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Overcome Part 3 – Writing Songs For A Community…And Then The World


Article by Jason Whitehorn January 30, 2010 in Songwriting Series with 3 Comments

songwriting

Take yourself out of the context of a believer for a moment.  Put yourself in the shoes of a man who is just “kicking the tires” of church – maybe even for the first time…and you’ve entered a worship service at your church.

What do you feel when you listen to the songs?  Don’t adjust that sentence…I said it just as I meant it….”when you listen to the songs”.  You more than likely don’t know the words, you don’t have an intimate relationship with God so you aren’t going to be instantly moved to tears…what are you going to feel?  I’m leaving out a whole lot of variables, aren’t I?  It’s hard to know what you would feel without knowing where you are in life.

When writing songs for your community – it is crucial to know where the people in your community are in life.  Lets assume this – the largest employer in your city is a manufacturing plant and, after 75 years in business, they are now shutting their doors.  Lifetime employees now have nothing.  One of the laid off men from that plant, for what ever reason, decided to “kick the tires” at your church…and there you are singing “God, you are awesome! Yeah, you’re the greatest!  You do wonderful things for me!” (Not quite sure what song that is…but I’ll digress.)

There is nothing wrong with the lyrics to the song…in fact, they are quite true.  The question is, will they connect to the man laid off from his job and then, in turn, connect him to a closeness to God?  Probably not.  In fact, he’d probably scoff at the idea.

Now lets contrast that with a song by Carl Cartee.

Could I let go of all that you’ve given If it meant that it all would be yours
Could I sit at your feet, and forget about me, and remember what I’m here for

Honestly I need to be broken
Honestly I need to fall down
Go ahead and shake my foundation
Cause Honestly I’m figuring out
that of all that I have, all that I need is you
honestly

Do you think that the man who just lost his job may have a closer chance of connecting with this song?  I’d dare say yes.  I don’t know what stage Carl was at when he wrote this song…or who he wrote it for…but I know that it has power, it is true, and it reaches.

I think as songwriters, we loose touch with writing songs that reach others where they live.  We need to, first and foremost, be writing for our Creator – but not neglect those who we may reach.

Think about the power of the songs we write and the songs we select to lead for our communities…and, while you are thinking about it…watch Carl leading “Honestly” live.

Overcome Part 2 : “Writing Songs For A Community – and then the World”


Article by Jason Whitehorn January 28, 2010 in Songwriting Series with 1 Comment

songwriting

Yesterday, we began a series on songwriting entitled “Overcome : Writing Songs For A Community and Then The World.” but that focused on a song…but never actually on songwriting – or did it?

If you haven’t already, take a minute to go back and read the article.  Notice that this song was written for a community.  Now, even after the details that I have given you, there are still a ton that I can only speculate about.  I’m sure the answers are there and I just haven’t asked the right questions.  Was the song written after the first pastor was ousted because of his sexual immoralities?  Did they have a huge revelation when they had previously thought they were given the song to deal with the pastoral situation only to learn i was there to cope with the murders? I’m sure there is a clear answer…but I don’t readily know it.  One thing that is clear…the song was written and there in place before the murders took place.  Don’t miss that!  No matter what actually took place with that song, God made sure that New Life Worship had that song there to minister to the congregation in their time of need.

And that brings us to the first point about “community songwriting” :

  • Not every song will be known to be “for community” when written.

When we talk about writing “for community”, we are talking about writing for your specific congregation – for situations that apply to what your congregation may be going through.  I’ve written songs before that seemed so broad focused but then, in speaking to a pastor at a certain church, learned about a particular situation and realized that the song was perfect for what they were going through.  Likewise, I’ve written songs that will more than likely never be played at any other churches other than the community it was written for.  In either case – I began by simply writing.  I can assure you of one thing…no one picked up pad and paper and said “okay, guys…lets write a song about how we might overcome a situation about someone walking in to our campus with a gun.”  God, however, knew that the song would be used in that way – and knew every tear that He would comfort, in advance, with the powerful words in the lyrics.

Which brings me to my next point…

  • Knowing that not every song will be known to be “for community” … don’t be afraid to simply write what is on your heart.

If God has laid a song before you…offer it.  Let someone hear it.  Play it to your pastor, your team, your choir – see what the response is.  You never know what difference it may make someday.  Perhaps not to a whole congregation…but to even one or two people in that community.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a deeper look at how keeping in touch with what is going on in your community will help you in your approach to writing.  I hope you’ll join us.