Red Letters (song)

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox song | name = Red Letters | cover = Red Letters (Southern-Style Edit) - Crowder.jpg | alt = "Red Letters (Southern-Style Edit)" cover | caption = Southern-Style Edit cover | type = single | artist = [[Crowder (musician)|Crowder]] | album = [[I Know a Ghost]] | B-side = [[Wildfire (Crowder song)|Wildfire]] | released = {{Start date|2018|09|19}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://music.apple.com/us/album/red-letters/1435801888?i=1435801889 |title= Red Letters / Wildfire - Single by Crowder |date= September 19, 2018|website= iTunes|publisher= iTunes|access-date = March 24, 2019}}</ref> | recorded = 2018 | venue = | genre = * [[Contemporary Christian music|CCM]] * [[Contemporary worship music|modern worship]] | length = {{duration|m=3|s=48}}<ref name="Spotify">{{cite web |url= https://open.spotify.com/album/1yAqFgWAKGOLTk3293wCUs |title= Red Letters on Spotify |date= September 19, 2018|website= Spotify |publisher= Spotify |access-date = March 24, 2019}}</ref> | label = [[Sparrow Records|Sparrow]]/sixstepsrecords | writer = * David Crowder * [[Ed Cash]]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.praisecharts.com/songs/details/71989/red-letters-sheet-music |title= Red Letters by Crowder (I Know A Ghost) |date= September 19, 2018|website= PraiseCharts|publisher= PraiseCharts|access-date = March 24, 2019}}</ref> | producer = * Crowder * Cash | prev_title = [[All My Hope]] | prev_year = 2017 | title = Red Letters | title2 = [[Wildfire (Crowder song)|Wildfire]] | next_title = Testify | next_year = 2019 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|E1ohrZaZfTI|"Red Letters"}} }} }}

"'''Red Letters'''" is a song performed by American [[contemporary Christian music]] singer [[Crowder (musician)|Crowder]]. It was released as one of the first singles from his third studio album, ''[[I Know a Ghost]]'' (2018), alongside "[[Wildfire (Crowder song)|Wildfire]]" on September 19, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.louderthanthemusic.com/product.php?id=3987 |title= Louder Than The Music - Crowder - Red Letters / Wildfire |date= September 19, 2018 |website= Louder Than The Music |access-date= June 13, 2021}}</ref> The song peaked at No. 9 on the US [[Hot Christian Songs]] chart, becoming his fifth top ten single.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.billboard.com/pro/mercyme-best-news-ever-no-1-christian-airplay/ |title= MercyMe Makes Record-Extending 'News' at No. 1 On Christian Airplay Chart |date= March 7, 2019 |website= Billboard|access-date= March 24, 2019}}</ref> "Red Letters" was nominated for the [[GMA Dove Award]]s for [[Dove Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]] and Short Form Video of the Year at the [[50th GMA Dove Awards|2019 GMA Dove Awards]].

==Background== Crowder released the song on September 19, 2018, and announced his third studio album ''I Know a Ghost''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://twitter.com/crowdermusic/status/1042369691669483520 |title= Man are we excited! New Crowder music, finally! We got a new album coming soon and thought we'd drop a couple of tracks on you ahead of time. |date= September 19, 2019 |website= Twitter|access-date= March 24, 2019}}</ref> He explained the meaning behind the song in a video on his YouTube channel, "When I was a kid I remember sitting in the church pew next to my grandmother and asking her why some of her bible was written in red. She explained it was the Red Letter edition and whenever Jesus, God's only Son, spoke, it was written in red. As a kid I thought that was just how God wrote it. Nope. I was wrong. About this and other things. Turns out it was a guy by the name of Louis Klopsch. It was the late 1800s and he very much wanted the common man to not only have access to scripture but for the story of God's reconciliation to jump off the pages as it had for him. At the time, translations such as the King James didn't use punctuation marks that are common place now. You can imagine how difficult numerous passages could be with the absence of any quotation marks or full stops. One evening, he was reading in Luke 22:20, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you,' and that is when Mr. Klopsch had an idea -the words of Jesus in red. He didn't stop there, he and the editors went all the way to the beginning and took any scripture in the old testament foretelling the arrival of a messiah as well as any scriptures that Jesus was quoted as quoting and put them in red as well; a scarlet thread woven through all of time and creation."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://thisispower.co.uk/2018/11/10/crowder-red-letters/ |title= Crowder Red Letters |date= November 10, 2018 |website= ThisIsPower|access-date= March 24, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ_Qoqtvf1g |title= Crowder - Red Letters Song Meaning |date= November 10, 2018 |website= YouTube|access-date= March 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Composition== The song is played in a [[B major]] key, and 148 [[Beats per minute|beats per minute (BPM)]].<ref name="BPM">{{cite web|url=https://tunebat.com/Info/Red-Letters-Crowder/6kayAD8DHrHe1bn5Russar|title=Key & BPM for Red Letters by Crowder|date=September 19, 2018|publisher=TuneBat|accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Reception== ===Critical response=== "Red Letters" was described in reviews on ''Jesusfreakhideout'' as a "typical Crowder radio song", comparing it to one of his singles from his last album "My Victory". It was also compared to [[dc Talk]]'s [[Supernatural (DC Talk album)#Track listing|1998 hit]], which both focus on the words of Christ from the bible.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/IKnowaGhost.asp |title= JFH Staff Review: Crowder - I Know A Ghost |date= November 9, 2019 |website= Jesusfreakhideout|access-date= March 24, 2019}}</ref>

===Accolades=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |+ Awards |- ! Year ! Organization ! Award ! Result ! Ref. |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2019 | rowspan="2" | [[50th GMA Dove Awards|GMA Dove Awards]] | [[Dove Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]] | {{Nominated}} | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://doveawards.com/awards/2018-nominees/ |title= 2019 Nominees {{!}} The 52nd Annual GMA Dove Awards |date= August 14, 2019 |website= [[GMA Dove Awards]] |access-date= June 13, 2021 |archive-date= 28 August 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180828220254/https://doveawards.com/awards/2018-nominees/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> |- | Short Form Video of the Year | {{Nominated}} |}

==Commercial performance== It debuted at No. 29 on the [[Christian Songs|Hot Christian Songs]] chart.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/christian-songs/2018-10-06|title=Music: Christian Music Chart - Billboard Chart |work=billboard.com |accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref> After the release of the album, it rose to No. 16.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/christian-songs/2018-11-24|title=Music: Christian Music Chart - Billboard Chart |work=billboard.com |accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref> The song reached the top 10 on its twenty-third week, reaching its peak of No, 9.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/christian-songs/2019-03-09|title=Music: Christian Music Chart - Billboard Chart |work=billboard.com |accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Track listing== ;CD release<ref>{{cite web |url= https://daywind.com/accompaniment-tracks/red-letters/ |title=Red Letters Crowder, Daywind |publisher= DayWind.com |accessdate= March 24, 2019}}</ref> #"Red Letters" – 3:48 #"Red Letters (Lead Sheet (Medium Key)" – 3:49 #"Red Letters (Vocal Demonstration)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (High Key With Background Vocals)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (High Key Without Background Vocals)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (Medium Key With Background Vocals)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (Medium Key Without Background Vocals)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (Low Key With Background Vocals)" – 3:40 #"Red Letters (Low Key Without Background Vocals)" – 3:40

*'''Digital download'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Red Letters (I Know a Ghost) on iTunes|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/red-letters/1437027593?i=1437027609|publisher=iTunes|access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref> #"Red Letters" – 3:48 #"[[Wildfire (Crowder song)|Wildfire]]" – 3:14 *'''Digital download (acoustic)'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Crowder - Red Letters (Acoustic)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqvJXVFedb4|publisher=Genius|accessdate=March 24, 2018}}</ref> #"Red Letters" – 3:49 *'''Digital download (Southern-Style edit)'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Crowder - Red Letters (Southern-Style edit)|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/red-letters-southern-style-edit/1449773990?i=1449774298|publisher=iTunes|access-date=May 4, 2018}}</ref> #"Red Letters" – 3:42

==Music video== The music video for "Red Letters" was released on October 29, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crowder - Red Letters (Official Music Video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ohrZaZfTI|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref> It was inspired by [[Louis Klopsch]]'s statement in the introduction of his [[Red Letter Bible]], "It sheds a new radiance upon the sacred pages, by which the reader is enabled to trace unerringly the scarlet thread of prophecy from Genesis to Malachi. Like the Star which led the Magi to Bethlehem, this light, shining through the entire Word, leads straight to the person of the Divine Messiah, as the fulfillment of the promise of all the ages."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Origins of the Red-Letter Bible |url=https://www.crossway.org/articles/red-letter-origin/|publisher=Crossway|accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref> Crowder also adds, "The meta-narrative of the story of God's rescue woven through the Scriptures is intricate and powerful and that's what I wanted to pick up on with this song. It's worth singing about. I love it and I hope it's meaningful for my fans and listeners out there."<ref>{{cite web|title=Crowder Releases New Music Video For Hot First Single, Red Letters |url=https://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2018/11/02.CrowderReleasesMusicVideoForRedLetters.asp|publisher=JFHNews|accessdate=March 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}

===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ Weekly chart performance for "Red Letters" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2018–19) ! scope="col"| Peak position |- {{single chart|Billboardchristiansongs|9|artist=Crowder|rowheader=true|accessdate=24 March 2019}} |- {{single chart|Billboardchristianairplay|8|artist=Crowder|rowheader=true|accessdate=April 2, 2019}} |- !scope="row"|US [[Christian adult contemporary|Christian AC]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/crowder/chart-history/ica/ |title=Crowder - Christian AC History |publisher=Billboard |date= |accessdate=24 March 2019}}</ref> | 11 |}

===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ Year-end chart performance for "Red Letters" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2019) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| US Christian Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/hot-christian-songs |title= Hot Christian Songs - Year-End {{!}} Billboard |website= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |publisher= Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group |access-date= June 13, 2021}}</ref> | 27 |- ! scope="row"| US Christian Airplay (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/christian-airplay-songs |title= Christian Airplay Songs - Year-End {{!}} Billboard |website= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date= June 13, 2021}}</ref> | 29 |- ! scope="row"| US Christian AC (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/hot-christian-adult-contemporary |title= Christian AC Songs - Year-End {{!}} Billboard |website= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |publisher= Billboard-Hollywood |access-date= June 13, 2021}}</ref> | 30 |} {{col-end}}

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Crowder|title=Red Letters|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2018|certyear=2023|accessdate=March 28, 2023}} {{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=yes|noshipments=yes}}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:2018 singles]] [[Category:2018 songs]] [[Category:Crowder (musician) songs]] [[Category:Songs written by Ed Cash]] [[Category:Sparrow Records singles]]