Forrest Frank reveals hit 'Good Day' helped him walk through dark season: 'I had to put my words in action'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Forrest Frank wrote “Good Day” — his chart-topping song celebrating everyday blessings and the assurance of God’s presence and support — he had no idea just how relevant it would be to his own life.
“Three days after that song came out, I went through the hardest trial of my life,” the 29-year-old Waco, Texas-based musician and Baylor University grad told The Christian Post.
“It was really interesting that God would give me a song that says, ‘I'm about to have a good day no matter what trial is going on,’ and then I had the hardest trial of my life … someone wronged me and stole something from me that I was never going to get back,” he said.
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“I had to put my words into action. It was fun to do that. The Bible says to 'cast your anxieties on the Lord and through prayer and thanksgiving, and peace which surpasses all knowledge will guard our hearts.' I got to witness that firsthand as I went through the hardest day of my life. I just released that baggage to Jesus, and now I'm having a good day. He doesn't promise us a good day, but He promises us peace when we surrender to Him.”
Frank, the top-ranked new artist on last year’s Billboard Christian charts, started his music career in 2017 as one-half of the surf-pop group Surfaces. Seven years later, he was named New Artist of the Year at this year’s GMA Dove Awards, while “Good Day” received the Dove for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.
“I feel so undeserving of this award,” Frank said upon receiving the Dove for New Artist. “I actually was curious if I was even gonna come to an award show for Christian music because it’s all for Him. Everything I do is for the Lord.
“For whatever reason, He’s chosen to give me some songs that have related to some people. If He shuts it off and doesn’t give me any more songs, that’s cool. If He continues to bless it, that’s great. I want to continue to give Jesus glory. My name will fade away just like all of ours one day, but at the end of time and for all of eternity, one name will remain: Jesus Christ.”
Reflecting on the success of “Good Day,” Frank, who shares a son, Bodie, with his wife, Grace, told CP the track almost never made it beyond his private group, affectionately dubbed "the tree house."
“I make a song, like, every day,” Frank said, “and it was just one of the songs I made. I sent it to a friend, and he was like, ‘Yeah, this is not it. This is not good.’ So, I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe I won’t release it.’”
After sharing it with his inner circle, they offered overwhelming encouragement, convincing him to release the track. Much to his surprise, it immediately went viral, largely on TikTok, capturing audiences worldwide with its infectious optimism and uplifting message.
But for the artist, whose songs mix faith-oriented rap with a lo-fi, happy sound, success was never the goal; in fact, he’s still reeling from the accolades he’s received over the last few years.
“The fact that anybody would listen to something that I make and say, ‘that's good,’ is shocking to me,” he said. “Anything beyond that is all just a bonus. So the fact that I'm here is beyond me. I think God wants it that way, so I just give Him all glory for this. He's orchestrating my path.”
Frank’s solo album, Child of God, peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart this past August, while his singles “UP!” and “Never Get Used to This” featuring Jvke, and “God Is Good” have millions of streams across Spotify and YouTube. And since emerging on the Christian music scene, he’s collaborated with a slew of CCM artists, including Elevation, Maverick City Music, Lecrae and Hulvey.
The responsibility that comes with writing Christian music isn’t lost on Frank, though his guiding principle is simple: if he feels the presence of the Holy Spirit in the music, he believes it will naturally help others connect with God.
“As long as I'm putting the truth of the Gospel in the songs, and if I can recognize the Holy Spirit in the music, then I know that He's going to be doing the work because I don't put any pressure on it,” he said.
“I just check the Bible,” Frank added. Still, the artist acknowledged he does spend time wrestling with the phrasing of lyrics to maintain theological integrity.
“I was writing a song with someone … and there was one part that says, ’I am resurrected,’ and even though that is theologically accurate that we're resurrected with Jesus, it's so much more potent to say that ‘He is resurrected,’” he said. “And so, even little things like that, where I was like, ‘Can we say He's resurrected?’ It may not work with a story better, but just to give that extra nod to Jesus … we get into these battles. It’s crazy.”
Looking ahead, Frank said he’s excited to continue pointing the next generation to Jesus — and he doesn’t plan on diverging from Christian music, no matter how big he gets.
“Jesus is my Savior, and I'm alive when I worship Him,” he said. “Once I started making Christian music and worshiping Him, going back to making pop music is like air. There's no substance in it for me personally. The fact that I get to wake up every day and worship Jesus and then just record it, and other people get to worship Jesus, too, it is so fulfilling and so life-giving, and I'm here to stay.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
