If life was a computer screen, a click on the name "Chuck Girard" would link to all sorts of treasures. Any discussion of the Jesus Movement, early contemporary Christian music, the band Love Song, Calvary Chapel, Chuck Smith, Maranatha - even surf music and "Little Honda" - will eventually lead to the sandy-haired musical pioneer. 

If you wade through all that excitement, though, Chuck Girard emerges best known for a simple and beautiful worship song called "Sometimes Alleluia." The chorus is a quiet, awestruck observation that adoration for Christ should make up the central theme of our lives, though our praises may take different forms. The less-heard verses are a call to worship Him boldly, that those "outside these walls" might know Him, too. 

The birth of "Sometimes Alleluia" is best understood within the context of Chuck's own spiritual journey. 

In the late 1960's, Girard had been trying to fill the void within him, unsatisfied with record contracts, drugs and in his words, "wine, women and song." 

His search ended at the feet of Jesus, in a "little country church on the edge of town," known as Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. It was 1970, and the rapidly growing ministry, fueled by fires of revival, was a spiritual greenhouse. Consider the intensity of that greenhouse effect: a few months before, Girard, Tommy Coomes and Fred Field had nearly gone to jail for drug possession. Now, with Jay Truax, they stepped onto the Calvary Chapel stage and defined what was soon to be called Jesus Music. 

The group was named Love Song. 

For the next four years, Love Song recorded groundbreaking songs. Uncompromising Christian lyrics saddled up a pleasing blend of folk, pop, rock and country styles. That music was, and remains, embraced widely. CCM Magazine named Love Song's 1972 debut as the No. 7 all-time best contemporary Christian recording. With 300,000 copies in print - unprecedented at the time - a media wave catapulted the young Christians into a high pressure, high visibility role. 

They worked hard, maybe too hard. "Every time the phone rang," Chuck recalls, "we thought it was God!" As a result, they played as often as the laws of physics would allow. It wasn't unusual for the band to set up, play and tear down three times in a single day. 

Recognizing an impending burn-out, a friend at Calvary Chapel arranged a private get-a-way for them in a cabin at Lake Big Bear, East of Los Angeles. Girard, his new wife Karen, Mike Macintosh, and a couple of band members went. 

"We gathered around the living room and built a fire in the fireplace; we were going to worship," says Girard. We had guitars up there and just started to sing the Calvary Chapel / Maranatha-type songs." Chuck says he didn't know very much about spontaneous singing at the time, but as he puts it, "somehow, this chorus was birthed." 

Sometimes alleluia 
Sometimes praise the Lord 
Sometimes gently singing 
Our hearts in one accord 

"All we had up there was the chorus," Chuck explains. "We sang it and used it as a vehicle for our worship that night and then I kind of forgot about it." 

In late 1973, it was obvious Love Song would soon be disbanding. There were many internal reasons for this, but Girard summarizes that "the pressure and responsibility of the visibility we had in those days took quite a toll on us." 

He began to assemble material for a solo album, which eventually became his self-titled recording. He wanted to close the project with a worship song, and Karen remembered the simple song written at Big Bear. In those days his understanding of praise and worship was nominal and he considered the song too simplistic. Karen encouraged Chuck to go to the Lord and finish the song. 

"I'm one of those husbands who listens to his wife's instincts," explains Girard. "I sat down at the piano and wrote all the verses in about 15 minutes. The words just poured out. 

"After it was released, [Jimmy] Swaggart picked it up and it was the theme song for his TV show for all the years he was on," Girard points out. "It's my most well-known song, and it's been recorded the most." Chuck adds an interesting footnote to the story: "Years later, I was introduced to [the writings of] Charles Spurgeon, and was reading his sermons for first time. I read the line 'Oh let our joy be unconfined, let us sing with freedom unrestrained. This was a verbatim line from 'Sometimes Alleluia!' It was staggering to me, and I thought, 'well that's the Holy Spirit!' I've lost contact with what sermon it was, but I'd love to find it again." 

Girard, now 54, continues to write, record, travel and minister. His most recent independent recording is a mix of new praise songs, spontaneous songs and classic praise, including a lovely version of "Sometimes Alleluia." 

For more information on Chuck Girard's music, including access to all his recordings, visit his website at http://www.chuck.org. 

Phil Christensen is the Worship Pastor at Chapel of the Hills Community Church in Sandy, Oregon.