Writing songs is hard. If you don't think so, try to do it right now. I'm serious... stop what you are doing, quit reading this blog post and go right a verse, chorus, and put it to a melody and sing it to someone today. I bet you get about three words in and you go, "aww... this is dumb."On the other hand...
You could sit down and in 5 minutes have a masterpiece! Melody is perfect, verse makes sense and flows right into the chorus. It's memorable, catchy, has a good hook, speaks to a felt need of our humanity... all those things that we love songs to do for us when we hear the good ones.
I find that I'm usually somewhere in the middle of those two places and the only way to finally land on the upside is to work at it and work at and work at it and work at it. It's a hard discipline, but it is so rewarding when you find those nuggets of wisdom in a lyric and people can latch on and sing with you. Nothing is more satisfying than when other join in singing the songs that come from your heart.
I imagine that's how God feels when we write songs. After all, they have been His for so long. When we finally put pen to paper and jot down those few lines that rhyme and sing that melody that leads to harmony, I think God smiles because He feels the same satisfaction as we sing a new song to the Lord. The journey of God's people as it is chronicled on songs throughout the years is an amazing tale. I want to encourage you as a worship leader, songwriter, musician, to take a few moments and add your voice to the story.
Go ahead, hum a few bars...
Posts
I couldn't agree more. The rare times that I have come up with a decent worship song; it took just to about minutes to have it all together (melody & lyrics), then of course you begin to refine and add arrangements.
ReplyDeleteI believe that "inspiration" occurs when natural & supernatural collide; in other words, a song is born out of "experiencing" God in your life.
I have tried the blog thing about my kids but what I really have to say is about what I feel about worship! I can give you lyrics to a tune in moments - rewrite them three times, and then come to a satifactory middle. I prefer words because, unlike you great guitar players, as an "old-school" preacher's kid - I learned piano the "old" way. I didn't deviate from the hymnal because it was disrespectful in my father's opinion...then I really met worship!
ReplyDeleteI meshed my little tune and words with a friend's ability to create and arrange amazing chords and transitions to create something I was actually pleased to present to God, like "Look Daddy, see what I did? I wrote it for you!" I still get a funny rush when I hear that rough cut recording that won't ever make a big contemporary Christian "hit" - but I believe it rekindles my connection with Abba...now I humbly sit behind a keyboard giddy with excitement as He takes over my hands at CR on Fridays and I fellowship with my new friends. He never stops amazing me if I make a point to pay attention.