Is there a right or wrong way to write songs? Beats me. I’ll share what I’ve learned and you can take it for what it’s worth. I attended the National Worship Leaders Conference in the Summer of 2015 and went to three songwriting workshops, the one that stood out the most was led by Darlene Zschech. There are two things she said that every songwriter needs to remember: 1) If you have any inspiration, lyrically, or whatever it is in the middle of the night… WRITE IT DOWN RIGHT THEN because you will not remember in the morning. And from my own experience, I can tell you she is right. So now, if a lyric or melody pops into my head, wherever I am I grab my phone and sing into my voice notes. I sometimes write things down on whatever I have near especially if I’m somewhere I can’t be singing. 2) When writing songs for Jesus, about Jesus, pertaining to Jesus in any way – make sure they are theologically correct, ask a Pastor or someone you know who is theologically sound to read your lyrics.
So, on to me actually writing. I started writing songs about 8 years ago. The average song takes me an entire day to write (probably 6-8 hours straight), there have been a few that have come really quickly, like 20-30 minutes but that is a rare thing. And then there are others that I just need to sit with for a bit and come back to them, maybe in a day or a few. I like taking a big amount of time all at once to song write, the uninterrupted flow is beneficial to me because it takes my headspace a bit to settle down and focus, and pray. I gather up all my notes, my Bible, blank pages of paper (I don’t know why but it seems to work for me, I guess I don’t want to be distracted by pesky lines). I have used a thesaurus and a dictionary and although in the past I’ve usually used the ESV, I also look at other translations.
As I look at the songs I’ve written I see these methods or approaches:
Scripture – I’ve used psalms to write songs, what a thought! God’s Word has the best lyrics and He doesn’t copyright them. I’ve written songs to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, I often weep the most over these songs – ‘I Marvel’, ‘This Jesus (Beautiful Jesus)’ I don’t think we can write enough songs to portray what Jesus did for us. Every song needs to be held together by scripture, in my opinion.
Personal – Songs that speak to how God is moving and working in my life, growing my faith. I wrote my testimony in song ‘Surrender’. My song ‘Anything’ is a prayer I started praying in 2013, a call to obedience no matter the cost. And sometimes songs come from brokenness and hurt and gratitude for God seeing you through. After writing ‘The Beauty of Your Grace’ I sent it to my cousin and she said she felt like she was eavesdropping on somebody’s prayer. Don’t be afraid to pour your guts out in song form, it may be for someone other than you.
Speaks to Something Specific – ‘Freedom’ a favorite song of so many written with the incarcerated on my heart (I used to do a lot of prison ministry). I was so burdened by seeing these men and women in prison not embracing that real freedom through Jesus Christ was available to them. I have a whole list of these specific songs that I haven’t tapped into…yet.
An Encounter with a Holy God – As I read and study scripture and listen to the Word preached and the Holy Spirit ministering to my heart I get overwhelmed by our Almighty God. ‘My King’ came from this place. A place that longs for more of Jesus in me and less of myself.
And some songs can contain all of the above. ‘Shine’ a writing from an inmate to encourage his brothers in Christ to shine the light of Jesus. This is my first ‘cowriting’ experience, I was able to have a copy of what he shared and with that and finding so many scriptures about how Jesus is the light and how He has called us to shine His light…I cowrote ‘Shine’, I also included a little section of “This Little Light of Mine” at the end which is public domain (free to use).
Now, how about the musicality stuff…making those melodies and such. I don’t know that I have great answers but for me… I hear a melody in my head and I’ll sing it in my phone. When I sit down with phrases of lyrics, I play around with chord progressions and maybe some of those melodies. Some of my songs have bridges, some don’t and some have two! I like my songs to have range and there are times I really wish I could sing a little higher to make a bridge even more powerful musically. But that all depends on where you want the song to go, a song may need to stay soft and intimate the whole way through. And if you want people to sing along, then it needs to be singable to a majority of people. I will say this…if you want other musicians to play along with you, try to make your chord charts clear. I have experience in this too when I tried to teach a new band my original songs and I rewrote all my chord charts as if I was trying to play someone else’s songs. It’s helpful for them and it’s helpful for me as I try to give direction.
I want the songs I play and sing to touch people’s hearts and lives and every part matters. Don’t be afraid to share parts of yourself, to be vulnerable, to talk about hard things or sing about them. People need music, they need songs of Jesus that they can relate to and see Him and fall in love with Him all over again or maybe for the first time.
Make music for the Lord!
“To You, O Lord, I will make music” Psalm 101:1
Christy Hoagland
Christy Hoagland 