“What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life” became another No. 1 single in the Billboard Hot Country Singles for Ronnie Milsap. The beautiful ballad was released in 1977 from his eight studio album, It Was Almost Like a Song.
The song was such a hit for Milsap that he recorded it once again in 2009 for his first and only country gospel album, Then Sings My Soul.
The Story Behind The Song
“What A Difference You’ve Made In My Life” was written by Archie Jordan. Though the song’s original intent was never disclosed by neither Jordan nor Ronnie Milsap, several listeners saw through the veil and accepted it as a gospel title.
“What a difference you’ve made in my life. You’re my sunshine, day and night. Oh, what a difference you’ve made in my life. What a change you have made in my heart. What a change you have made in my heart. You replaced all the broken parts,” the song goes.
Jordan gave a glimpse of how the song came to life.
While living in Nashville, Jordan and his wife attended Bible study every week at a friend’s house, where they gather in the basement. And during one occasion, there were about twenty-five of them. Suddenly, a man stood up and shared his story.
The man revealed that he came from a well-to-do family in Nashville. He was living a great life and was earning a lot of money. He had married a beautiful wife and was blessed with a daughter in their beautiful home. You could say that he’s indeed living the American dream.
However, everything went downhill when he started drinking and doing drugs. He lost his job, his savings, and his home. One thing led to another that his wife got the end of it. She decided to divorce him and left the country with their daughter.
“He was telling us this story, and he looked at us and said, ‘One day, I woke up and realized that I had nothing – no money, no home, and I had nobody. I finally came to the end of my rope, and I turned my life over to God and oh, what a difference He made in my life,'” Jordan recalled.
The man’s testimony hit Jordan so hard that he started wondering how many people might feel that way.
When he woke up the next morning, the lyrics and melody were like coming out of nowhere, and “What A Difference You’ve Made In My Life” was completed in just a short period of time.
You can listen to the song in the video below.
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