"PRAISE YOU" THE GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL?

'Praise You' for lots of reasons was one of those songs that actually took me nearly two years to fully craft and complete. I remember that the theme, the melody and the lyrics to the verses and pre - chorus actually came very quickly whilst I was worshipping alone one time.

The opening line 'You gave your only son' kept ringing round in my head and pointed me obviously to John 3:16.

This was one of those verses I could always recite growing up as a Christian and had seen a lot on T-shirts in church book shops, but had never really gone deep into me.

Reading it afresh seemed to inspire a whole new revelation of what God had done for me. It was like God was truly 'reminding me of His grace' in a whole new way. The more I pondered on this verse, the more I really wanted to write something that simply captured the essence of the gospel in a nutshell.

Something that told the enduring story of his love and what he had done for me plain and simple - that God the Father so loved the world and that meant me too, that he gave his one and only beloved son that we might not perish but have eternal life. Ultimately this act of saving grace climaxes at the cross - Jesus' death and His resurrection. It is something that I could never earn or deserve but which he pours upon me as a free gift. He took my place in his mercy so that I might go free!

The chorus of this song however was not so fast in coming. I had an alternative chorus for a long time that I was never really satisfied with both lyrically and melodically.It was too wordy and the tune did not capture the simplicity I was seeking. I desperately wanted to find a chorus section that was easy to sing, rousing and expressed the only thing that we can do after understanding how much he has done for us. Praise Him.

After leaving the song for about a year and a half or so, I came back to it again and was really inspired by the lyrics of the verses I had already written. Just as I took some more time on it the new opening chorus line and melody flowed out - 'Praise you Jesus I praise you, I lift my hands and sing.'

That seemed the most right response to such love. Simply to praise him. I also liked the imagery of an embrace to symbolise our intimate relationship with the Father through the cross. I used 'Embrace you, I will embrace you' to finally tweak the chorus lyrics and adjust my original idea to adopt this picture of friendship through the blood he shed for us.

What's the big idea!?

Leonard Cohen, a famous composer and poet once said, “If I knew where all the good songs were, I’d go there more often!” As with most things in life these days we’re often looking for a quick fix solution with a cheap price tag. In the realm of song writing this will just never happen. Unfortunately good songs cannot be bought on ebay. They have to be born in a place of revelation, overflow and real life. The biggest thing I have learnt over the last couple of years in the area of song writing is that one must carve out time and space for creativity. For most of us, and perhaps all of us this doesn’t come without a cost.


Recently I heard someone describing songwriters as architects‚. As writers we need to have a big idea‚ or a theme‚ that is worth working on. Often however we try and skip this architectural/planning stage and plunge straight in to building. If this was the method for structural buildings, most constructions would be lopsided, unfinished and without foundations. This is often the case for most of our songs! Strive to be a craftsman not a DIY enthusiast. Think before you start. What has God been saying to you recently? What has struck you from His word? What is he doing in your own life? What is God saying to your church? Have someone in mind when you’re writing a song. Who will want to sing it when it is finished? What type of structure of song will best marry melody with lyrics? Don’t just steam in with a bulldozer (or a plectrum). Sometimes it can even be helpful to leave your instrument aside to save you going down the same chord rat runs‚ and rhythms.

The structure of a song is very important and is the skeleton that holds the different parts of the music together. It gives the song shape and order. Most modern songs are constructed on simple variations of a verse followed by a chorus, followed by another verse, followed by another chorus and so on. For example,
Intro 1Verse 1Chorus 2 Verse 2Chorus 2Middle 8 3Verse 3Chorus 3Chorus 4Ending
An example of this would be “Beautiful One”.
One of the useful things about this song structure is that you get a natural sense of light and shade between verses and choruses. Verses tend to be quieter than choruses, which are often quite musically intense. This can be a great structure for anthems or high praise.

Other songs such as “Lost in Wonder” might incorporate a pre chorus into this progression acting like a gun that fires off the chorus. Sometimes this can set up‚ the chorus and help us ‘lift off’ giving us more time to build tension and reinforce the theme of the verses:

“And though your soul was overwhelmed with pain,
Obedient to death you overcame
I‚m lost in wonder”
or
“The sorrow that surrounded you was mine,
Yet not my will but yours be done you cried
I’m lost in wonder

Some songs have no distinct choruses or verses at all.

For example, 'Come now is the time to worship' by Brian Doerkson which follows a quite different structure, consisting of two musically distinct sections:

A section:
Come now is the time to worship
Come now is the time to give your heart
Come just as you are to worship
Come just as you are before your God

B section:
One day every tongue will confess you are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose you now

Other examples of songs with this structure might be “Salvation spring up from the ground” by Charlie Hall or “I lift you high (You must increase)” by Matt Redman

An unstructured song will be messy, difficult to listen to and impossible to remember, so try listening to one of your favourite songs, mapping out its structure and using it as the skeleton for a new song.

Returning to the issue of “Big Ideas” or themes it’s important that we put ourselves in a good position to get inspiration. What comes in must go out and this flow is characteristic of life. A stagnant body of water has no flow, but a river with an inlet and an outlet breads life and vitality. Once we get that seed of original inspiration it’s important that we chase it with our craft. Like a jeweller, we have to set up the theme (diamond) on an appropriate and equally precious setting (band). These components have a distinctive function but both contribute to the overall finish of the song. A Diamond set on paper clip twisted round your finger is not quite the same as a perfectly made platinum ring!

When writing your own songs, make sure that your verses draw the listener into your song, define who is talking, where the situation or story is taking place and give some idea of where you are going with your song. Making sure that you stay true to your original idea is very important. Often the strongest songs have one universal theme that grows with every line climaxing in the chorus.

"WITH ALL MY HEART"

I began writing this song when I was on holiday with my wife in South Africa in 2001. At that time, I really wanted to write something that was simple and yet passionate in it's content. I was inspired by the thought that worshipping God is about everything we are and everything we do. Not only the songs we sing, but the lives we live; Our relationships, our finances, our leisure time etc.

Ultimately, he requires that we love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The book of Deuteronomy is just one example in the bible where we are directed to serve Him with all that we are.

Deuteronomy 10:12 'And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?'

Before I recorded this song on the album, I just had the first verse and it felt like it needed a second verse to complete the song. This was added later along with the bridge, which musically was the contribution of Mike Busbee who produced 'Lost in Wonder'. Again lyrically, I wanted the bridge to express the theme of everyone and everything being called to worship the one true God; ‘all of creation, every nation and every heart’ passionately coming together in a celebration of who he is.

THE SYNERGY OF COMPONENTS: How worship is like a latte

I was in Starbucks yesterday with one of my dearest friends, when it struck me, probably for the first time, just how much milk Starbucks must get through in making their drinks. As I said to my friend, "Starbucks are mostly milk," to which he agreed.

This is a lot like worship. Coffee is made up of a shot of delicious, bitter-sweet espresso drawn from beans cultivated, harvested, dried, shipped and roasted, ground and extracted with water. So the songs of our heart emerge through the trials and tribulations of our own mountain peak/valley experiences throughout the seasons.

As a latte is stretched with milk, so our lives are full of bland, whiteness: disciplines, admin, dull thoughts. Yet occassionally our lives our capped with foam - the heady, light, fluffy feelings of ectasy, joy, what my colleagues refer to as a 'destiny moment', often topped off with the chocolate sprinkles of fame and a photo shoot.

Yet, it's the milk that most instructed me: common garden milk binds the two experiences together - the espresso depths and the frothy heights. Without it we'd have a macchiato: which for £2.45 wouldn't last as long or be as enjoyable as a regular latte. But all three together are a beautiful trinitarian synergy.

Let us not despite the bland in life - it's the canvass on which all our colours are best expressed.

I must remember to thank my friend for joining me on that Starbucks visit - he's such a good bloke.

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FUEL FOR THE FIRE 2006: STAND IN AWE

Saturday 10 June 2006, St Aldates

This summer, join myself and a host of guests at St Aldates, Oxford, for a one day exploration of worship, teaching and ministry. This one day conference fuses stacks of time in worship, with practical, biblical and inspirational teaching on why we worship, band dynamics, song writing and more.

devotions

Devotional time or 'quiet time' is a term that often we don't like to be reminded of. It can at times be much more interesting or tempting to check email, write your blog, get up to date with the admin or basically do anything rather than 'being still and knowing that He is God'. This is most definatley a discipline that I have lost a bit of touch with since having children, but through God's grace He keeps nudging me to draw near to Him. As is usual for us Christians we can often want a short cut or a quick fix. Tonight as I was washing up (yes I do do that sometimes!) I realised that I had put a pan in to soak. No great revelation to many I'm sure but the difference between getting that puppy clean before and after a good old soak was unbeleivable. Once it had had a chance to marinade in the washing up liquid, one wipe and it was clean.

We as dirty, unclean vessels need to be soaked, bathed in His presence. Not wanting to belittle God to be like dishwater (perhaps more like Mr Muscle)but only as we wait on Him can He change us. The process is a lot more painful and drawn out if we try and acheive it in our own strength.

The Power of Song

Worship is a lifestyle. Without any shadow of a doubt, our worship in song has to extend to the whole of our lives. As Paul encourages us in Romans 12:1 we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – that is to be our spiritual act of worship”. Similarly we are instructed in Ephesians to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). ‘True fasting’ is our directed goal in Isaiah 58 and in Amos God tells us to “do away with the noise of our songs and let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream”! (Amos 5:23-24). Clearly God is serious about his people living out lives of worship.

But in the recent rise and re-focus on lifestyle over the ‘mere singing of songs’, I have been lured back into God’s word to discover why singing and the gift of song are so important in God’s heart and for the worshipping community. Why does the psalmist on more than one occasion encourage us to sing to the Lord a new song or to come before him with joyful songs? Why do Moses and Miriam choose to use the gift of song to thank God after crossing the Red Sea? Why does Mary burst into song after the angel Gabriel had visited her at the start of Luke’s gospel? And why does Revelation paint a picture of thousands of angelic voices joining in worship? Ultimately why is God so bothered about singing?

More on www.staldates.org.uk

"Welcome to my life"