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Written by Bruce Ellis
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Sunday, 23 November 2008 |
Songwriting instructor Bruce Ellis brings professional tips on the craft of songwriting.
If you ever want to run a spear through the creative heart of a jingle writer simply recite these words upon hearing their newly created work. “Nice jingle…who’s it for?” Then watch as their face turns a pasty white and they begin to question their ability to communicate a single thought. How could you know that those five little words would have the power to challenge their whole existence? After all, their mandate was clear - in 30 seconds, leave the listener with clear understanding of the product or client’s name and how it might be of benefit. ‘Seems simple enough.
Fortunately, most of us don’t spend a lot of time associating with jingle writers – I mean, can you imagine.
As songwriters, and specifically writers of worship songs, we need to subject ourselves to a similar scrutiny, lest we hear the words, “Nice song…what’s it about?” This would call into question whether or not we have a well-defined song vision. It’s been called many things; “the nut”, “the gist”, “the through-line”, the central theme”, but regardless of how it’s termed, song vision comes down to one issue -What is the song about? Take a song that you’ve written or that you like (they can even be the same one) and try to describe in one short sentence, what the song is about. We call this the one-liner. If you’re having trouble articulating a clear one-liner, then perhaps the song vision needs to be further refined.
If my one liner for a new song was, “a boy and his dog”, it would be relatively simple to stay focused on the song vision. I could write about times they spend together, trips to the vet, fetching a stick and then sum it all up with a chorus about how the boy loves his dog. My song vision would be in tact and all who participate in or listen to the song would be on the same page. If however, my second verse veered off on a tangent and began to talk about the boy’s first day of high school, my song vision might be in question. Here’s where the craft comes in.
I could quickly correct my course by penning something about the dog walking the boy to the bus stop and sadly watching him board the school bus knowing full well that their summer of fun and games had come to an end. You see, while the context has changed the song vision hasn’t. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of song vision like a prism. As you hold it up and it slowly spins, you’re treated to new perspectives that remain fresh yet they never abandon the essence of the prism’s shape. Put another way, all roads must lead or point back to the song vision.
I know you’re saying right now, “My creativity mustn’t be hampered by such narrow thinking”. So why do we need a clear song vision? Well, if your creative impetuous is simply self-expression, then carry on, let the tap run and by all means enjoy the resulting cocktail of thoughts. But if you sincerely desire to serve the church by writing accessible corporate worship songs, establishing a concise song vision must sit very high on your list of creative disciplines. Remember, we serve a higher mandate as servants and as facilitators.
While the above example of the boy and his dog is reasonably black and white, keeping a song vision focused in a worship song can sometimes be a lot more challenging. It’s not necessarily the best approach to resolve that your song vision is “God”. While you could make a case for such a song vision, you’re probably better off to zero in on one attribute of God even if it is as expansive as something like His omnipotence.
Let’s look at an example of clear song vision in a worship song. Take for instance the song Humble King by Brenton Brown.
Oh kneel me down again,
Here at Your feet
Show me how much You love humility
Oh Spirit be the star that leads me to
The humble heart of love I see in You
Chorus:
You are the God of the broken
The friend of the weak
You wash the feet of the weary
Embrace the ones in need
I want to be like You, Jesus
To have this heart in me
You are the God of the humble
You are the humble King
Brenton Brown
Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire)
This well-written song never strays from its clearly define course. The song vision is something like, “I want to be humble like Jesus”. While he uses the term King, never does he follow the path of what makes a king a king or You are king because…. Rather, he juxtaposes the words “humble” and “king” and resolves, “that’s how I want to be”. Again, while the reference and terminology varies and the perspective shifts subtly, all roads lead back to the song vision.
As an exercise, take your most recent song and write down the one-liner song vision. With a highlighter, go through and highlight every phrase that has some relationship to what you perceive the song vision to be. Then look at the remaining items and determine what value they bring to the song if any. Another good exercise is to ask others for their interpretation of your song vision. And if while you’re at it, you run into jingle writer grazing in a field somewhere, don’t forget to spring the line on them.
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