SONGWRITING
STORY SONGS | Kevin MacDougall
Lately , I ’ ve been thinking about how it might be nice to hear more story songs , and by that , I mean songs that tell stories .
That might seem strange at first , but how many songs are you writing ( or hearing in church ) that tell stories ? I would guess very few , if any . And since songs are a primary means we have of remembering pretty much anything , songs are a good place to tell stories worth remembering .
Humanity is driven by the stories we tell .
In our arena as songwriters , one powerful example of this is that you ’ ll often see people who love a song become even more deeply moved when they hear about where it comes from . I ’ ve seen people go from simply liking a song to literally weeping over it as a writer told the story of why it was written .
Stories root us . They shape us . They move us . Communities are founded on them , sustained by them , motivated by them .
That ’ s why there is real danger in people or communities clinging to bad stories that do harm and cause damage . Stories that entertain
false ideas can gather people around a lie … But there is also great and beautiful potential in telling better stories . And as part of the New Testament mandate to “ sing to one another ,” it is important that we remember to include stories in what we sing .
Storytelling used to be a more common device among songwriters in sacred music settings . I ’ m not referring to writing lyrics about “ what God has done ” in the general or broad or vague sense , but more specifically , writing with a narrative-driven approach .
Many Psalms tell stories .
Many hymns tell stories as well — and not just the hymns of the past 200 years , but the hymns of the past 2000 years .
“ Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence ” is a song which crafts an atmosphere like few others can . It is also a song that unfolds a story in real time , walking us through a progressively unfolding vision . A fascinating exercise in telling a story in the present tense , it is also perhaps the oldest Christian hymn still in existence , the version we have now having been adapted from the fourth century “ Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn ” from the Litany of St . James .
Folks , this song is at least 1,700 years old . And a major reason it is still with us , and has endured all this time , is because it has a powerful story to tell .
Personally , I don ’ t think people fell out of love with story songs . I think we kind of just stopped writing many of them . But on the rare occasion that I have seen storytelling utilized in modern worship , it has been incredibly effective at resonating with and involving a congregation . “ O Praise the Name ( Anástasis )” is an excellent example from recent history . I don ’ t think I have ever played that song , or seen it played , without the final verse causing a congregation to absolutely erupt in joyful celebration .
Why ? Because it tells a story , and the end of that story is very , very good .
Stories are magic like that . They can move us from one place to another in a way that other , more static lyrical approaches cannot . With stories , we ’ re constantly building towards something with each line . Every phrase is not