Still on an Andrew Peterson High!

At the concert yesterday, Andrew Peterson told the story of many of his songs, but one in particular was really incredible. I was familiar with the gist of the background on his song Queen of Iowa but to hear him tell it, to get the details first hand and hear his voice break with emotion was just impactful.

He got a call one day from a church asking if he would come and sing at the bedside of a woman who was dying. He was her favorite musician and they wanted to bring him there. He had never done anything like that before and agreed to do it but had no idea of the full story until he arrived. As he was going from the airport to her house someone filled him in on her situation.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the details, but when he arrived she had been in a coma for 3 days. In college she had been brutally attacked and contracted HIV. She had suffered from that and tumors throughout her body, especially her brain. She also always runs a temperature of 104 degrees. She had become paralyzed and was on pain medications and medicine to help her sleep. Those medicines caused her to have nightmares where she relived the attack over and over. The only thing she could do all day was to lay in bed and listen to her ipod. Her husband had loaded it with Christian music and mostly Andrew Peterson’s because he was her favorite. Her husband had fallen in love with her in elementary school and married her knowing about the attack and her health. He was her caregiver.

When they moved to the town a small local church heard about their situation and started to minister to them. They both accepted Christ as their savior and were believers because of that church, who was bringing Andrew to her that day. He had come with another musician friend and he said that they sat next to her bed as she laid in a coma and sang to her. Suddenly while they were playing she opened her eyes and was mouthing the words of his songs! They continued to play and sing with her and visited with her.

He said that experience had such an impact on him that he wrote this song for her. (Don't just read through the words. Let them soak in. Catch the double meanings and the depth of what he is saying. It's amazing)

I met the queen of Iowa
She was dying on a couch in the suburbs
And with all of the things she was dying of
She was more alive than the others

She was pretty as a flower in a crystal vase
It lights up the room as it withers away
And she opened her eyes
When she heard the music play

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
Like the Queen of Iowa
She was the Queen of Iowa

Her majesty was all ablaze
She was burning hot but not consumed
Our shoes removed in that holy place
In the hallowed ground of the living room
I bowed down low and I kissed her hand
And we raised a toast to the Promised Land
And I saw the tears of joy
Run down her face

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
Like the Queen of Iowa

Peace like a river in a valley of bones
It fills the valley up and it carries them home
She was the Queen of Iowa
(Bridge)

I could see my illusions scatter
Every time she drew a breath
I could see the heart of the matter:
The heart is a matter of life and death
I’ll never be the same

We sang about oceans of love again
As she stared past the ceiling and the sky above
Two court musicians, it was me and Ben
We were singing for the Queen of Iowa

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
There was peace like a river in a valley of bones
It fills the valley up and it carries them home
To come alive again
In the river of Grace
Like the Queen of Iowa
She was the Queen of Iowa
Long live the Queen of Iowa


Then Andrew told us that every time he is in Iowa for a concert he is able to go and visit her. Many of the songs on his newest album are in someway inspired by her too.

He said that as soon as he finished the newest album he sent a copy to her so her husband could load the new songs on her ipod but she was in a coma that lasted for 3 months. Her husband said that her brain was so full of tumors that the doctors said she was brain dead even though he feels her tap her pinky in his hand. The doctors said she is brain dead and it is only a muscle twitch that he feels. Still everyday she listens to the music. Andrew arrived some time after the album, to play for her again and as he was playing the new songs, she opened her eyes! The first time in 3 months and she was mouthing the songs on the new album! Did you catch that? The new album that she had only heard while she was in a coma and she knew the words! Also she moved her hand that she wanted to write and although her hands are twisted and paralyzed, they put a pen in her hand and held paper for her. She wrote “I believe in the invisible God” (a song title from his new album).

Andrew said he has that paper on his bedroom wall so he will see it everyday. He said that she is still alive today and inspiring him. It is an amazing story!