Sara Groves is different from most CCM artists in that she is willing to admit that life isn't easy...even as a Christian. In her own words, The Other Side of Something contains details about a year spent struggling with God, and against the world's allure. The result is eleven songs that are real, raw, and sometimes painful, as she not only reveals her own weaknesses, but ours as well if we are paying attention to the lyrics.
Selfishness and lack of contentment are drawn out in "All I Need" and "What I Thought I Wanted." "All I Need" is reminiscent of the old Larry Bryant song "Shopping List," in that it points out that we always need just a little more to make us happy "for now."
Like Rich Mullins, Groves also turns to the Bible for answers, then ends up with more questions. "Compelled," the best track, is built on Peter's statements concerning slavery to Christ:
I have a new hope that blows away
The small hopes I knew before
And at the end of the day I am yours
And I am compelled.
"What I Thought I Wanted" wonders how Job could end up broken before God, yet grateful, and expresses the desire for the ability to do the same. "Jeremiah" is a study in determination, and the burning spirit within that same prophet. Vocally, it is perhaps the weakest song as Groves strains to reach the higher notes that aren't in her natural range.
"Esther," on the other hand, is not about a Biblical figure but an aunt who works with AIDS patients in Africa, and her "2.4 million children" who replaced the ones she never bore. Her conviction of spirit is the main point here -- willingness to obey God despite how we may otherwise feel at the time.
Groves' songwriting is excellent as always, and the musicians here do nothing to take away from that. Co-producers Nate Sabin and Charlie Peacock employ an impressive stable here: Peacock himself adds piano and background vocals. Jerry McPherson, Scott Dente, Chris Eaton, Steve Brewster, Danny O'Lannerghty, and the amazingly underrated Matt Patrick all make appearances as well.
"Leave It Like A Skin" is about transformation, while "Roll to the Middle" and "Undone" deal with the strength a married couple can give to each other. "The One Thing I Know" is the first single, and is the most hopeful song on the disc. "The Boxer" is the most complex, shifting in style from verse to chorus, and depicts the fight we give God, offering a glimpse of how to get through the worst times:
And I can't just know it -- I've got to feel it
And I can't just feel it -- I've got to believe it
And I can't just believe it -- I've got to live it.
Sara Groves' strength is her openness, the ability to express in words what we all deal with on a daily basis. Life isn't easy, and it isn't always fun, but The Other Side of Something does two things: it points out that we all go through these times, and that there is hope in God when we are done fighting against Him.
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