Chorus makes up almost half the song, repeated 6 times, with each containing “You are good to me” three times and “good to me” twice, bringing the total of repeats at 30 for the phrase “good to me”. Assad focuses more on the goodness of God rather than the relationship she has with God.

Score: 5/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Assad gives us more nuggets of Scriptural truth than ambiguity; However, the lack of explanation for God’s goodness and promises are highly problematic. The Scriptural truths she provides has a more Old Testament expression than New Testament, heightened with her lack of New Testament teaching, including the cross.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: What promise is that? Assad does not tell us.

Line 2: Though God is the foundation of our Christian faith (Deuteronomy 32:4, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 22:47, Psalm 18:31, Psalm 28:1, Psalm 62:2, Psalm 94:22, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, Ephesians 2:20, 2 Timothy 2:19, and 1 Peter 2:6), Assad has not made it clear that Christ is the foundation, as opposed to an Old Testament view of God (that is, righteousness through the Law) as the foundation.

Line 3: We are to praise God regardless of our circumstances (Romans 14:8, Philippians 1:20, Philippians 2:17, 1 Corinthians 3:22-23, and 1 Thessalonians 5:10).

Line 4: Borrowing from Song of Solomon 2:15-16 and combined with John 15:1-10, Christ’s bride, the church and the vineyard are assaulted daily by the flesh, the word, and the devil. Despite this daily tumult, Assad’s security in God will not be shaken.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-3: Repeated 5 times, though it is true that God is good to us, Assad does not tell us why. There is no mention of the cross or Christ crucified for our sake (Romans 5:6-8).

[Verse 2]

Line 1: Quoted partially from Psalm 121:1-2, Assad communicates that God is her aid in times of trouble.

Line 2: A request for God to help her in her personal darkness, alluding back to line 1.

Line 3: See commentary in Verse 1, line 3.

Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

[Bridge]

Line 1: Quoted from the beginning of Psalm 23:6, Assad concludes God’s mercy will follow her all the days of her life.

Line 2: See commentary in Verse 1, line 1.

Lines 3-6: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Score: 6/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

While non-Christians will easily see this as praising God, Assad’s lack of New Testament theology pushes unbelievers closer to Judaism than Christianity. The ambiguity over God’s promises and rationale for His goodness could drive some to further research, but that is doubtful at best.

Score: 3/10

4. What does this song glorify?

While this song does seek to glorify God, the aforementioned issues significantly dull its impact.

Score: 4/10

Closing Comments

Though Audrey Assad’s Good To Me contains a few kernels of Biblical truth, its heavy focus on the Old Covenant, combined with zero explanation on God’s promises or actions of God’s goodness makes for a forgettable song. Though some might find comfort in these lyrics, its overly repeated Chorus and lack of New Testament theology leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Final Score: 5/10

Artist Info

Track: Good to Me (listen to the song)

Artist: Audrey Assad



Album: Fortunate Fall

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2013

Duration: 6:01

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