James Cleveland, “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord” | Sunday Refresh 🙏

In the 17^th edition of Sunday Refresh, we’re uplifted by James Cleveland performing, “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord.”

Welcome to Sunday Refresh 🙏, a column that seeks to highlight inspirational songs to uplift the spirit.  These tracks that appear on Sunday Refresh 🙏 may or may not be faith-based or religious; the goal is for them to make you feel better – refreshed.  So, for the 17^th edition of Sunday Refresh 🙏 (2022), we highlight 🎵 “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord” as performed by 🎙 James Cleveland.

“Aren’t you glad you know the Lord,

In the pardon of your sins.

Glad you know Him for yourself,

And glad that you let him come in.”

Ah, those words speak for themselves! They appear on the thoughtful, spiritually uplifting 🎙 James Cleveland record, 🎵 “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord”.  Cleveland performed this pop-to-gospel transformation alongside 🎙 The Northern & Southern Choirs of the GMWA.  Notably, this inspiration selection most recently appears on a 53-track, 4-disc compilation, 💿 The King of Gospel Music, released by Malaco in 2021.

So, I mentioned a pop-to-gospel transformation, didn’t I? What is the transformation, you ask? Well, “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord” borrows its melody from a 🏆 Grammy-nominated 🎙 Whitney Houston gem, 🎵 “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”. Somehow, the song lost the highly coveted Song of the Year, sigh. Cleveland mentions during a spoken word portion of the song about “borrowing the tune,” giving Houston props for the message of the song, written by 🎼✍ Michael Masser and 🎼✍ Will Jennings.  The lyrics are few, as excerpted above, but they are potent, giving God props for being merciful, omnipotent, and, of course, The Great I Am.  Four lines perfectly conveys how awesome HE is! Of course, Cleveland and choir sing exceptionally!

🎙 James Cleveland • 💿 The King of Gospel Music • 🏷 Malaco • 📅 2021

James Cleveland, “Aren’t You Glad You Know the Lord”: Sunday Refresh 🙏 No. 17 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Gerhard G., JL G, Malaco, The Musical Hype, Pixabay]