"All Glory" Explanation

Alright. To kick off what I'm going to (hopefully) make my weekly posting of song explanations, what better than the very first song on our first full record? As of this writing, "All Glory" remains the most played DIRE song on digital platforms, and musically-speaking, it's still about as straight forward and metal a song as I've ever written. The meaning, I would hope, is fairly obvious, and laid out pretty clearly in the singular line of the chorus, "All glory to the one true God."

I hope none of you have had the misfortune of hearing the opening track on our self-titled 2013 EP, but it's basically one of those songs that's telling everyone, "I'm not afraid to speak the truth, no matter what it costs me!" Well, at some point between writing that song (which will not be named so as to mitigate further investigation by those unfamiliar therewith) and writing "All Glory", I came to the realization that speaking the truth is superior to bragging about being a "truth-speaker". I realized that instead of telling everyone how willing I was to stand for what I believe, I could just . . . you know, directly stand for what I believe. (I think this realization marked the point at which I became worlds better as a lyricist, at least in my own estimation.) And when considering what kind of song to open our first actual record with, I really wanted to do something that was just blatantly giving glory to God. We've started almost every live show we've played since with this track, and it's one of my favorite DIRE songs to date. I'll briefly explain the lyrics below. I must have heard it a thousand times, in reassurance, "He is not dead" As if to ease my mind, or by means of reason, I'd be misled As if the source of life might from Himself divide And yet sustaining all were not the hands of the Most High The idea for the opening lines came from me getting absolutely sick of hearing people say, "God's not dead!" I understand that it's usually said with good intentions, and yes, obviously it's true, but it feels like saying, "My dad's not a drug dealer!" That is: Even saying it seems to imply a preceding suspicion and then dignify it with a response. Of course God's not dead. God is as not dead as literally anyone or anything could ever even possibly be. God is the giver and sustainer of life. His absence is the qualifier of death in the truest and deepest sense. Or if I were to come up to you and say, "Hello. I exist." That would be stupid. Because me even being there to say it is more than sufficient proof that it's true. I'll never see what you tell me to

This is why I was made

With everything in me, this truth, may I ever proclaim I wrote this in defiance of the anti-God narrative found in much of the West. It's abundantly clear to me that my Creator not only exists, but is the most magnificent and worthy and perfect and necessary being ever to exist. No amount of hatred for God or mockery of faith will change that, and I pray that He will grant me to know Him more and to glorify Him with my words and my life. All glory to the one true God All glory to the one true God.

Before the world began, before the hands of time began to turn

He had forever been, and He will watch as earth and ages burn

The mountains bow before, the heavens, they tell

The might of Him whose reign will never cease God is eternal. He transcends time and space and reigns over all. He is the beginning and the end.

Who can stand in defiance?

Who is there like Him?

There is no one No one and nothing can begin to compare with Him. I can't hope to express how good and how awesome (in the real sense of the word) He is with these words, but for anyone who knows Him, I hope this is a song that will encourage you to remember His goodness and His worthiness. And for anyone who doesn't know Him, or even for anyone who hates Him, I hope He will draw you to Himself and that you'll see for yourself how incomparably good He is.