Story Behind the Song: The Warren Brothers, ‘Dear Mr. God’

Brad and Brett Warren — together known as the Warren Brothers — released several albums as a duo in the late 1990s and early 2000s; their 2000 single "Move On" was a Top 20 hit at country radio. These days, they're known as ace songwriters, and have written for and with everyone from Tim McGraw and Faith Hill to Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban.

In 2010, the Warren Brothers contributed the song "Dear Mr. God" to the soundtrack for the faith-based drama Letters to God, based on the true story of Tyler Doherty, a young cancer patient. Below, Brett Warren shares the story behind the song, in his own words.

We tried to be honest when writing this song. If we were writing a letter to God, what would we really say to Him?

A lot of faith-based songs are about "we worship you," and it misses people. I wanted to write it from the standpoint if you were not raised in church and just believed in God, if you were basically going to sit down and ask Him some honest questions and be real honest with Him, what would you say?

One of my favorite parts of the song is in the chorus: It says, "I'm all right, but I can't lie." No one ever brings it up, but I love the fact that we said, "I can't lie," in a letter to God. That's something I thought was kind of funny. It's a little behind-the-scenes humor. Every time I hear it, I'm laughing and thinking, "Nobody thinks that's funny but me?" You're writing a letter to God and you say, "I can't lie." Well, no kidding! You're talking to God! He knows if you're lying!

This story was originally written by Alanna Conaway, and revised by Angela Stefano.