<P> "You Raise Me Up" is a song originally composed by Irish - Norwegian duo Secret Garden . The music was written by Secret Garden's Rolf Løvland and the lyrics by Brendan Graham . After the song was performed early in 2002 by the Secret Garden and their invited lead singer, Brian Kennedy, the song only became a minor UK hit . The song has been recorded by more than a hundred other artists including Josh Groban, who popularized the song in 2003; his rendition became a hit in the United States . The Irish band Westlife then popularized the song in the UK two years later . </P> <P> The song was originally composed as an instrumental piece and titled "Silent Story". Some have claimed there is a strong resemblance to the traditional Irish tune Londonderry Air, to which Løvland has commented: "There are similarities but no plagiarism . When I made "You Raise Me Up" I asked myself - what is the inner essence of Irish music?" Løvland later approached Irish novelist and songwriter Brendan Graham to write the lyrics to his melody, after reading Graham's novels . </P> <P> The song was made by and for Løvland himself and performed for the very first time at the funeral of Løvland's mother . Here he noted "there's something about the song people are embracing - which becomes emotionally strong . (...) I believe people think of it as a song they use for their own purposes .". The original designated vocalist was Johnny Logan, himself also from Eurovision fame, who recorded a demo with an orchestra . However, a desire to distance the album from Eurovision Song Contest led to a change in vocalist . </P> <P> In 2002, it was released on the Secret Garden album Once in a Red Moon, with the vocals sung by Irish singer Brian Kennedy, and sold well in both Ireland and Norway . Originally, Brian Kennedy was supposed to follow Secret Garden on their Asian tour in 2002, but Curb records couldn't come to an agreement with Universal to release Brian, and he reluctantly could not attend the tour . He was replaced by Norwegian singer Jan Werner Danielsen, who also later recorded the song together with Secret Garden . A demo version of this recording was released in 2010, on Danielsen's posthumous compilation album One More Time - The Very Best Of, which included several previously unpublished recordings . </P>

The meaning behind the song you raise me up
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