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What Else Rhymes With Me? |
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Written by Graham Ord
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Sunday, 23 November 2008 |
Graham Ord gives quick tips on God-centered songwriting.
“He died on a tree when he was 33 to set me free, oh yippee!” If this is a line from one of your songs then I apologize for not including the correct CCLI number! But seriously, how do we get away from using cliché, pat phrases in our worship songs while maintaining accurate theology?
Have you noticed how new lovers get to know each another through the letters they write one another? When we write down our feelings we are often more careful about the words we use to express ourselves. Our worship songs can be seen as “love letters” that we sing to God -- isn’t it fitting then that these “love letters” are written carefully too?
Timeless Truth and Relevant Words
It is said “Show me a church’s songbook and I’ll tell you that church’s doctrine.” The early hymn writers understood this and wrote songs that served to teach sound Christian doctrine to a mostly illiterate populace, while also conveying the majesty of God through beautiful poetry and melody. Most people today are largely ignorant of biblical concepts, so it remains vital for us to write songs that depict biblical truth using inclusive modern word pictures that relate to 21st century people.
Know Your Bible, Know Your Language
A good knowledge of the Bible is vital in writing songs for worship, but I encourage you also to develop a love for language, and to learn the art of blending accurate theology with original poetic lyrics. Take time over your songs, remembering that they are rarely finished the first time you commit pen to paper. Ask yourself “Could I say this differently?” “Is this really true?” “Could this be more poetic?” or conversely “Is it too flowery?” Remember that congregational songs need to be accessible to the majority of the people in the church and not just the “artistic” ones.
Widen Your Vocabulary
Along with a good instrument, I suggest that you invest in a thesaurus, a dictionary, and a good systematic theology book. These tools will help you to research new ways of expressing theological concepts so as to draw your community into worshiping the Author of all truth and the Giver of all beauty.
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