From his upcoming fall album release, Guitar Slinger, Vince Gill releases a quiet song that gorgeously portrays a man who is at peace with his impending death. While his loved ones are distraught from the thought of losing him, he assures them that he is not afraid of the prospect and, in fact, welcomes it:
“What’s the worst thing that can happen / What’s the worst that they can do?/ Threaten me with Heaven / It’s all they can do / Threaten me with Heaven / if they want to / Threaten me with Heaven, I believe that it’s true / Threaten me with Heaven, I’ll be waiting on you.”
His wife, Amy Grant, may be the official Christian/gospel singer in the family, but Brother Vince could easily stand right alongside her in such a capacity of he so chose, as his rousing “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” and “Rock of Ages” performances with Grant, from her hymns albums, can legitimately testify. While “Threaten Me with Heaven” is much more understated than those gospel favorites, it’s a powerful testament of faith to which people can either possibly relate or envy.
Similar in sound to his inspiring “What You Give Away”, “Threaten Me with Heaven” hosts a heartfelt vocal, tasteful guitar support and a gospel choir that enriches the tone of the song. As a result, the single is more adult contemporary than pure country, but it is beautifully sung and arranged nonetheless.
Written by Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Dillon O’Brien & Will Owsley
Grade: A
Listen: Threaten Me With Heaven
…i can’t stand country or a/c with extra large christian fabric softener normally, but this is a great example of how it’s done, if you can’t stop yourself from doing it. heaven and threat in one sentence is a smart twist, he sings it just beautifully and his guitar pickin’ is still terrific.
Good song. We should all be that much at peace when our time comes.
Heard this song on last night’s Grand Ole Opry broadcast. Good song – likely his best single of the last decade
I love this song! The message is wonderful and his voices is amazing. This song really shoes just how much of a humble person Vince is.
This is a beautiful song!! And there will never be another Vince Gill. He is definitely one of a kind.