So as I was thinking about why my ability to write remains constant and is not particularly seasonal (it is only seasonal is so much that I may have 'seasons' with more time devote to it - rather than ever being unable to write a song) - and here are a few things which I think help me 'keep the tap dripping' in regards to writing songs:
A lot of Scripture & a lot of prayer: the more I read the Bible and the more I pray the more songs I have to sing. And that really is as simple as it sounds...
Devour what inspires you: I listen to a lot of new music; I read a lot of books; I read a lot of comics; I watch TV and Film that inspires me - when you cram all that creativity in often it wants to get out again!
Write for writing's sake: When I was co-writing once in the middle of writing the song the other person was getting a little frustrated that I wasn't bothered that the song wouldn't be that easy to sing in church - they said "It's not a painting to hang on my wall". I've since thought about it and I now think I should have replied "No, it hangs on Jesus' wall". I write because I like it. I write because I want to. Whether or not I choose to sing them at church, is frankly, up to me.
Invest: Time & money. We all wish we had more of them. There will always be more important things to spend it on. Always more noble ways of using your resources. But I find value in creativity; value in being inspired; value in wasting time writing songs. It's a different kind of stewardship.
hope all these posts have helped
dg
2 comments:
They certainly have helped Mr. Gate.
I wonder if you've looked into IHOP and their model - as it seems to me that most of their songs emerge as an idea in 'the moment' - where they sing scripture and then extemporise it, putting it in their own words. These pieces are then worked on away from the prayer room & sometimes emerge as corporate worship songs. I've been playing around with this & found some songs that are real hearts cries coming out - probably no coincidence if you feed yourself a diet of the Psalms.
The beauty of it is that their worship teams are necessarily collaborative, involving lots of their interns, often with different musical leanings. So the songs that emerge are collaborative in essence.
Just another observation would be from the 'universal' post - the tragedy isn't just that most song writers want to write McWorship - it's that in these digital days, quite often the 'punters' and pastors want it as well, and so don't really 'get' anything different, because they boy all the same albums.
Or whatever.
M
thanks matt...
i think you're right a lot of the push is from 'punters' and 'pastors'... just trying to keep reminding people there are more than mid tempo anthems out there!
dg
Post a Comment