Blake Shelton’s ‘God Gave Me You’ Was Originally by a Christian Rock Singer

Blake Shelton‘s “God Gave Me You” was originally written and recorded by a Christian singer. That singer explained how the ballad found its way into Shelton’s hands. Notably, the track in question is about God, but it never gets explicitly Christian.

A Christian singer revealed how Blake Shelton 1st heard ‘God Gave Me You’

Dave Barnes is a Christian rock singer. He wrote, recorded, and produced the original version of “God Gave Me You.” Aside from its embrace of faith, nothing about Barnes’ “God Gave Me You” has anything to do with country music. It sounds more like a 2000s Coldplay ballad than Florida Georgia line. The track became a much bigger deal when Shelton covered it in his signature genre.

During a 2012 interview with American Songwriter, Barnes discussed Shelton’s cover. “Blake actually heard the song on Christian radio,” he said. Barnes noted that none of his previous songs had made it on Christian radio.

“He was driving home from the Dallas airport to his home in Oklahoma, and the song came on, and due to where he was in his relationship with Miranda [Lambert], it really connected with him,” Barnes added. “He downloaded the song then and there on the way home, and called [producer] Scott [Hedricks] and told him he found a song he had to record. It’s such an amazing story because of the way he heard it. On the radio.”

Dave Barnes never pitched the song to Blake Shelton and that made Barnes happy

Barnes said that he didn’t even try to give Shelton the song. “No one pitching the song, trying to convince him about it,” he said. “None of that.

“And also how it connected with him,” Barnes added. “There’s no greater thing for a songwriter than to know a song really connects with the people hearing it. So cool. Kudos to Blake for believing in it and pushing for it to be recorded!”

How the cover of ‘God Gave Me You’ performed among pop audiences

Shelton’s cover of “God Gave Me You” became one of his biggest hits. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 25 weeks. It’s the longest-charting tune of Shelton’s career thus far.
The track appeared on the album Red River Blues. That record reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a single week. It stayed on the chart for a whopping 166 weeks.

Perhaps part of the reason “God Gave Me You” found a mainstream audience is because it isn’t too overtly religious. While the song is about God, it doesn’t get very specific. One could interpret the God in the song as Jesus Christ, but it could just as easily be Lord Krishna, Apollo, or Moloch. More secular listeners could understand “God Gave Me You” as using the word “God” in a colloquial sense, such as when irreligious people sometimes use “Thank God” or “God bless you” as token expressions.

“God Gave Me You” has Christian origins, but Shelton brought it to a broader audience.