“I Look to You” was a personal expression of Houston’s faith.
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“I Look to You” is the title track from Whitney Houston’s seventh and final studio album. Released in 2009, the album landed at the number 1 spot on Billboard’s 200, becoming her fourth chart topping album and extending her reign as the female artist with the most cumulative weeks at number 1.
The lyrics are spiritual in nature and speak about finding solace in a higher power when one has run out of strength. The tone of the song is reflective of the struggles Houston faced between her marriage falling apart and a battle against substance abuse, which ultimately led to her death, in 2012.
After all my strength is gone
In you I can be strongI look to you
And when Melodies are gone
In you I hear a songI look to you
The tune was written by R. Kelly, who performed the song at Houston’s funeral. He was also on a second release of “I Look to You” for Houston’s posthumous greatest-hits album, I Will Always Love You – The Best of Whitney Houston. The second release was a duet, which featured previously unused vocal tracks Houston recorded during her 2008 studio sessions.
At one of the listening parties for the release of I Look to You, Houston described why she chose to name the album after this song:
“The last several years spiritually, this song says all I wanted to say. There are times in life when we go through certain situations — some not so good. You have to reach for a higher strength, you have to reach deep inside yourself, spend time with yourself to make some corrections that go beyond your own understanding and lean on a higher understanding, for me song puts it all in check. If I did not have my faith I wouldn’t be as strong today.”
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