Chords for I CAN ONLY IMAGINE - Story behind the song - Mercy Me MOVIE PREVIEW
Tempo:
81.725 bpm
Chords used:
E
Em
Abm
B
A
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Dbm]
[E] My father passed away with cancer in 1991.
I was [Em] 18 and growing up in [Bb] the church people
always said, you know, if he could choose he'd rather be in heaven than be here on earth.
And as a Christian I believe that, but as an 18 year old it was pretty hard to [Abm] swallow.
And so a lot of the questions out of the course kind of came [E] from me saying, God, what's so
great about you that my dad would rather be there than here?
And for years I would write
the phrase, I can only imagine, down on anything I'd get my hands on.
If I was on the phone
doodling whatever I'd write that phrase.
And it wasn't until 1999 we were working on
an independent record and we needed one more song.
And [Gbm] I was like, well, you know, I'll
try [Em] to come up with something.
So I started opening the journal I was writing in and every
page had this phrase on it, literally every page.
[Gbm] And so I was like, well, maybe I need
to finish [E] this.
And so I started writing it down and put it to music and we recorded it
on an independent record.
And, you know, it was supposed to be a fast song and it was
[Abm] like, you know, the lyrics are a little, I just, I don't know, I'm a sap for, you know,
slower songs.
I was like, no, the lyrics are too important.
I don't want to put it to a
fast song.
So we left it alone, tried to walk away.
And when I was walking out, Jim played
that piano lick [Em] and I was like, play it again.
And all of a sudden we rolled everything back
[Abm] in the studio and did it real quick.
We were actually in an old Sunday school building,
it wasn't even [N] a studio.
And we recorded it and it was kind of a B-side thing, you know,
it didn't really go with the rest of the [Eb] record.
And [E] we didn't play it for months.
[A] For months
[Em] we never played it.
We promoted the rest of the record and somebody finally said, hey,
why don't you play this song, you know, during the show [E] tonight?
So we tried it once and
everybody kind of flipped out over it.
And we knew we had something special but never
thought it was going to do what it's done.
And so we've played it every night since,
you know, a million times it feels like.
And, you know, it ran its course in the Christian
market and then it, you know, did whatever it was supposed to do.
And then we moved on
to a second record and then we were promoting that.
And all of a sudden, you know, a top
40 station in Dallas, a shock jock kind of format, they said they'll do anything on the
air and somebody called in and said play Imagine.
And they're like, oh, we'll do it, we'll give
it a shot.
And they played it once, got a ton of phone calls, played it again.
And after
like the second or third [B] time it went, it became number one in their station for like
three [E] months.
And, [B] you know, then all of a sudden all these other stations started following
suit.
They heard about it and was like, what in the world?
And they got the same response.
And then eventually the label was like, we need to do something about this.
So they released
it and it [E] started, it took off.
And, you know, it showed up on, you know, on the top
40 in the AC, in the hot AC and it just showed up on the country charts.
It's like a song
that won't go away.
So [Em] I don't know.
I don't know, you know, what's going to end up with
the song, but it's pretty overwhelming right now.
I just had a real [Abm] special relationship
with my [E] dad.
I mean, we were parents divorced when I was three and I lived with dad from
like third grade on.
And so we were, we were, we were really [A] close when he passed away.
And, [Am] and, you know, I remember [E] he, he wrote me a letter not too long afterwards.
And,
and he said, you know, probably three months after I'm gone, no one's going to remember
me.
You know, he lived on like 20, 26,000 a year, raised my brother and I, and, you
know, just in, in, in, in, and it's so funny because now without people knowing my name,
he's probably one of the most famous dads that I know because everyone knows about my
dad connected with his song somehow.
And so that's, it's pretty cool.
My wife and I
talked about it often, just like, you know, my dad would, if my dad is aware of what's
going on, then he's just getting a huge laugh out of this because he's, I mean, everybody,
I mean, it's just [Em] amazing how everybody knows the song and somehow they know the story behind
the song.
And that's extremely rewarding [Abm] because, you know, I mean, for everything my dad did
for me and everything [E] he went through, you know, to, you know, and to kind of give me
the green light to do what I'm doing, you know, it's just really cool [A] to, to, to know
that, [B] you know, that he's not forgotten and none of this was done in vain.
And [E] it's funny,
he, one of the things my dad told me, I guess it was [A] right before he passed away, he set
me down and kind of worked out everything financially and all [Bb] the stuff that was going
to [E] happen when he passed away, hardest thing I've ever done.
And he was like, now when
I'm gone, I've set it up to where all my retirement and all this other stuff is going to, you're
going to be given so much a month because if I give you a lump sum, you're going to
have a boat or something and have nothing to show for it.
So he told my brother and
I that we're getting so much a month for like 10 years and he goes, that'll be enough to
get you through whatever you're doing and whatever you want to do in life, hopefully,
you know, and he goes, but don't worry when 10 years is up, I'll still be there to take
care of you somehow.
And that was always his thing.
And so, you know, and so, you know,
for the next 10 years or whatever, you know, I was, I, well, basically most of that from
94 on was doing the band thing.
Well, the, uh, in 2001, January, 2001 is when it ended.
It would be January one of 2001 is when it ended.
And what's so funny is I was doing
an interview with a Christian DJ and, uh, [C] uh, my son was born on the 4th of [E] January
and it was about the same time that I imagine was kind of peaking in the Christian market.
And I was big into the charts, but when Sam was born, I totally forgot all about it.
You
know, just, I mean, I was all about Sam and I was doing an interview with this guy and
he, and he told me, he goes, you know, imagine went number one today.
And I was like, I,
you know, I had, I had no idea.
I just kind of been out of it.
And I was like, and I was
like, well, that's really cool.
And then I'll stop.
And I started bawling.
He was like,
is everything okay?
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
And, and it was to the day that the last check
came that imagine went to number one.
And I was sitting, I just started laughing.
I
was saying, my dad told me 10 years ago that he would keep taking care of me somehow.
And
you know, in so many ways, financially and everything else.
I mean, there's no question
that our careers [B] have been taken care of without going imagine.
And so it just, it
was a pretty cool little, [E] you know, I don't, I don't say coincidence, but just cool that
it all happened on the same day.
And anyway, so there's a lot of little stories like that,
but you know, it's, it's, it is the fact that [B] dad's involved with the song in some way makes
it that much more rewarding.
[E] My father passed away with cancer in 1991.
I was [Em] 18 and growing up in [Bb] the church people
always said, you know, if he could choose he'd rather be in heaven than be here on earth.
And as a Christian I believe that, but as an 18 year old it was pretty hard to [Abm] swallow.
And so a lot of the questions out of the course kind of came [E] from me saying, God, what's so
great about you that my dad would rather be there than here?
And for years I would write
the phrase, I can only imagine, down on anything I'd get my hands on.
If I was on the phone
doodling whatever I'd write that phrase.
And it wasn't until 1999 we were working on
an independent record and we needed one more song.
And [Gbm] I was like, well, you know, I'll
try [Em] to come up with something.
So I started opening the journal I was writing in and every
page had this phrase on it, literally every page.
[Gbm] And so I was like, well, maybe I need
to finish [E] this.
And so I started writing it down and put it to music and we recorded it
on an independent record.
And, you know, it was supposed to be a fast song and it was
[Abm] like, you know, the lyrics are a little, I just, I don't know, I'm a sap for, you know,
slower songs.
I was like, no, the lyrics are too important.
I don't want to put it to a
fast song.
So we left it alone, tried to walk away.
And when I was walking out, Jim played
that piano lick [Em] and I was like, play it again.
And all of a sudden we rolled everything back
[Abm] in the studio and did it real quick.
We were actually in an old Sunday school building,
it wasn't even [N] a studio.
And we recorded it and it was kind of a B-side thing, you know,
it didn't really go with the rest of the [Eb] record.
And [E] we didn't play it for months.
[A] For months
[Em] we never played it.
We promoted the rest of the record and somebody finally said, hey,
why don't you play this song, you know, during the show [E] tonight?
So we tried it once and
everybody kind of flipped out over it.
And we knew we had something special but never
thought it was going to do what it's done.
And so we've played it every night since,
you know, a million times it feels like.
And, you know, it ran its course in the Christian
market and then it, you know, did whatever it was supposed to do.
And then we moved on
to a second record and then we were promoting that.
And all of a sudden, you know, a top
40 station in Dallas, a shock jock kind of format, they said they'll do anything on the
air and somebody called in and said play Imagine.
And they're like, oh, we'll do it, we'll give
it a shot.
And they played it once, got a ton of phone calls, played it again.
And after
like the second or third [B] time it went, it became number one in their station for like
three [E] months.
And, [B] you know, then all of a sudden all these other stations started following
suit.
They heard about it and was like, what in the world?
And they got the same response.
And then eventually the label was like, we need to do something about this.
So they released
it and it [E] started, it took off.
And, you know, it showed up on, you know, on the top
40 in the AC, in the hot AC and it just showed up on the country charts.
It's like a song
that won't go away.
So [Em] I don't know.
I don't know, you know, what's going to end up with
the song, but it's pretty overwhelming right now.
I just had a real [Abm] special relationship
with my [E] dad.
I mean, we were parents divorced when I was three and I lived with dad from
like third grade on.
And so we were, we were, we were really [A] close when he passed away.
And, [Am] and, you know, I remember [E] he, he wrote me a letter not too long afterwards.
And,
and he said, you know, probably three months after I'm gone, no one's going to remember
me.
You know, he lived on like 20, 26,000 a year, raised my brother and I, and, you
know, just in, in, in, in, and it's so funny because now without people knowing my name,
he's probably one of the most famous dads that I know because everyone knows about my
dad connected with his song somehow.
And so that's, it's pretty cool.
My wife and I
talked about it often, just like, you know, my dad would, if my dad is aware of what's
going on, then he's just getting a huge laugh out of this because he's, I mean, everybody,
I mean, it's just [Em] amazing how everybody knows the song and somehow they know the story behind
the song.
And that's extremely rewarding [Abm] because, you know, I mean, for everything my dad did
for me and everything [E] he went through, you know, to, you know, and to kind of give me
the green light to do what I'm doing, you know, it's just really cool [A] to, to, to know
that, [B] you know, that he's not forgotten and none of this was done in vain.
And [E] it's funny,
he, one of the things my dad told me, I guess it was [A] right before he passed away, he set
me down and kind of worked out everything financially and all [Bb] the stuff that was going
to [E] happen when he passed away, hardest thing I've ever done.
And he was like, now when
I'm gone, I've set it up to where all my retirement and all this other stuff is going to, you're
going to be given so much a month because if I give you a lump sum, you're going to
have a boat or something and have nothing to show for it.
So he told my brother and
I that we're getting so much a month for like 10 years and he goes, that'll be enough to
get you through whatever you're doing and whatever you want to do in life, hopefully,
you know, and he goes, but don't worry when 10 years is up, I'll still be there to take
care of you somehow.
And that was always his thing.
And so, you know, and so, you know,
for the next 10 years or whatever, you know, I was, I, well, basically most of that from
94 on was doing the band thing.
Well, the, uh, in 2001, January, 2001 is when it ended.
It would be January one of 2001 is when it ended.
And what's so funny is I was doing
an interview with a Christian DJ and, uh, [C] uh, my son was born on the 4th of [E] January
and it was about the same time that I imagine was kind of peaking in the Christian market.
And I was big into the charts, but when Sam was born, I totally forgot all about it.
You
know, just, I mean, I was all about Sam and I was doing an interview with this guy and
he, and he told me, he goes, you know, imagine went number one today.
And I was like, I,
you know, I had, I had no idea.
I just kind of been out of it.
And I was like, and I was
like, well, that's really cool.
And then I'll stop.
And I started bawling.
He was like,
is everything okay?
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
And, and it was to the day that the last check
came that imagine went to number one.
And I was sitting, I just started laughing.
I
was saying, my dad told me 10 years ago that he would keep taking care of me somehow.
And
you know, in so many ways, financially and everything else.
I mean, there's no question
that our careers [B] have been taken care of without going imagine.
And so it just, it
was a pretty cool little, [E] you know, I don't, I don't say coincidence, but just cool that
it all happened on the same day.
And anyway, so there's a lot of little stories like that,
but you know, it's, it's, it is the fact that [B] dad's involved with the song in some way makes
it that much more rewarding.
Key:
E
Em
Abm
B
A
E
Em
Abm
[Dbm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] My father passed away with cancer in 1991.
I was [Em] 18 and growing up in [Bb] the church people
always said, you know, if he could choose he'd rather be in heaven than be here on earth.
And as a Christian I believe that, but as an 18 year old it was pretty hard to [Abm] swallow.
And so a lot of the questions out of the course kind of came [E] from me saying, God, what's so
great about you that my dad would rather be there than here?
And for years I would write
the phrase, I can only imagine, down on anything I'd get my hands on.
If I was on the phone
doodling whatever I'd write that phrase.
And it wasn't until 1999 we were working on
an independent record and we needed one more song.
And [Gbm] I was like, well, you know, I'll
try [Em] to come up with something.
So I started opening the journal I was writing in and every
page had this phrase on it, literally every page.
[Gbm] And so I was like, well, maybe I need
to finish [E] this.
And so I started writing it down and put it to music and we recorded it
on an independent record.
And, you know, it was supposed to be a fast song and it was
[Abm] like, you know, the lyrics are a little, I just, I don't know, I'm a sap for, you know,
slower songs.
I was like, no, the lyrics are too important.
I don't want to put it to a
fast song.
So we left it alone, tried to walk away.
And when I was walking out, Jim played
that piano lick [Em] and I was like, play it again.
And all of a sudden we rolled everything back
[Abm] in the studio and did it real quick.
We were actually in an old Sunday school building,
it wasn't even [N] a studio.
And we recorded it and it was kind of a B-side thing, you know,
it didn't really go with the rest of the [Eb] record.
And [E] we didn't play it for months.
[A] For months
[Em] we never played it.
We promoted the rest of the record and somebody finally said, hey,
why don't you play this song, you know, during the show [E] tonight?
So we tried it once and
everybody kind of flipped out over it.
And we knew we had something special but never
thought it was going to do what it's done.
And so we've played it every night since,
you know, a million times it feels like.
And, you know, it ran its course in the Christian
market and then it, you know, did whatever it was supposed to do.
And then we moved on
to a second record and then we were promoting that.
And all of a sudden, you know, a top
40 station in Dallas, a shock jock kind of format, they said they'll do anything on the
air and somebody called in and said play Imagine.
And they're like, oh, we'll do it, we'll give
it a shot.
And they played it once, got a ton of phone calls, played it again.
And after
like the second or third [B] time it went, it became number one in their station for like
three [E] months.
And, [B] you know, then all of a sudden all these other stations started following
suit.
They heard about it and was like, what in the world?
And they got the same response.
And then eventually the label was like, we need to do something about this.
So they released
it and it [E] started, it took off.
And, you know, it showed up on, you know, on the top
40 in the AC, in the hot AC and _ it just showed up on the country charts.
It's like a song
that won't go away.
So [Em] I don't know.
I don't know, you know, what's going to end up with
the song, but it's pretty overwhelming right now.
_ I just had a real [Abm] special relationship
with my [E] dad.
I mean, we were parents divorced when I was three and I lived with dad from
like third grade on.
And so we were, we were, we were really [A] close when he passed away.
And, [Am] and, you know, I remember [E] he, he wrote me a letter not too long afterwards.
And,
and he said, you know, probably three months after I'm gone, no one's going to remember
me.
You know, he lived on like 20, 26,000 a year, raised my brother and I, and, you
know, just in, in, in, in, and it's so funny because now without people knowing my name,
he's probably one of the most famous dads that I know because everyone knows about my
dad connected with his song somehow.
And so that's, it's pretty cool.
My wife and I
talked about it often, just like, you know, my dad would, if my dad is aware of what's
going on, then he's just getting a huge laugh out of this because he's, I mean, everybody,
I mean, it's just [Em] amazing how everybody knows the song and somehow they know the story behind
the song.
And that's extremely rewarding [Abm] because, you know, I mean, for everything my dad did
for me and everything [E] he went through, you know, to, you know, and to kind of give me
the green light to do what I'm doing, you know, it's just really cool [A] to, to, to know
that, [B] you know, that he's not forgotten and none of this was done in vain.
And [E] it's funny,
he, one of the things my dad told me, I guess it was [A] right before he passed away, he set
me down and kind of worked out everything financially and all [Bb] the stuff that was going
to [E] happen when he passed away, hardest thing I've ever done.
And he was like, now when
I'm gone, I've set it up to where all my retirement and all this other stuff is going to, you're
going to be given so much a month because if I give you a lump sum, you're going to
have a boat or something and have nothing to show for it.
So he told my brother and
I that we're getting so much a month for like 10 years and he goes, that'll be enough to
get you through whatever you're doing and whatever you want to do in life, hopefully,
you know, and he goes, but don't worry when 10 years is up, I'll still be there to take
care of you somehow.
And that was always his thing.
And so, you know, and so, you know,
for the next 10 years or whatever, you know, I was, I, well, basically most of that from
94 on was doing the band thing.
Well, the, uh, in 2001, January, 2001 is when it ended.
It would be January one of 2001 is when it ended.
And what's so funny is I was doing
an interview with a Christian DJ and, uh, [C] uh, my son was born on the 4th of [E] January
and it was about the same time that I imagine was kind of peaking in the Christian market.
And I was big into the charts, but when Sam was born, I totally forgot all about it.
You
know, just, I mean, I was all about Sam and I was doing an interview with this guy and
he, and he told me, he goes, you know, imagine went number one today.
And I was like, I,
you know, I had, I had no idea.
I just kind of been out of it.
And I was like, and I was
like, well, that's really cool.
And then I'll stop.
And I started bawling.
He was like,
is everything okay?
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
And, and it was to the day that the last check
came that imagine went to number one.
And I was sitting, I just started laughing.
I
was saying, my dad told me 10 years ago that he would keep taking care of me somehow.
And
you know, in so many ways, financially and everything else.
I mean, there's no question
that our careers [B] have been taken care of without going imagine.
And so it just, it
was a pretty cool little, [E] you know, I don't, I don't say coincidence, but just cool that
it all happened on the same day.
And anyway, so there's a lot of little stories like that,
but you know, it's, it's, it is the fact that [B] dad's involved with the song in some way makes
it that much more rewarding. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] My father passed away with cancer in 1991.
I was [Em] 18 and growing up in [Bb] the church people
always said, you know, if he could choose he'd rather be in heaven than be here on earth.
And as a Christian I believe that, but as an 18 year old it was pretty hard to [Abm] swallow.
And so a lot of the questions out of the course kind of came [E] from me saying, God, what's so
great about you that my dad would rather be there than here?
And for years I would write
the phrase, I can only imagine, down on anything I'd get my hands on.
If I was on the phone
doodling whatever I'd write that phrase.
And it wasn't until 1999 we were working on
an independent record and we needed one more song.
And [Gbm] I was like, well, you know, I'll
try [Em] to come up with something.
So I started opening the journal I was writing in and every
page had this phrase on it, literally every page.
[Gbm] And so I was like, well, maybe I need
to finish [E] this.
And so I started writing it down and put it to music and we recorded it
on an independent record.
And, you know, it was supposed to be a fast song and it was
[Abm] like, you know, the lyrics are a little, I just, I don't know, I'm a sap for, you know,
slower songs.
I was like, no, the lyrics are too important.
I don't want to put it to a
fast song.
So we left it alone, tried to walk away.
And when I was walking out, Jim played
that piano lick [Em] and I was like, play it again.
And all of a sudden we rolled everything back
[Abm] in the studio and did it real quick.
We were actually in an old Sunday school building,
it wasn't even [N] a studio.
And we recorded it and it was kind of a B-side thing, you know,
it didn't really go with the rest of the [Eb] record.
And [E] we didn't play it for months.
[A] For months
[Em] we never played it.
We promoted the rest of the record and somebody finally said, hey,
why don't you play this song, you know, during the show [E] tonight?
So we tried it once and
everybody kind of flipped out over it.
And we knew we had something special but never
thought it was going to do what it's done.
And so we've played it every night since,
you know, a million times it feels like.
And, you know, it ran its course in the Christian
market and then it, you know, did whatever it was supposed to do.
And then we moved on
to a second record and then we were promoting that.
And all of a sudden, you know, a top
40 station in Dallas, a shock jock kind of format, they said they'll do anything on the
air and somebody called in and said play Imagine.
And they're like, oh, we'll do it, we'll give
it a shot.
And they played it once, got a ton of phone calls, played it again.
And after
like the second or third [B] time it went, it became number one in their station for like
three [E] months.
And, [B] you know, then all of a sudden all these other stations started following
suit.
They heard about it and was like, what in the world?
And they got the same response.
And then eventually the label was like, we need to do something about this.
So they released
it and it [E] started, it took off.
And, you know, it showed up on, you know, on the top
40 in the AC, in the hot AC and _ it just showed up on the country charts.
It's like a song
that won't go away.
So [Em] I don't know.
I don't know, you know, what's going to end up with
the song, but it's pretty overwhelming right now.
_ I just had a real [Abm] special relationship
with my [E] dad.
I mean, we were parents divorced when I was three and I lived with dad from
like third grade on.
And so we were, we were, we were really [A] close when he passed away.
And, [Am] and, you know, I remember [E] he, he wrote me a letter not too long afterwards.
And,
and he said, you know, probably three months after I'm gone, no one's going to remember
me.
You know, he lived on like 20, 26,000 a year, raised my brother and I, and, you
know, just in, in, in, in, and it's so funny because now without people knowing my name,
he's probably one of the most famous dads that I know because everyone knows about my
dad connected with his song somehow.
And so that's, it's pretty cool.
My wife and I
talked about it often, just like, you know, my dad would, if my dad is aware of what's
going on, then he's just getting a huge laugh out of this because he's, I mean, everybody,
I mean, it's just [Em] amazing how everybody knows the song and somehow they know the story behind
the song.
And that's extremely rewarding [Abm] because, you know, I mean, for everything my dad did
for me and everything [E] he went through, you know, to, you know, and to kind of give me
the green light to do what I'm doing, you know, it's just really cool [A] to, to, to know
that, [B] you know, that he's not forgotten and none of this was done in vain.
And [E] it's funny,
he, one of the things my dad told me, I guess it was [A] right before he passed away, he set
me down and kind of worked out everything financially and all [Bb] the stuff that was going
to [E] happen when he passed away, hardest thing I've ever done.
And he was like, now when
I'm gone, I've set it up to where all my retirement and all this other stuff is going to, you're
going to be given so much a month because if I give you a lump sum, you're going to
have a boat or something and have nothing to show for it.
So he told my brother and
I that we're getting so much a month for like 10 years and he goes, that'll be enough to
get you through whatever you're doing and whatever you want to do in life, hopefully,
you know, and he goes, but don't worry when 10 years is up, I'll still be there to take
care of you somehow.
And that was always his thing.
And so, you know, and so, you know,
for the next 10 years or whatever, you know, I was, I, well, basically most of that from
94 on was doing the band thing.
Well, the, uh, in 2001, January, 2001 is when it ended.
It would be January one of 2001 is when it ended.
And what's so funny is I was doing
an interview with a Christian DJ and, uh, [C] uh, my son was born on the 4th of [E] January
and it was about the same time that I imagine was kind of peaking in the Christian market.
And I was big into the charts, but when Sam was born, I totally forgot all about it.
You
know, just, I mean, I was all about Sam and I was doing an interview with this guy and
he, and he told me, he goes, you know, imagine went number one today.
And I was like, I,
you know, I had, I had no idea.
I just kind of been out of it.
And I was like, and I was
like, well, that's really cool.
And then I'll stop.
And I started bawling.
He was like,
is everything okay?
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
And, and it was to the day that the last check
came that imagine went to number one.
And I was sitting, I just started laughing.
I
was saying, my dad told me 10 years ago that he would keep taking care of me somehow.
And
you know, in so many ways, financially and everything else.
I mean, there's no question
that our careers [B] have been taken care of without going imagine.
And so it just, it
was a pretty cool little, [E] you know, I don't, I don't say coincidence, but just cool that
it all happened on the same day.
And anyway, so there's a lot of little stories like that,
but you know, it's, it's, it is the fact that [B] dad's involved with the song in some way makes
it that much more rewarding. _ _
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