A Friend Like You by Geoff Moore – A Bonaza of Facts About a Fun and Meaningful Song
Written with his friend, Steven Curtis Chapman, A Friend Like You by Geoff Moore has been a phenomenal hit for the Christian recording artist. It was copyrighted in 1992 by Starstruck Music/ASCAP/Careers-BMG Music Publishing Inc. and Sparrow Song. When it was first released, Geoff Moore was with The Distance. This was their first song that earned them regular radio play across US Christian radio stations.
The song, actually titled A Friend Like U, was also the title for the album it first appeared on. It was released by Forefront in 1992. At that time, Geoff Moore was recording with “The Distance,” his band. Members of The Distance on this album included: Roscoe Meek, Greg Herrington, Gary Mullet, and Geof Barkley. Additional musicians or “friends” on this album included: Phil Madeira, and Carl Marsh, and backing vocals Ashley Cleveland, Bob Bailey, Joy Gardner, Bob Carlisle and Guy Penrod. Bruce Carroll appears on the album for “Listen and Learn.” Although he co-wrote both A Friend Like U and Listen to our Hearts with Geoff Moore, Steven Curtis Chapman only appears on the album to perform a duet with Geoff once. “Listen to our Hearts” became the duet for Geoff and Steven on this album. However, they have performed A Friend Like U in a music video and in concerts together.
A Friend Like U was included as a bonus clip in the “Life Together” video that Geoff made with The Distance in 1994. It is one of the songs among the hits on the “Geoff Moore & The Distance Greatest Hits Double-Disc Set” released in 1996 by Forefront. In 2006, it was a part of the “Very Best of Geoff Moore & The Distance” album, also released by Forefront. The hit made its way onto another album, “Geoff Moore Presents Every Single One Part I” released on an independent label in 2005. A Friend Like U found a home on Geoff’s “All Along the Road Volume I” in 2007, also on an independent label.
The song has a joyful sound to it. Gary Mullet did a nice job with the bass work on the original release. Geoff Moore sounds happy when he is singing it. No surprise. His sincerity comes through on every song he records. It seems as if he could not sing a song he did not believe in. His admirable genuineness is one of his best qualities as a person and artist.
My favorite line in the song is “Through all of the winning and losing and trying, I will be by your side.” This song is a treasure because it brings unconditional love into the spotlight. Truly loving someone through it all is not easy to do but is foundation and legacy building.