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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.
There was once a rabbit who loved carrots. He loved the crunch they made. He loved carrot cake, carrot juice, carrot salad and especially that carrot-laced orange jello.
Oh, he found some satisfaction in an occasional head of lettuce and could at times even be talked into a crispy stalk of celery but at the end of the day, it was carrots for which he pined. One day as he was out searching for, you guessed it, carrots, he came across a rather strange sight. There, before his eyes, was a garden of gigantic carrots – a tuberous mecca of sorts. In the middle of the garden was his prize. Seemingly illuminated from above, this carrot was largest of the bunch and before his saliva could hit the ground, the rabbit was upon the big orange cruncher. He proceeded to drag his bounty back to his rabbit hole. It’s there that the problem began.
Try as he may, the rabbit could not get the over-sized carrot down the hole. It wouldn’t fit straight down lengthwise and side-ways was out of the question. He pondered his options. He could excavate the hole large enough for the carrot to fit but he’d probably destroy his home in the process. He could break the carrot up into little pieces but that would be like eating little carrots. But how could he enjoy the carrot if he couldn’t get it into his home? Before he could solve the dilemma, his inner will caved in and he started to munch on the magnificent monster. Within minutes he’d forgotten all about his problem and the carrot was fully consumed. The rabbit was satisfied.
Like the our little friend the rabbit, we as worship songwriters at times can be caught trying to fit a beautiful carrot into a home that was never built for it. In other words, we attempt to take every musical prize we create or stumble upon and inject it into the worship context of our local church. We rationalize it as breaking free, getting current or stretching the envelope, when really, we’re often simply creatively bored. We should keep in mind the dynamic of what it means to culturally “stretch the envelope” as it were. The operative word here is “stretch”.
Imagine blowing up a balloon. When you first try to blow it up you turn red in the face quite quickly. Stretch the balloon a few times and air moves more readily into the space. You’ll notice that after you’ve managed to put air into the balloon a few times it actually blows up with very little effort and the balloon hasn’t changed it original shape, colour or what it was designed to look like.
To further extend the concept, take an elastic band. When stretched, it has to be done so with great care and typically implies that at least one end is firmly anchored. In careless hands the strength or stress capacity of the anchor can be exceeded and before you know it, someone gets stung in the finger or the elastic band flies recklessly across the room. In many ways it’s like that with songwriting. We need to anchor our worship songs both stylistically and musically as we gently introduce the tension that ultimately ushers in new ground.
So how do we as writers of worship songs apply these principles? First, and foremost we must realize that we are servants, commissioned as facilitators of worship in the church. This means that we need to love and serve the people for whom our songs destined. Yes, this means putting the mandate of assisting people in encountering God before our own desires. Does this mean that we have to be beige, unimaginative, cookie-cutter songsmiths destined for a life of status quo and mediocrity? Certainly not. It simply means that we need to use wisdom and discretion as we lovingly lead people to Jesus through our songs. We must continue to be creative beings, exploring sights, sounds and textures. Write a loopy trance track. Pen a country love song. Re-score your favourite movie.
Nurture the gifts God with which God has entrusted you. But remember, some people will never like carrots, especially giant carrots.
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