This is the last post in the "song by song" series about my album "While we sleep tonight" and we come to the title track.

In the last post, I wrote about the difficulty of knowing how to respond to situations in the world, and this was one such situation. For some reason, I was making breakfast with the radio on, having slept reasonably well. It was a January morning.

The news of the earthquake in Haiti came on, and I was struck by the contrast - while I'd been safely tucked up, this terrible thing had been happening. Homes were shaken, lives were taken. I was oblivious.

There's an instinct to do something - we can give our money, but there's still the frustration of watching as the aid struggles to get through.

In situations like this, even those who don't normally can turn to prayer, event amidst the "why" questions, and I found myself with this chorus idea, which was a prayer for the people of Haiti, and for me in my powerless, frustration. I get the sense that God is there in the pain, God is with the poor, God is close in the questioning.

The verses took a bit more work, and there were a few versions before I got to what made it onto the album. The sense of the fragility of life, and of the frustration of not knowing how to respond were the things I really wanted to capture - hopefully some of that comes across.

From a musical point of view, it's one of the simpler arrangements, but I like the dynamics and the shape of it - Terl suggested bringing in the kit, and it works perfectly, to give the song a sense of journey. Again, Hannah sings great on this one. The weird noise at the beginning and end is a bit of an ebow trick, and it's another place I used the baritone electric sound on the album - really raw and rootsy sounding.

It might be the most emotional thing I've recorded. When I sing it, I think of the people of Haiti.

The other day I visited an exhibition of photography taken in Haiti, documenting the aid work of Tearfund - you can view some of the pictures here on the Guardian's website. The devastation is obvious, the stories are moving, and at times extremely sad, but there is a hope in the smiles of the people, that is equally powerful.

Have a listen to the song: