If We're Honest

The title track of Francesca Battistelli's fourth album, she penned the tune with Jeff Pardo and Molly E. Reed. Battistelli told the story of the song to NewReleaseToday: "For the first hour and a half we were talking, catching up, venting and sharing what we were going through in our lives. I shared about how I was dealing with some situations where I was walking through a season of wanting to shake some people in my life and say 'just be real with me' rather than trying to make situations sound better than they were. They were encouraging me and commiserating to some degree, and Jeff said we needed to write a song about what I was going through and the need to be real and honest with each other. He started playing the piano part, and we knew something special was happening. We had our own thoughts about our need to be more honest with each other, wondering what it would be like to be more honest all the time and have that abundant life that Christ has called us to have. A key to that is to drop the guile and pretences that we have in our relationships. This song just flowed so naturally. I didn't know that day it would be the title track, but I knew it would be my favorite song on the album."

The theme of being real in relationships naturally arose in the writing of songs for the If We're Honest album. Battistelli said: "Writing songs for the first time as a mom for this album showed me where I was at that time. There were no pretences, and I wasn't trying to be anyone that I'm not. Once you are a parent, you get a taste for what really matters. You're not as worried about what people think of you." "I was also going through transitions of personal and business relationships, and I saw how a lack of transparency and honesty can really harm relationships and holds back all that God can do in a partnership or friendship," she added. "I was desperately crying out for that and wanting to challenge myself and others to live a life with more transparency, to quit putting up facades and walls with each other."