You know that feeling when you're at a wedding and the acoustic guitar starts, and suddenly everyone is just... quiet? That's the power of a specific kind of songwriting. Most people know it as the Wedding Song, but the actual title of the song is There Is Love. It’s one of those rare tracks that has transcended its creator to become a cultural staple. Honestly, if you’ve been to a ceremony in the last fifty years, you’ve probably heard it. But the story behind how Noel Paul Stookey—one-third of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary—actually wrote it is way more interesting than just another piece of wedding music.
It wasn't a corporate commission. It wasn't written to be a chart-topper. It was a gift.
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The unexpected origins of There Is Love
In 1969, Peter Yarrow (the "Peter" in the group) was getting married to Mary Beth Armistead. Stookey wanted to give them something better than a toaster. He wanted to capture the spiritual gravity of the moment. Now, you have to remember the context here. This was the tail end of the sixties. Folk music was the heartbeat of the anti-war movement and civil rights. But Stookey was going through a massive personal shift, moving toward a deep, Christian faith that would eventually define much of his solo work.
He wrote the song in about an hour. That's it. One hour.
Sometimes the best things just fall out of the sky. He has often said in interviews that he felt like a "conduit" for the lyrics, particularly the lines about two or more people gathered together. It’s a direct nod to Matthew 18:20. But the genius of There Is Love is that it doesn’t feel like a sermon. It feels like a realization.
Why the lyrics stick (and why some people get them wrong)
The opening line is iconic: "He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts." It sets a stage that is both intimate and expansive. Most pop songs about love are obsessed with the "me" and the "you." They are about the feeling of being in love. Stookey’s song is different because it treats Love as an entity. A guest. A third party in the room.
It’s about the source of the emotion.
Some people think the song is just a generic hippie anthem about "loving everybody." That’s a bit of a surface-level take. If you look at the structure, it’s actually quite theological. It talks about the "union of your spirits" and the idea that love isn't something we manufacture, but something we participate in.
"The marriage of your spirits here has begun to be explained."
That line is heavy. It suggests that the wedding isn't the end of the story or even the climax; it’s just the beginning of a lifelong explanation of a mystery. Stookey's phrasing is deliberate and sparse. No fluff.
The financial twist that shocked the music industry
Here is the part that usually blows people's minds. When the song started blowing up and people wanted to record it, Stookey did something unheard of. He didn't want to personally profit from what he viewed as a divine gift. He set up the Public Domain Foundation (PDF).
He literally gave the song away.
Every cent of the publishing royalties from There Is Love goes to charity. We are talking millions of dollars over the decades. It has funded everything from hunger relief to social justice programs. In an industry known for "shark" behavior and aggressive copyright lawsuits, Stookey just walked away from the checkbook. He kept his name as the songwriter for credit, but the money? Gone. Out into the world to do good.
Musicality and the "Folk Sound"
Musically, the song is a masterclass in "less is more." It’s usually played in D major, often with a dropped-D tuning to give that low, resonant drone on the guitar. It’s grounding. The melody doesn't jump around wildly; it stays in a comfortable mid-range, making it easy for people to sing along to, even if they aren't professional vocalists.
The 1971 single version actually climbed to number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. For a folk song about spiritual union, that’s impressive. It reached number 3 on the Adult Contemporary charts. People were hungry for something that felt sincere after the chaos of the late sixties.
The covers: From Petula Clark to Captain & Tennille
Because the song is so ubiquitous, everyone has taken a swing at it.
- Petula Clark gave it a more polished, pop-orchestral feel.
- The Lettermen did the harmony-heavy version that your parents probably have on vinyl.
- Captain & Tennille brought that 70s soft-rock vibe to it.
But honestly? None of them quite capture the raw, shivering sincerity of Stookey’s original performance. There’s a certain "crack" in a live folk performance that you can’t replicate in a high-end studio with 24-track recording.
The "Wedding Song" stigma
Let's be real for a second. For a while in the 80s and 90s, the song became a bit of a cliché. It was the "Free Bird" of weddings. If you were a wedding singer, you had to know it. This led to a bit of a backlash where people started seeing it as "cheesy" or "dated."
But something shifted recently.
Maybe it’s the "cottagecore" aesthetic or the return to acoustic, authentic sounds, but There Is Love is seeing a massive resurgence with younger couples. They are looking for songs that have actual weight. In a world of synthesized TikTok hits that last 15 seconds, a six-minute folk ballad about the eternal nature of the soul feels punk rock. It feels rebellious to be that earnest.
The technical side: Why it works for musicians
If you're a guitar player, you've probably figured out why it's so satisfying to play. The fingerpicking pattern is a classic "Travis picking" style, but slowed down. It uses a lot of open strings, which creates natural sustain.
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- Tuning: Most people play it in Standard, but try Dropped D.
- Capo: Stookey often used a capo on the 2nd or 4th fret depending on his vocal range that day.
- The Bridge: The shift in the bridge provides a necessary tension before resolving back into that comforting main theme.
The song doesn't rely on a heavy beat. It relies on breath. The pauses between the lines are just as important as the words themselves.
Why we are still talking about it in 2026
We live in an era of extreme cynicism. Everything is filtered, monetized, and "optimized." Then you have this song. A song written as a gift, whose profits are given to the poor, and which talks about love as something holy rather than something transactional.
It’s a reminder that music can be more than "content."
It can be a landmark. People use this song to mark one of the most important days of their lives. That is a level of "engagement" that no algorithm can track. It’s about human connection. Whether you're religious or not, the sentiment that "whenever two or more are gathered," something special happens—that’s a universal truth.
Actionable ways to experience the song today
If you're looking to integrate this classic into your life or just want to appreciate it more deeply, there are a few things you can do.
Listen to the 1971 original first. Don't go for the covers yet. Listen to the way Stookey's voice thins out on the high notes. It’s vulnerable. That vulnerability is the whole point of the song.
Check out the Public Domain Foundation. If you’ve ever wondered where the money from your streams goes, go look up the work PDF does. It’s a great rabbit hole of "musicians doing the right thing." It might change how you feel about the artists you support.
Learn the picking pattern. Even if you’re a beginner, the basic chords (D, G, A, Em) are easy. The magic is in the steady thumb-bass rhythm. It’s a great exercise for developing hand independence.
Read the lyrics as poetry. Strip the music away. Read the words out loud. You'll notice the internal rhymes and the way the rhythm of the speech mimics a heartbeat. It’s a masterclass in folk lyricism that avoids being "too wordy" while still saying something profound.
The legacy of There Is Love isn't just in the charts or the record sales. It’s in the thousands of living rooms and church halls where people have looked at each other and felt, for a second, that they weren't alone. That's a pretty good legacy for a one-hour writing session in 1969.