Worship Musician May 2018

SONGWRITING [ 3 KEYS TO WRITING ENGAGING WORSHIP SONGS | John Chisum ] King Solomon got it right when he wrote, The real test of a great song is if a large number whole thing after years of hearing those exact “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecc. of people actually want to hear it again and want phrases, and many others like them. 1:9 KJV) At least, it seems there’s “nothing new to sing along. If you want to write engaging under the sun” when it comes to writing fresh songs, you have to do the hard work of figuring While they’re true, you’ve got to approach worship songs. Haven’t we been recycling the out exactly why a Tomlin song like “How Great songwriting these days with much more same four phrases about “coming into His Is Our God” (Tomlin, Cash, Reeves) wins over authenticity than rehashing the same old presence” and proclaiming “You are more than and over. Pro songwriters have honed their phrases. Using them makes you look insincere enough/God of creation/earth/sky/sea/future/ skills, and so must you, to be heard. and amateurish. All Sons and Daughters (David past/sins/brokeness/etc” so many times we’ve Leonard and Leslie Jordan) were phenomenal all become numb to them? Of course we have. at delivering delightfully new phrases like “I am But, considering the fact that we’ll never exhaust God’s goodness in a million years, I believe it is possible to write fresh, usable worship songs if you approach them with these next three points in mind. POINT 1 - STOP COMPETING WITH CHRIS TOMLIN (OR ANYONE ELSE) Comparison is poison to creativity. Songwriters who stand out are those who choose to be themselves. Crowder, Tomlin, and All Sons and Daughters are just a few voices who broke contemporary music molds to blaze trails of their own with their “different” sounds. It wasn’t long before everyone wanted to write “like” them. But there’s never a second original. Oscar Wilde said, “Be who you are. Everyone else is taken.” It’s true. We don’t need another knockoff artist or songwriter. We need you. We need your sound, your message, and your unique voice. Just do you. a sinner/If it’s not one thing it’s another/Caught ...you’ve got up in words, tangled in lies/But you are a Savior to approach and You take brokenness aside/ and make it songwriting Leslie Jordan © Copyright 2011 Integrity's beautiful” (“Brokenness Aside,” David Leonard, these days with much more Alleluia! Music, Integrity's Praise! Music). While ASD could have just said “Dear God/I sin a lot but You forgive me because You’re faithful and good” they coined a very unique phrase in authenticity “brokenness aside” and caught our ears once than rehashing more, re-tuning our hearts to the timeless truth the same old pretty fun to sing, too. phrases. Using The biggest part of great songwriting is them makes you work of an editor or a pro songwriter is figuring of God’s limitless grace and forgiveness. It’s becoming aware of what’s not working. The look insincere out what doesn’t belong and jettisoning it out and amateurish. and you’ll see a major spike in the attention of the song. Use these three powerful principles and enjoyment of your listeners. While there truly is “nothing new under the sun,” the wise songwriter uses what they have to form fresh, POINT 2 - CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO THINK LIKE A PRO SONGWRITER POINT 3 - AVOID TRITE PHRASES AND CONCEPTS engaging, and powerful new combinations You’ve got to have better tools in your tool-belt Avoid using phrases like “in His/Your presence” to capture their listeners attention and direct if you’re going to raise your understanding of and “We’ve come to worship You.” That’s them to God who deserves fresh new praise how songs are really crafted. Just because harsh, right? Isn’t worship about coming into every day. you “felt something” when you wrote it and His presence to worship Him? Of course it is. say, “God gave me this song,” doesn’t mean But toss one of those into your song these days anyone’s ever going to start jumping pews and and just about everyone’s going to tune it out. shouting down their hair over it. Why? Because we’ve become numb to the 50 May 2018 John Chisum Managing Partner of Nashville Christian Songwriters, a coaching and resource company for Christian songwriters at... www.NashvilleChristianSongwriters.com WorshipMusician.com

Worship Musician May 2018 | Page 50