‘It Wasn’t Pitched. It Was Found’: The Story of ‘God Gave Me You’

Country singer Blake Shelton released another hit in 2011 when he debuted his powerful ballad, “God Gave Me You.” He recorded the track for his “Red River Blue” album in Nashville, Tennessee. But before the song ever made it to Music City, Christian songwriter Dave Barnes came up with the idea while vacationing in England.
While walking around London during his vacation, Barnes began thinking about his marriage, and his wife, Annie. As he reflected on the support she’d given him over the years, a song title popped into his head, “God Gave Me You.” He scribbled down a few lyrics, then set the song idea aside for the rest of his trip.
After London, Barnes occasionally worked on “God Gave Me You” when he had time. He tried out different melodies, and worked on finishing the lyrics. When Barnes visited his friend and fellow songwriter Matt Wertz for a songwriting session, he presented the song. But by the time the two had finished working on Wertz’s material, there was no time left to work on Barnes’s song. They agreed to table “God Gave Me You.”
When Barnes returned home that same day, inspiration struck. He immediately sat down and wrote the rest of the lyrics and finalized the melody. The song became an expression of gratitude for the support one feels during life’s “ups and downs” and “days of doubt.“ Barnes included “God Gave Me You” on his 2010 album, ”What We Want, What We Get.”
“For whatever reason I was flipping through stations and landed on a contemporary Christian station, and that song came on, and I almost had to pull the truck over. It was one of those moments for me where I felt like I was hearing that song at that moment for a reason.”
For Shelton, it reminded him of his then-girlfriend, fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, and the support she’d shown him through the course of their relationship, on good days and bad. The two were married from 2011 to 2015.
“I was so excited! Especially in how it got there: It wasn’t pitched, it was found.”
As for the songwriting session with Wertz, Barnes had to call and tell him that he ended up writing the song himself. Although Wertz was fine with it, the two still joke about what could have been.
“It’s still hard to believe it’s on the radio. Writing so much on Music Row and knowing the process of how songs get cut and picked for radio, it’s amazing to me that ‘God Gave Me You’ made it through the whole process. I’m so thankful!
When Shelton released the track in 2011, “God Gave Me You” became his fifth consecutive No. 1 hit single on country charts. It has since been certified platinum five times over. In 2012, it won an American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) award.
When asked to describe the song, Barnes said this about its message:
“I think most of us have people we are thankful for, people we have great appreciation for, and it’s hard to believe that we meet those people randomly, but rather that there was some divine providence in their involvement in our lives.”