|
The Music ExchangeWanna-be writersThis article has been inspired to a certain extent by Nick Page's book, And now let's move into a time of nonsense, which I've reviewed in this EN (page 29). The book has been written as a plea for modern song-writers to give us songs which use the highly-crafted techniques of historic hymnody while also appealing to a contemporary culture. Over the past three years, a number of us who try to write songs have got together from various churches because we take this call seriously. We meet about four times a year to encourage each other, to pray and to critique our songs. We're all writing for our own congregations, with the same aims. TargetsOur aims are to write songs that are: * faithful to Scripture Some of us write words and music, some just words, some just music. Some of us take older hymns and give them new tunes. One of us may write something which is not too bad, and another may take it away and make it better. Some of the songs are straight from the Bible, others use a biblical truth around which words are moulded. One or two have a particular gift for writing for children. We started meeting because we all recognised a need to cross-fertilise songs and ideas, rather than becoming 'head-in-the-sand' congregations all with our own song repertoire. I'm personally grateful to all those who bring songs to the meeting because I've learnt big lessons from our get-togethers. Not only that, but our own congregation has already benefited from the fruit. TimeYou may be asking: 'So where are these songs then?' The reassuring truth is that the process of producing good songs that fit the criteria above takes more time than we'd bargained for. The other thing is that we're not that good! I sometimes dread the times that we meet, because we are (gently) ruthless with each other's work. We've had some lovely moments. Some of my songs have absolutely dived - I've played them through, and then watched the tumbleweed trundle around the building with the death-knell bonging in the distance. Other times, we've written music which has variously sounded like Sting, Disney, James Last and Scooby Doo. The great thing is that we know we're not that good at writing, but by meeting together and providing valuable direction and insights, we are getting better, and so can prevent any of our songs going out without proper vetting. Until this process is complete, and the theology is checked rigorously, there's no point in sending out the songs half-finished. We are also slightly English and 'ever so' humble about what we write. That's partly the reason we meet too - to say to each other: 'This song is good - get singing it!' We could learn much from the confident marketing skills of the Australians and Americans. We know that if the song is good, then we have a responsibility to make it known. TryersAll this goes towards encouraging you to pray for us, and for other musicians and lyricists who are at work trying to use their gifts to honour God in this area. We owe much gratitude to Chris Idle, Timothy Dudley-Smith, Stuart Townend and many others who have been faithful in forging the way in the 21st century. We're certainly far short of their standards, but we're having a go, and watch this space for any developments. Also to encourage you, if you think you have gifts as a lyricist, to be in touch. Musicians are easy to recognise - by the trombone that comes out of their mouth, or the violin stuck to their chin, but lyricists often need to be discovered (humble lyricists anyway!). The royalties aren't great, but serving God's people with the truth of God is eternal. And, with cliches like that, you can see why we need lyricists! Richard Simpkin© Evangelicals Now - January 2005 |