(Edited to get my facts straighter...)
This is a very weird story.
Joe Brooks didn't write his monstrosity as a "love song to God." But when it became a hit by Pat Boone's annoying daughter Debby, that's what she claimed:
Wikipedia -
Although written by Brooks as a love song, the devout Boone interpreted the song as inspirational and proclaimed that it was instead God who "lit up her life."Proving that God's taste in music is generally for shit, but I already knew that:
NEW YORK – Joseph Brooks, the Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life" who was awaiting trial for rape, was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide in his Manhattan apartment, police said...
Brooks was awaiting trial on allegations that he molested women who were lured to his apartment for supposed acting auditions. He pleaded not guilty to rape and other charges...
Brooks won the Academy Award for best original song for the 1977 Debby Boone ballad "You Light Up My Life" and directed a related movie. He also won a Grammy for the song.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110522/ap_en_ot/us_songwriter_dead