LOOP COMMUNITY
WRITING WELL-CRAFTED SONGS W / BROOKE LIGERTWOOD | Matt McCoy
Brooke Ligertwood sat down with Loop Community Founder Matt McCoy to talk about songwriting and her new album EIGHT .
[ Matt ] What ’ s a worship song right now that you really love or that ’ s currently stirring your spirit ?
[ Brooke ] This sounds like I ’ m trying to plug something , but I ’ m just being truthful , there ’ s a song on my new album EIGHT called “ Bless God ”. We didn ’ t write that for this album , that was a song that Brandon Lake , Cody Carnes and I wrote for Cody ’ s project . He already had that chorus going into the day . This song came out and I have been flabbergasted at the mercy of God having me in the room that day . That song didn ’ t come out for a long time after we wrote it , but in the months after we wrote that song , my husband and our family went through some really intense stuff . Across the world move , health things , community things , etc . I found myself in this unexpected constellation of trauma . I had a Dropbox link to this really simple demo of Cody singing that song the day we wrote it . I would get in the car and put on that demo and scream and weep these words .
It really helped me . I was grateful that Cody let me do a version as well .
ADVICE FOR YOUNG WORSHIP LEADERS [ Matt ] What is advice you would give for a young worship leader or songwriter ?
[ Brooke ] I would say lean so hard into community . Don ’ t underestimate the treasure of community and the ways that God will disciple you through community . I look at the richness of the relationships that a lot of us have that have been serving God together for 20 years , there ’ s real , actual community and relationships there . That is one of the greatest treasures of my life .
WRITING WELL-CRAFTED SONGS [ Matt ] Do you song write every day ?
[ Brooke ] No . For me , the actual act of putting pen to paper and melody to voice , is the last step . There are so many things that should happen before this actual act of articulation comes out . That has to be study , soaking in the Scripture . That has to be trying to serve my family better . It has to be surrender . A wellcrafted song is a good sharp tip of the spear . The thing that is going to give it the power to penetrate is first , the anointing of God . But secondly , the weight of a surrendered life . A surrendered life carries weight and God can often place an anointing upon . That ’ s actually the power . So many people spend time sharpening the tips of their spears , but there ’ s nothing behind them and they ’ re trying to sharpen a toothpick . So much of our lives as songwriters has to be living it out . The Lord hears the song of our lives way louder than he hears the song of our lips . So , write the song of your life before you write the song that will go on someone ’ s lips .
Click here to watch the full interview with Brooke . You can get the original Master Tracks for Brooke ’ s new album EIGHT on LoopCommunity . com .
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 22 November 2023 Subscribe for Free ...