SONGWRITING
INVITING TENSION | Kevin MacDougall
Songwriters , I have a simple , open-ended rumination for you . Consider with me :
Some songs , a lot of songs , have too many lyrical ideas . And some songs ( a lot of songs ) have too few ... The trick is finding the balance .
Some songs have too many different melodic sections or chord changes . Many more have too few ... The key is to occupy the space that falls to neither extreme .
Some songs have too many jarring dynamic shifts , or too many moments of build and release that grow tiresome . Others could use a lot more variance in their level of intensity … It ’ s important to find the flow , however elusive it may be .
It can be a fine line to walk , holding contradictory directions a song might go in the balance , but that fine line really is a great way to distinguish excellent songs from merely decent ones . There are exceptions , of course . Always . But I don ’ t think that fine line is something we appreciate simply because it represents a central or moderate position . I think it ’ s more that there ’ s something inherently enticing and engaging to be found in the tension between all those things . A liminal space that invites us into suspension . Into wonder .
It ’ s funny how we can spend so much of life trying to avoid tension that we might not even be willing to call it that when it ’ s serving a purpose we love .
I remember seeing an interview with Neil Finn ( one of the greatest songwriters of all time ) where he was asked about his own songwriting process . He was very intuitive about it , placing a high value on his instincts and subconscious when writing . But he did add that he tries to make sure his songs contain both “ light and dark .” He found that interplay to be one of crucial importance when considering what it might be that people connect to in his writing . Neil Finn doesn ’ t tend to write songs that are either 1 ) all happy and upbeat , or 2 ) complete dirges . He likes to move between those spaces , flirting with them both , and invite people into something more mysterious , more dense , and more nuanced in the process .
That sounds a lot like life to me in general . Maybe people simply connect well with songs that speak to all of life in total , and don ’ t need work so hard to distill it into simpler , smaller compartments with more limited perspectives . People resonate with Neil Finn ’ s writing because it feels real . It feels TRUE somehow .
It ’ s authentic .
Tension is authentic .
I ’ m drawn to that authenticity , born of complexity and tension , in congregational music . I think a lot of writers turn their noses up
at it because it ’ s so much easier to write quickly digestible songs without any of that nuance . Those songs might be a faster way to involve a congregation , but I wouldn ’ t say they ’ re a deeper way to involve a congregation . In a lot of churches , there ’ s not a real premium placed on songs or sermons that require scrutiny or invite meditation . Many opt for the easily conceived , easily consumable , and easily replaced instead .
The church can be like a painter who only paints scenes of cloudless days at noon , the sun blazing overhead ... But there is so much beauty to be found in the shadows cast when we bring the clouds in . Elements of dark help us appreciate the light all the more . Contrast is absolutely , unequivocally and wonderfully crucial .
The authenticity found in complexity and nuance speaks to the depth of the human experience , and that is a powerful thing . It may not work as fast , but it sure sticks with you .
When we invite that depth of tension into our writing , we invite the truth along with it .
Kevin MacDougall Worship leader , published and recorded songwriter , engineer and producer . macdougall . k @ gmail . com