Saturday Song Stories - "Dress Myself"

I've never performed Dress Myself live. It's actually the only one on "Hope" that has never been crowd-tested. I'm not sure why...maybe because it's the artsy song on the album (every album needs an artsy 3/4 time song). But I don't think that's the reason. I've never been afraid of taking risks in front of a crowd.

Maybe it's because the meaning that I'm trying to get across in "Dress Myself" is a bit more veiled than most of the others. Or maybe because the opening imagery, of Jesus wrapping a towel around his waist as He washes the disciples feet, is more dusty than sacred (Religion tends to favor the images of Jesus that are not dusty). But then that's in essence what Jesus did. He, being divine, walked our dirty roads and stepped in things that could hardly be called sacred. He was God with dirty feet.

And yet He took the time to model the attitude that we need to have, by washing the feet of his disciples... "feet that have pounded the earth, propelled by a restless heart." The chorus says, "No servant greater than his master, yet I've pursued prominence. You were humiliated for me. I will dress myself in humility". The song is essentially about conforming our attitude to be like our savior's, despite the dusty roads that we have to walk.

When I brought this song into the studio, I had no idea what it would turn out to be. But I think that it turned out to be one of my favorites on the album. Maybe I should start playing it live.