I Can Only Imagine

MercyMe is a contemporary Christian group, and this song was written by their lead singer Bart Millard. In this song, Millard imagines what it will be like meeting Jesus for the first time.

When we spoke with Millard in 2012, he told us that he wrote the song in about 10 minutes, and that it was one of just three songs he wrote where he felt like he was "a spectator watching the song being written" (the others were "Word of God Speak" and "The Hurt & The Healer"). Regarding the song's meaning, Millard stated: "When my father died of cancer in 1991, he left me with the assurance that he was headed to a better place. For several years following his death, I would find myself writing the phrase 'I can only imagine' on anything I could find. That simple phrase would give me a peace thinking about what my dad was finally experiencing. Years later, in 1999, MercyMe was writing songs for an independent project. I remember coming home from a show and being wide awake on our bus at 2 o'clock in the morning. I was trying to write lyrics in an old notebook of mine, when all of a sudden, I stumbled across that phrase. About ten minutes later, the song was written. Some people say it's amazing that it was written in ten minutes, when really it had been on my heart for almost ten years."

Almost There was the band's first album, and this was released as the first single. It was huge hit on the Christian charts, going to #1 and getting airplay on both Christian and secular radio stations.

Amy Grant was offered this song, but when MercyMe's version was successful, she held off on releasing her version, which was slightly re-written and titled "Imagine." Grant combined her version with "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus" for her 2002 album Legacy...Hymns and Faith.