RANKED: Matthew West’s Top 10 Songs

I’ll never forget the moment I met Matthew West.

To set the scene, I was an awkward 13 year old at Xtreme Winter Conference with my youth group. Christian music icons were everywhere and I was star-struck. His merch stand was selling a collection of his songs as sheet music, so as a young musician I naturally bought the book and went to meet him for a picture. Since he was sitting at the table, I hunched down and said with the utmost determination “I promise to learn all of your songs on piano.” To which he slowly replied, “Well, that’s awesome!”

Turns out, I didn’t learn a single song. If you’re reading this Matthew West, I’m sorry I lied to you. I hope to make it up to you by ranking what I (and many others) think are some of your greatest hits. You are truly an incredible songwriter and performer!

After looking at what Spotify, Apple Music, Billboard, radio, and our own professional opinions consider to be his top hits, we have compiled a short list of some of his best. So without further ado, here are Matthew West‘s Top 10 songs of all time.

10. Forgiveness

“Forgiveness” became a number two hit single in 2012 on Billboard charts. The song is inspired by the true story of Renee Napier forgiving a man who took her twenty-year-old daughter’s life while driving under the influence of alcohol. In Colossians 3:13 (NLT), it says that the Lord forgave us, so we must forgive others. Not only is this song an incredible retelling of an inspiring story, but it speaks to the heart of all believers in how we should be quick to forgive.

9. My Own Little World

This song that was released over a decade ago, in 2010, was written in response to a collection of stories and testimonies that Matthew West had gathered from his listeners. To me, it’s one of his greatest hits because the message is incredibly humbling. There are hurt, trials, hunger, abuse, and pain, that happen every day outside of the small lenses of our lives.

8. Grace Wins

This song is also inspired by a true story. When Robert, a 27 year old man, attended one of Matthew’s concerts in 2014, he told Matthew his story about overcoming years of addiction and now employed by Teen Challenge, helping teens recover from their addictions with drugs and alcohol. West took it the story and made it into a song a year later. No surprises here, haha.

7. Broken Things

When Matthew was being interviewed about Broken Things, he gave us a great quote:

“God is in the business of using broken people and broken things.”

It’s definitely one of his best hits as it appears at the top of his best hits album from 2019.

6. More

More is from his debut album in 2003, and when I hear this song it takes me back. This song stayed at No. 1 on Christian radio for nine consecutive weeks during 2004. So it speaks for itself to be put so highly on this list.

5. Truth Be Told

Matthew said if there was a song written as the autobiography of his life this would be it. Even though the song was on brand for him as far as the message and basing it off stories/testimonies, this song has a different sound in my opinion. He based this song off of this verse.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.” | Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)

4.You Are Everything

You are Everything was one of the first songs that Matthew recorded after his career-threatening vocal surgery in 2007. It’s inspired from Matthew’s own struggle with doubt and wrote about how he was ultimately overwhelmed by how amazing God had been.

3. The God Who Stays

Matthew West told us that this song is one that he never gets tired of performing from his newest album “My Story Your Glory.” He claims that it’s all about grace and a form of God’s grace is that he never has and never will forsake us. Matthew tells us the story behind many of his songs on his YouTube and you can check it out here.

2. The Motions

The Motions was in the top 3 of every list that I was able to find. When I think of Matthew West, I think of this song. It was the third time West earned the Most Played Christian Song of the Year title, following “You are Everything” in 2008 and “More” in 2003. The video speaks for itself, as it highlights Matthew undergoing a vocal fold surgery that almost cost him his entire career. Besides its inherent popularity, the other reason I ranked this song so high is because it’s Matthew telling his own story.

1.Hello, My Name Is

I may have been a bit biased, but this song just had to go at the top. This song and “The Motions” are his most iconic hits. This 2013 hit single was a number one hit for seventeen weeks in a row on the US Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. Just like many of his other well-known songs, he wrote this based off of a testimony. Jordan, a young man who struggled with addiction and thoughts of suicide, received salvation and everything changed. This song uses his story, but it’s a representation of all of our testimonies. We once were lost, but now we are a child of the one true king. Amen! This inspired Matthew to write a book about this song to encourage others to find their true identity in Christ.

Honorable Mentions

1. The Last Song

In my opinion, this song that Matthew released in 2023 really explains the testament of who Matthew West is. The man has written a lot of songs, but in the end he just wants to glorify God with his music and that speaks volumes. What a way to summarize his entire ministry by putting it into a measly 4 minute tune.

2. Quarantine Life

Ah yes…remember when the world shut down? This comedic song was definitely one to lift our spirits in the timely era of 2020. Another artist actually roasted Matthew West that his parody songs are more popular than his normal albums. This song doesn’t really refute that statement.

3. Pizza & Grace: An A.I. Matthew West Song Challenge

Matthew West might as well be a songwriting A.I. himself, but what happens when we get A.I. to write a worship song for him? Pizza…apparently.

What songs did we forget? Did your favorite miss the list? We plan on making this a series, so comment below and tell us what artist you’d like to see us rank next!

10 Songs You Didn’t Know Matthew West Wrote for Other Artists

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Alaina Goode

Hey, I'm Alaina!

Or some would call me Laney. I'm from small town friendly Forest City, NC. I love spending time with my family, worship, film, theater, and basically all things music.

God is writing our stories so that every life has a testimony. I want to spend my life creating platforms with others to share these stories and glorify the kingdom of God!