"Born Again" is a song recorded by the

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

Third Day Third Day was a Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia in 1991. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee (both of whom were the only constant members) and Billy Wilkins. The band's name is a reference to the ...

and

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

singer Lacey Mosley. Written by Mac Powell and composed by Third Day, "Born Again" was released as the third and final single from Third Day's 2008 album ''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

''. Musically, the song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

featuring influences from the genres of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, while the song is lyrically a "study in self-examination and celebration of a life redeemed". It was included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' WOW Hits 2011''. "Born Again" met with positive critical reception, with many critics praising Mosley's vocals. It was nominated for two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...

: the

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the gospel music genre. Honors in seve ...

and the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance. It was the third No. 1 single from ''Revelation'' and twenty-seventh overall for Third Day, peaking atop the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Christian AC Monitored chart; it also peaked at No. 3 on the

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart, No. 4 on the

Hot Christian AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart, No. 10 on the Christian CHR chart, and No. 41 on the

Heatseekers Songs The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart. ''Billboard'' also ranked "Born Again" on their 2009 year-end Hot Christian Songs, Hot Christian AC, and Christian CHR charts.

Background

The lyrics to the first verse of "Born Again" were written while Third Day's lead singer, Mac Powell, was folding laundry. Powell recalled that "I was doing some chores at home. I was sitting down on the floor folding laundry and I had that song in my head. All of a sudden it just came out--a full first verse literally. It wasn’t like I said a line and worked out a few other lines, it literally just came out. I just spoke it and sang it and it scared me because that never happens". Powell said he then "got up and I was running around the house, throwing stuff everywhere looking for a pen and a piece of paper". "Born Again" was written by Mac Powell and composed by Third Day. It was produced and programmed by

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

and recorded by Mike Plontikoff at Bay 7 Studios in

Valley Village, Los Angeles Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village w ...

and at Sparky Dark Studio in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.mixed by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

at Resonate Music in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

and mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

at Gateway Mastering in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. Digital editing was conducted by Paul DeCarli, while

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

was handled by Ashburn Miller with additional engineering handled by Hatsukazu Inagaki.

Pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...

was handled at Haunted Hollow Studio in Charlottesville, Virginia by Rob Evans and Steve Miller, at Tree Sound Studios in Norcross, Georgia by Don McCollister, and at Sonica Recording in Atlanta, Georgia by Jon Briglevich.

Composition

"Born Again" is a

with a length of three minutes and thirty-six seconds. It is set in time in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

, with a moderately set

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 66

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

and a vocal range spanning from D₄ to G₅. "Born Again" contains musical influences from the genres of folk and pop and features "gorgeous" and "soaring" vocals from Lacey Mosley of the

band Flyleaf. Lyrically, it is a "study in self-examination and celebration of a life redeemed" and "a heartfelt expression of what it's like to experience a change from within". Third Day's bassist, Tai Anderson, said the song "digs beneath" the "cliché" expression of being '

born again To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

' and into what the phrase is "supposed to mean".

Reception

Critical

"Born Again" received positive reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the vocals from Lacey Mosley and regarded it as a highlight of ''

''. Deborah Evans Price of ''

'' praised the vocal performance of Mosley as "gorgeous", while Russ Breimeier of ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' praised it as "a heartfelt expression of what it's like to experience a change from within". Matt Conner of ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is an online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music and media, published by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has been owned by Salem since 1999. O ...

'' regarded "Born Again" as "one of the highlights on an album full of them", while John DiBiase of Jesus Freak Hideout described it as a "

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

-flavored

... which beautifully features Lacey Mosley from Flyleaf". Debra Akins of Gospel Music Channel praised it as "one of the best tracks" off ''Revelation''. Graeme Crawford of ''

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. His ...

'', however, said the "

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

" feel of "Born Again" was "disappointing". "Born Again" was nominated for two

(

Best Gospel Song The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the gospel music genre. Honors in seve ...

and Best Gospel Performance) at the

Chart performance

On the ''

'' Hot Christian Songs chart, "Born Again" debuted at no. 25 for the chart week of June 13, 2009. It advanced to no. 9 in its tenth chart week, and to no. 5 in its fourteenth chart week. In its twenty-first chart week, "Born Again" reached its peak position of no. 3; it dropped out after twenty-seven weeks on the Hot Christian Songs chart. Note: User must manually input the correct search information to obtain the sourced information. On the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian AC chart, "Born Again" debuted at no. 27 for the chart week of June 13, 2009. It advanced to no. 18 in its fifth chart week and to no. 8 in its twelfth chart week. In its fifteenth chart week, "Born Again" reached its peak position of no. 4 on the chart; "Born Again" dropped out after twenty-eight weeks on the Hot Christian AC chart. "Born Again" spent twenty weeks on the ''Billboard'' Christian CHR chart, peaking at no. 10. It peaked at no. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Christian AC Indicator chart, making it Third Day's third no. 1 single from ''

'' and twenty-seventh no. 1 single overall. It also spent eight weeks on the ''Billboard''

chart, peaking at no. 41. It ranked at no. 9 on the 2009 year-end Hot Christian Songs chart, at no. 14 on the 2009 year-end Hot Christian AC chart, and at no. 27 on the 2009 year-end Christian CHR chart.

Live performances

Since its release,

has performed "Born Again" in concert. At WinterJam 2010, Third Day performed the song with

Dawn Michele Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizon ...

Fireflight Fireflight is an American Christian rock band formed in Eustis, Florida, in 1999. The band was signed by Flicker Records. The band currently consists of vocalist Dawn Michele, Glenn and Wendy Drennen, guitarist and bassist respectively, and gu ...

. On the opening night of the Make a Difference Tour, Third Day performed "Born Again" as part of their setlist. At a concert as part of their Make Your Move Tour in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on November 6, 2011, the band performed the song during an acoustic set; the band took requests, and "Born Again" was one of the songs requested. Third Day also performed the song at a concert in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

on March 20, 2011; following the devastating tornado that struck Joplin on May 22, 2011, Third Day released the entire concert as a download, with all proceeds going to tornado relief for Joplin.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes

Charts

Weekly

Year-end

References

External links

"Born Again" lyrics on Third Day's Official website
{{authority control 2009 singles Third Day songs Songs written by Mac Powell 2008 songs Song recordings produced by Howard Benson Essential Records (Christian) singles 2000s ballads