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Song Writing - Substance and Simplicity - Tim Hughes

Substance

We serve a God beyond all understanding. We worship an indescribable God. Yet we sing so many songs that lyrically say very little. Christopher Idle says, “When the mood leads to a suspension of critical faculties helped by an exciting or seductive tune, it is sadly easy to get people to sing nonsense.” As songwriters there is a responsibility to write songs of substance. A key question when evaluating a song has to be; does it say anything of worth? Is there content to the song? Do the lyrics provoke thought?

To the Church in Colosse, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16) The Church was in danger of focusing too much on emotions and feelings. They needed to be reminded to allow the truth and word of Christ to dwell in them richly. Some of us need to receive the same challenge. Are we writing songs of substance? Are we singing eternal truths? If you want to write songs that will glorify God and edify the Church, maybe first you need to get stuck into God’s word. Study it, ponder upon it and chew it over. When your heart is bursting with a deeper understanding of all that God is, then start to sing it out.

I love the story of the American communicator, James Ryle. He became a Christian shortly after being sentenced to prison. After his amazing conversion, he felt that God was calling him to preach the word. Rather than waste all the years he had ahead of him in prison doing nothing, James decided to study and prepare to be the best communicator he could be. He devoured and studied God’s word. He even read through the entire dictionary so as to improve his word power. How willing are we to be the best songwriters we can be? To be the best involves hard work.

Some fantastic song writing aids to enable this include:

· A thesaurus - this will give you new words and an increased vocabulary for greater description.
· A concordance - this will enable you to see all that the bible might say on a particular theme.
· Varied translations of the bible (i.e. The NIV, The Message, The RSV, The King James version) - This will give you a fuller understanding of a verse, as well as different lyrical possibilities.
· Hymnbooks - The old hymns are packed full of poetry, imagery and language that can’t help but inspire.

It’s also always great to learn from other skilled songwriters. How do they put a phrase together? How do they use imagery? How do they unpack a message? I’m often moved and challenged by the lyrics of other bands. The way Mike Skinner of ‘The Streets,’ communicates a story and an insight into normal life is amazing. An honesty and vulnerability is expressed that we in the Church could learn from. Or the beauty of life and love captured in U2’s lyrics inspires me to convey something of the beauty of God.

Simplicity

Whilst writing songs with substance, there must be a place for simplicity. Brian Doerkson says, “The most enduring songs are virtually without exception the simple ones.” I agree with him. There has been a recent drive to encourage writers to fill their songs with content and doctrine. I think this has been a wonderful challenge. However my fear is that we go too far. That we end up with songs packed so densely with content, that they are impossible to sing and remember. The aim has to be both substance and simplicity. To convey a profound mystery in a simple lyric takes great skill and thought. A message can be easily lost and blurred by a barrage of words. It’s also with some of the simple love songs, that our hearts can most engage. I love songs like, “I love you Lord,” “Jesus Your love has melted my heart,” and “Isn’t He beautiful.” We need more of these songs. In a letter to songwriters, Sandy Millar, vicar of HTB London, writes, “I would love to see a renewed energy going into writing simple, heartfelt intimate expressions of love…We need songs that are simpler songs that can be learned very easily, and sung from the heart.” In my experience these songs are actually the hardest to write.

In writing these songs a couple of questions to ponder over are:

· Clarity - Does the song have a focus? Is there a clear theme running through the song? A good test is whether you could summarise the theme of the song is a short sentence. If not maybe you need some editing.

· Singability - Does the song have a simple and memorable melody or hook? If it’s hard to remember and pick up the tune, then it kills the whole point of it being a simple song.

I love what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:15 - “I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” We need to write songs that enable people to sing with their minds, but also sing with their spirits. The great songs will inspire our intellects and allow our spirits to soar.

Tim Hughes