# Hope Set High

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hope_Set_High
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hope_Set_High.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Set_High
> Source revision: 1353765583
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

"**Hope Set High**" is a 1991 song by American [Christian music](/source/Contemporary_Christian_music) singer [Amy Grant](/source/Amy_Grant). It was released as the second single from the *[Heart In Motion](/source/Heart_In_Motion)* album, and the first from the album released to [Christian radio](/source/Contemporary_Christian_music).

"Hope Set High" is a downbeat song with heavy use of [percussion](/source/Percussion). Similar to a praise and worship song, the lyrics in "Hope Set High" repeatedly acknowledge [God](/source/God)'s goodness with the phrase "When it all comes down, if there's anything good that happens in life, it's from Jesus." The song's rhythmic groove was created using a [Korg Wavestation](/source/Korg_Wavestation), a popular instrument in the music industry at the time.

## Background

During the 1980s, Amy Grant achieved enormous success in the contemporary [Christian music industry](/source/Christian_music_industry), becoming that genre's best-selling artist. In 1985, she became the first Christian singer to "cross over" with a major hit on mainstream [pop](/source/Pop_music) radio charts. One year later, she scored her first #1 pop song with "[The Next Time I Fall](/source/The_Next_Time_I_Fall)", a duet with [Peter Cetera](/source/Peter_Cetera). Her last major project from the 1980s, *[Lead Me On](/source/Lead_Me_On_(Amy_Grant_album))*, was a huge success but its impact was largely limited to Christian radio. With the dawn of the 1990s, however, Grant returned to the mainstream with a tour de force of chart-topping pop hits that became some of the most successful of the new decade. The first single from her pop album, *Heart in Motion*, became her first #1 song as a solo artist on the [Billboard Hot 100](/source/Billboard_Hot_100). That single, "Baby Baby", angered some of Grant's dedicated Christian music fans, however, as they feared Grant was abandoning the genre.[2]

At the time of *Heart in Motion'*s release, Grant was represented by two record labels, something of an anomaly in the industry. [A&M Records](/source/A%26M_Records) marketed her music to mainstream radio and secular retailers. [Word Records](/source/Word_Records) marketed her music to Christian radio and Christian retailers. While [A&M](/source/A%26M_Records) launched *Heart in Motion* with "Baby Baby" as its debut single, [Word Records](/source/Word_Records) chose not to market that song to Christian radio. Instead, Word opted to introduce the album to the Christian market with "Hope Set High", a less glitzy song with explicitly [Christian](/source/Christianity)-themed lyrics and references to [Jesus](/source/Jesus). A&M did not release or market "Hope Set High" to mainstream radio.

## Personnel

- Amy Grant – lead vocals
- [Michael Omartian](/source/Michael_Omartian) – keyboards, drum sequencing, backing vocals
- Kurt Howell – backing vocals
- Suzanne Schwartz – backing vocals

## Chart success

The success of "Hope Set High" on Christian radio mirrored that of "Baby Baby" on mainstream radio in that "Hope Set High" took the #1 spot on the Christian AC charts. [A&M Records](/source/A%26M_Records) chose not to release the song to mainstream radio.

## Charts

Chart performance for "Hope Set High" Chart (1991) Peak position US CCM Hot Hits 3 US CCM Hot Adult Contemporary 1

## References

1. ["Amy Grant Biography"](https://www.biography.com/musicians/amy-grant). *The Biography.com website*. April 2, 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2024.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hope Set High](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Set_High) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Set_High?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.