"LORD LIFT ME UP" (originally titled "LIFT ME UP"[1] and "LORD LIFT") is the seventeenth track from Kanye West's eleventh solo studio album under the name "DONDA", DONDA 2 (2025).[2] The song solely features reference vocals from Vory, who sings about staying strong and praying to God for guidance and reassurance.[2]
The song features production done by BoogzDaBeast and was a part of the initial 2.24.22 release on the Stem Player.
Production[]
The song samples Sam Dees' 1975 song, "Just Out of My Reach".[3]
Background[]
The first known version of the song dates back to January 28, 2022. The song had initially featured references from Fat Money and Albe Back as well as a scrapped spoken word Donda West intro.[4] Vory recorded for the song on February 22, 2022 which had initially been intended as a reference.[5] The song had officially released on February 24, 2022 and was released as the thirteenth track off of Donda 2.[1]
Kanye did record a finished vocal take for the song, though Vory's version of the song was released through official means instead.[6]
The song was thought to have been brought back for the VUILTURES sessions through a BEAM reference in 2024 after Christian rapper Lecrae revealed he had an upcoming single dropping with Lecrae entitled "Lift Me Up" that BEAM said had initially been meant for Ye and Ty Dolla $ign.[7] BEAM associate Elijah Julian would later state the songs had no correlation.[8] Despite this, "LORD LIFT ME UP" was brought back later in 2025 when Digital Nas had been put in charge of re-releasing a more finished copy of DONDA 2. The song would officially release on April 29th of that year and would still feature the Vory reference instead of the Kanye vocals.
Lyrics[]
[Chorus: Vory]
Lord, lift me up, lift me up
Lift me up, oh, lift me up
Lord, lift me up, I've had enough
I've had too much
Too much, I don't seem to do much
Too much, I don't seem to do nothin'
Lord, lift me up, oh, lift me up
Lift me up, oh, lift me up
Lord, lift me up, lift me up
Oh, lift me up, lift me, lift me up
[Verse]
I pray what you wanted to be
Just takin' whatever You wanted from me
It turns out I want it to me
I'll take You wherever You wanted to be
The burden is all on to me
You're givin' them just what they wanted to see
They wanna see the family feud
But I can't let the family lose
They strugglin', like back and forth, like me and you
[Chorus: Vory]
Oh, Lord, I call on You to
Lift me up, oh, lift me up, oh, lift me up
Oh, Lord, I call on You to
[Outro: Vory]
No strings attached, that's Bluetooth
That's you, too, sorry, sorry, true
Trivia[]
- Vory's vocals for the song are evident through leaks only there to serve as a reference for Kanye. It's unclear why Kanye's take wasn't used and Vory's was instead.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/02/18/kanye-west-says-donda-2-not-available-for-streaming-plans-industry-shakeup/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://genius.com/Kanye-west-lord-lift-me-up-lyrics
- ↑ https://www.whosampled.com/Kanye-West/Lord-Lift-Me-Up/
- ↑ https://plwcse.top/f/984d344fe4add311958cc8ac94e30054
- ↑ https://plwcse.top/f/2632345b6378c520ba19f0096e542475
- ↑ https://plwcse.top/f/adac0de3b3126e5b8c80081b5cab755f
- ↑ https://x.com/yeunrlsd/status/1834282545997033653
- ↑ https://x.com/MrElijahJulian/status/1834533316537545116
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