| Greater | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | MercyMe |
| Album: | Welcome to the New |
| Recorded: | 2013–14 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | [1] |
| Label: | Fair Trade/Columbia |
| Producer: |
|
| Prev Title: | Shake |
| Prev Year: | 2013 |
| Next Title: | Flawless |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
"Greater" is the second single by contemporary Christian music band MercyMe for their eighth studio album, Welcome to the New (2014).[2] It was released as a single on June 20, 2014. The song peaked at No. 2 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart, blocked from the top by "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United. It was their record-extending twelfth Christian Airplay chart topper. It lasted 49 weeks on the overall chart.[3] It also peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.[4] The song is played in a D major key, and 116 beats per minute.[5]
The song also appears in the compilation album, WOW Hits 2016.[6]
"Greater" was released on June 20, 2014 as the second single from their eighth studio album Welcome to the New.[7] Bart Millard, the band's frontman, revealed the meaning of the song in an interview with NewReleaseToday, "My kids have memorized the album already. Nothing warms your heart more than to hear your kids sing this message. The thing with 'Greater' is that my middle son Charlie is a lot like me. In fact, I went through a lot of grief counseling these past few years. My grief counselor said if I ever want to know what I'm like when in a healthy family to watch Charlie. One day I was trying to tell my son, because he has a stuttering problem, we were talking, and I said, "Buddy, people may make fun of you, but you have something inside of you that is telling you that you're something different, that you're stronger than that and that you're beautiful. We were at church one day and some kids made of him and he was kind of down. I told him, 'You know what I've told you. That's not them. The enemy may be using them, but these kids are good kids. They're not coming after you, it's just the enemy is taking shots at you. He's taking shots at you because you're something special and he's afraid of something you may do. I've always told him to set his mind on things above, and he started singing this song, 'You are holy, righteous and redeemed.' I just started bawling. From time to time I can hear him singing this song in the house and I've thought that's the reason to make a record."[8]
"Greater" is an CCM, Worship and Pop Rock track with Amerciana, folk and country elements and some acoustic elements,[9] [10] which has a "campfire sing-along" vibe,[11] and this takes a cue from Rend Collective's music.[12] It is originally in the key of D major, with a tempo of 116 beats per minute. Written in common time, Millard's vocal range spans from D3 to B4 during the song.[13] Commercial performance
"Greater" spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Christian Airplay chart,[14] and peaked at No. 2 on both the Christian Digital Songs chart[15] and the Christian Songs chart. It also appeared on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at No. 14 and Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 21.[16] [17]
The lyric video of "Greater" was published on YouTube on July 11, 2014.[19] As of March 2019, the video has received more than 40 million views. The official music video of "Greater" was released on November 21, 2014, through YouTube.[20]
| Chart (2014-2015) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Christian AC (Billboard)[21] | 1 | |
| US Christian AC Indicator (Billboard)[22] | 1 | |
| US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[23] | 21 |
| Chart (2014) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Christian AC (Billboard)[24] | 12 | |
| US Christian Airplay (Billboard)[25] | 12 | |
| US Christian Songs (Billboard)[26] | 6 | |
| Chart (2015) | Peak position | |
| US Christian AC (Billboard)[27] | 7 | |
| US Christian Airplay (Billboard)[28] | 8 | |
| US Christian Songs (Billboard)[29] | 9 |