Losing My Voice To Find It By Mark StuartSample

I knew immediately “Ocean Floor” was a big song. It was rooted in a guitar riff, which was our classic formula. The riff itself was haunting and melodic. It felt weightless, like someone swimming in the deep expanse of the sea. Tyler already had the overall concept. The lyrics were about the power of God’s overwhelming grace. This showed up in the imagery of the chorus, “Your sins are forgotten. / They’re on the bottom of the ocean floor.”

Once we identified the song’s spiritual core, we layered it with the idea of a life going from brokenness to beauty. This is the arc of grace. The opening line, “The mistakes I’ve made / that caused pain,” gripped people immediately. We’ve all been there. We all have regrets that sit just below the surface. Those regrets are rooted in our sinfulness, and the verses just listed them out in acknowledging our universal struggles. Selfishness. Pride. Misdeeds. Greed. “All the things that haunt me now.” This resonated with me because it felt like someone had examined my heart and listed what they found. I needed the message of this song more than anybody.

The biggest struggle with “Ocean Floor” was writing it in a way that I could actually sing it. This proved to be troublesome. The recording session was a disaster. I heard the melody of the chorus in my head but couldn’t sing it. I was embarrassed and almost killed the song because there was no way I could sing it live. . . . Out of desperation, we decided to have Tyler sing the chorus. After the first time listening to my voice next to Tyler’s, we realized what a special combination that was.

The verses of the song were meant to be broken. My voice provided the texture needed to illuminate the struggle and brokenness of life. However, the chorus needed to reflect the miracle of redemption. Tyler’s vocals soared with angelic qualities of rebirth and were the answer to my brokenness. The effect was imperfection alongside perfection. Each needed the other for the full power of the song to be made complete.