Day 16 - Third Day - Agnus Dei

11. Third Day - Agnus Dei
From the album Exodus (Rocketown Records, 1998)

Exodus was a compilation praise and worship album that Michael W. Smith put together for his own Rocketown label. Smith is also the songwriter of Agnus Dei (which means "Lamb of God"). The song is a classically based worship song, so when Third Day approached him about doing a rock cover of it for the album, Smith was naturally skeptical. "It was one of those songs I wrote in five minutes, because it all just came flooding out," he says. "I actually cried on that one; I had a meltdown." This version is heavier and more edgy than the original which appears on Smith's breaktrough Go West Young Man album, but after hearing Third Day's treatment, Smith was very happy to allow them to cover it.

The album won a Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year and the song still gets frequent airplay, today.

Here is the original Exodus album version of the song.