It’s a tough question. An emotional question. It seemed like the genesis of a great song, but we were stuck. Then a few months ago we had an invitation from Sanctified Art to write a song for Lent. They were working with the theme “Again and Again.”

They were using the phrase not only as a lament but also as a word of praise. It was then that Lenora and the rest of us began to get a glimpse of where this song could go. There’s lament – “Why are things so broken – again and again – where has all the mercy gone.” But also this gratitude – “again and again”– in the midst of it all, “God’s love remains.”

And so this song was born. Lyrics are by Lenora Rand with music by Hannah Rand. We recorded this during the pandemic – Hannah, Leslie Michele, and Darren Calhoun recorded the vocals from their bedrooms or living rooms, Hannah and Gary Rand made the music in their basement. The video is also the work of Lenora and Hannah. This is our first time using this particular “look” for a video. We love it. It seems to fit the emotions of this song just right.

We pray the song might bring you some healing and hope.

Get music by The Many through Spotify, ​ iTunes/Apple Music, or their website.

As this powerful lyric video reminds us, “Why have you forsaken me?” are also words that we can hear echoes of in George Floyd’s words, “I can’t breathe,” as he called out for his mama while a white police officer kept his knee on his neck for almost 9 minutes. These are words that could have been spoken by Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castille, Laquan McDonald, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Treyvon Martin and so many others in the last few years. 

“Forsaken” is a song of lament, a part of the ancient tradition of lament –  not only something the Psalmists and the prophets practiced, it was something Jesus understood as well. “Blessed are those who weep,” Jesus said. Blessed.

READ: How Much Longer (by Common Hymnal)

Yet, even though it is a crucial part of the Biblical tradition, lament is not something we always make space for these days in our personal lives or in our churches.  So, this song also serves as a reminder to us all of the power of lament. The power of bearing witness and not averting our gaze, instead crying out to God and to anyone who’ll listen, “This is not right. This cannot stand.”  Lament is a form of protest and resistance to anything that destroys life. 

“Justice begins in tears,” The Many’s lyricist Lenora Rand, who also co-directs the worship renewal group, The Plural Guild, says. “Until we allow ourselves to really see and hear and feel what’s wrong, we are rarely willing to make the sacrifices it takes to do what’s right.” 

Band member Darren Calhoun, who’s also a worship pastor, justice advocate, and a part of Evangelicals for Social Action adds, “Every time I sing the words, ‘Why have you forsaken us? Where have you gone?’ I think: ‘What could happen if every church in America could really hear this song, and would cry together about the racial injustice in this country and see their own part in the pain and suffering that racism has caused? What could happen?’ Because it’s time to mourn. And it’s time for change. It’s way past time.”