"Be My Escape" is a song by American
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...
band
Relient K
Relient K () is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during their third year in high school and time at Malone University in Canton. The band is named after guitarist ...
. It was released in November 2004 as the lead single from their fourth full-length album, ''
Mmhmm
''Mmhmm'' is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock band Relient K, released on November 2, 2004, by Gotee Records, Gotee and Capitol Records. This album includes their breakthrough singles "Be My Escape" and "Who I Am Hates Who I' ...
'' (2004). The song was their first entry on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number 82 and is usually referred to as Relient K's most popular mainstream song, other than "
Who I Am Hates Who I've Been". The song is Relient K's fourth most popular song on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
. The song was certified gold in the US on October 5, 2005.
"Be My Escape" was featured in the
2006 Men's U.S. Open Tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
Championship, with the song's opening guitar solo playing as the event headed into a commercial.
Background
"Be My Escape" is the singer
Matt Thiessen
Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-born American musician known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-lengt ...
's plea for "escape" from his past mistakes. Although the lyrics avoid directly mentioning
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, given the band's
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
background and some of the themes in the song, it is usually taken to refer to Him. "Be My Escape" uses guitars, drums, and keyboards, and the pace is varied effectively to give a sense of longing and desperation. The last forty seconds or so are a slow epilogue, with no instruments other than the drums,
vibraphone
The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...
and piano.
The song's lyrics at the beginning of the verses are often mistaken. Many have thought the first lines of the two verses to be "I'm giving up, I'm giving up slowly" and "I'm giving up, I'm doing this alone now". The actual lines from the beginning of the first two verses are "I've given up on givin' up slowly" and "I've given up on doing this alone now".
An acoustic version of the song was released in November 2005 on the ''
Apathetic EP''. It included the addition of a
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
.
The song has more or less been in every position of Relient K's set list since the band started performing it. From the release of ''
Mmhmm
''Mmhmm'' is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock band Relient K, released on November 2, 2004, by Gotee Records, Gotee and Capitol Records. This album includes their breakthrough singles "Be My Escape" and "Who I Am Hates Who I' ...
'' until October 2005, the song was mainly played a little past the halfway point of the band's set. For the Panic With A K Tour in October 2005, it and "I So Hate Consequences" were the encore songs in that order. From the Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour in February 2006 through the 2006 festival season, it was the opening song. The band moved it to the second song for the 2006
Nintendo Fusion Tour. For basically all of 2007, it was included in a three-song encore of "Sadie Hawkins Dance", "Be My Escape", and "I So Hate Consequences". In 2008, it once again become the band's opening song, with a slightly modified opening to include a little more guitar and drums before the song really begins. The song was moved to second in the set list for the November and December 2008 Winter Wonder Slam Tour with
TobyMac
Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...
. For some 2009 shows, it has been near the end of the set.
Music video
The music video shows Relient K playing in a room where the walls are slowly closing in on them. At the end, a burst of light appears and the walls of the room fall down, but away from the band. The band then plays in an open field with the album cover's
sunflowers in it, with the background shot on a blue screen. Lead singer Matt Thiessen has been quoted as being a little unhappy with it, claiming that the band wanted more animation other than clouds. The moving walls were simply stagehands pushing them inwards. Still, they did not complain about the video other than Thiessen's one mention of those details. Some fans wondered about the inclusion of a girl in this video when the song has Christian themes, but others have pointed out that it still works as it could be asking
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
for escape from a problem with the girl in the video. This video was the first Relient K music video to feature bassist
John Warne and guitarist
Jon Schneck.
In addition, the piano solo at the end of the song was removed in the video, and an extra vocal line was added during the second and third refrains to add to the harmony. The opening guitar riff was also shorter, repeated only once instead of thrice unlike the original song. Exclusions visually include
Dave Douglas singing background vocals, and Matt Thiessen playing the piano. The music video was directed by Charles Jensen and produced by Rachel Curl.
Awards
The song was nominated for two
Dove Awards
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...
at the
37th GMA Dove Awards
The 37th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also called the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, were held on April 5, 2006 recognizing accomplishments of Christian musicians for the year 2005. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, ...
:
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Short Form Music Video of the Year.
Track listing
US promo CD
# "Be My Escape" (radio mix) – 3:12
Credits
*
Matt Thiessen
Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-born American musician known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-lengt ...
– lead vocals, guitar, piano
*
Matt Hoopes – guitar
*
Dave Douglas – drums, backing vocals
*
Brian Pittman – bass
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2005 singles
Capitol Records singles
Relient K songs
Songs written by Matt Thiessen
2004 songs