Readers, did you know…the story behind his song?

Published 12/6/05

Turn on the radio, attend a school holiday concert or slip into a pew during Advent and you’re bound to hear a verse or two of the now-familiar song, “Mary, Did You Know?”

Composed by a guy named Mark Lowry, the song has translated successfully across a variety of musical genres.

Depending on where your musical tastes take you in the record store, you’ll find covers of the song by American Idol performer Clay Aiken; pop and jazz artist Natalie Cole; opera singer Kathleen Battle; a who’s who of country artists, including Reba McEntire, Kathy Mattea, Billy Dean and the duet of Wynonna Judd and Kenny Rogers; gospel music’s Gaither Vocal Band and Michael English; and the artist formerly known for his puppy love, Donnie Osmond. Whenever the song is mentioned today, the words “modern classic” are usually close by.

Mark Lowry was four years out of college and an unknown when, in 1984, he wrote the words that would make him a lyricist to remember. In their first rendering, the lyrics were just lines to a musical that he wrote for his church. Written in the form of questions, they were part of a monologue to be recited between scenes of the play.

As his inspiration, Mark mused on what might have been going through the mind of the mother of Jesus, and used the song as an occasion to ask her. Thus, we have…“Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will one day walk on water?” and “Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?”

It wasn’t until six years after he wrote these lines that Mark, now establishing his reputation as a joking baritone with the Gaither Vocal Band, handed his tune-less lyrics to fellow artist Buddy Greene.

The rest is Christmas music history.

The completion of the song was just one accomplishment in a career that included a 13-year run with the Alexandria-based Gaither Vocal Band.

Mark was in his Gaither Vocal Band phase in the late ’90s when I met him and wrote his media kit. Not that he needed a media kit. By the time I met him, he had been profiled by most of the major media outlets including People magazine.

To interview him for our project, I had to become his driver one day. The plan was for me to pick him up at an Anderson hotel and deliver him to a rehearsal location, squeezing questions in somewhere in between. When I arrived at his hotel room, I found a door that was ajar, a TV blasting and the composer of “Mary, Did You Know?” in a daze under the covers. When I woke him, he jumped out of bed, fully clothed, including jacket and shoes. He then explained to me that he had returned from Europe the previous day and was still lagging, jet wise. I reminded him of what state of the U.S. we were in and escorted him to the taxi.

Ironically enough, ten minutes into our ride, a local radio station began to play one of his songs. Wondering what it must be like to hear yourself singing on the radio, I looked at him knowingly. But, mentally, Mark was still waiting for a connecting flight and asked me, “Is that David Gates? Is that Bread?”

Sometime later, when I worked with him on a photo book, I had to request several family photos from his mother, prints which I returned after the project delivered. The next time I saw Mark, I went up to him and asked him to thank his mother for the use of the photos. He looked at me a minute and then said, “Do I know you?” It was then I realized that Mark, who was touring the country, had probably met a few other reporter-types since the last time he slept. And in his clothes perhaps.

Through the years, Mark has starred in comedy and music videos, written children’s books and produced an Internet comedy show. (In his latest incarnation, he’s the organizer of “Senior Trips”—for “seniors” over 50. These three day events include music, comedy and activities such as the “Don’t Tell the Preacher Big Band Dance.”) But if you ask him, he prefers to be called a “storyteller.”

Even so, the genius behind “Mary Did You Know?” is a human interest item himself.