If you’re a songwriter, you should never stop going to school.
Not a physical school, per se, but you should always be a student.
A student of recordings. A student of songwriters. You can’t afford to be a passive listener.
Actively engage with what you listen to.
One of my favorite songwriters is Matt Redman. He has a brilliant way of saying age-old truths in the most unique ways.
He makes a truth you’ve known since Sunday school sound absolutely fresh.
With his new album, “10,000 Reasons
Here are some lessons I picked up while listening to Matt’s record more than a few times this week.
1. Don’t settle on an idea too early
You can tell that Matt works a little harder on his lyrics than most worship songwriters.
Many writers settle for an amazing melody with a weak lyric. Or they settle for a great lyric without an engaging hook.
Work hard until each section of the song is amazing. Don’t use the first idea that comes to mind. Challenge it.
Also, put in the time to work out what is theologically sound. Write and rewrite and rewrite. Work it.
2. Co-Write
It’s interesting that every song on Matt’s album is a co-write.
He surrounds himself with writers who make him better – writers that make him go where he wouldn’t go on his own.
He’s more concerned about a song reaching its full potential than him being the sole writer. As a writer, you can’t afford to not co-write.
Seek out songwriters who are better than you and write with them. Let them be honest with you and critique your ideas. They’ll help you think outside your little songwriting box.
There’s really no better way to become a stronger writer.
3. Use Unique, Descriptive Titles
I love how the main hook of each song reflects the title. It helps to make each song more memorable and “sticky”.
Since worship songs are written for others to use, great songs need to have a memorable title.
The only song on this album with a weaker title is “Holy”.
But leave it to Matt Redman to write a completely fresh, amazing song with an overused song title.
4. Engage With A Community
Matt himself will tell you this.
While his name is featured on the album cover, many people went into the writing and releasing of this project.
Don’t be a lone ranger with your writing.
You could be longing for a new place of ministry, but your best songs may need to be written right where you are – right in the midst of your struggle.
Don’t divorce yourself from the local church because it’s less glamorous than the big stages.
Write your songs out of what you live, learn, and share with your community.
5. Stay Close To God’s Word
What I admire most about Matt’s writing is his passion for Biblical truth. You hear his songs and go, “Yea, that’s in the Bible. But I never thought of it like that.”
It’s obvious that the Bible is his greatest songwriting tool. He seeks to express its age-old truths in fresh ways.
It doesn’t matter how amazing your melodies are or how much talent you possess – if your songs are not deeply Biblical.
Don’t waste the church’s time with your own thoughts. Express the truth of God’s Word with clarity.
Leave people with a grand sense of God and a hunger for His Word.
6. Write Simple But Not Shallow
I actually heard Matt make this statement in this video regarding the song “Holy”.
Make sure you write with your congregation in mind. Worship songwriting isn’t primarily to scratch your creative itch.
It’s about giving voice to the church. But that doesn’t mean our lyrics should be shallow.
Matt strikes an incredible balance of corporate and creative. They are super singable songs AND musically interesting.
Simple, yet soaring. Easy AND profound. Don’t write just to show off your vocal range.
Write so your Mom can sing it too 🙂
Question: What are some songwriting (or writing) lessons you’ve learned from a favorite artist? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Great List David!
Shane and Shane’s take on songwriting has inspired me…
Mercy Me
Jeff Deyo
These are just a few…
Arny, anything specific that they taught you?
Just to focus on God and his attributes and on scripture….These thing are concrete and unchanging…
I tend to try not to write about my personal feelings…i do it sometimes…but not my focus…
Jeremiah says that above all the heart is deciteful…
But God is the same yesterday , today, and forever…
Plus: Paul says to the corithians…that he strives to know christ and him crucified alone….nothing else…
Great reminder, Arny. I think I tend to write more about my feelings so I love this. I need to stay close to God’s Word.
One thing I got from watching the New Song Cafe videos was that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every song. “Holy” and “Here For You” are brilliant in their simplicity. There’s no crazy Bbm75no3 chords or anything like that….just straightfoward chords. Watching those on Tuesday got me inspired to finish the music to a poem that a woman from church gave me.
Nice! Yea, I agree you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time. But I have a question, is there a place to reinvent the wheel? In our quest to keep it simple, are we weakening our art? What do you think?
Wow these are brilliant insights David. This is motivating me to do more co-writing, something for which I’ve had hit-or-miss results. I’ll be co-writing while I’m in Romania next month.
What have been your struggles with co-writing? That would be interesting to hear.
Great question.
Lack of time to finish primarily. So often we’ll get something 3/4’s there … and run out of time. If you set a writing appointmnt or deadline, you’re under pressure to finish. You need big blocks of time (imo) to work the process and that can be hard to find.
For example, right now I’ve been writing on a kids project where our schedules are like ships passing in the night.
Also, I think it takes a good amount of relational chemistry to work through differing creative and communication styles and come up with the magic.
Love your blog. 🙂
Have you tried co-writing long distance using Evernote or email? I do that a lot.
You’re very right about the relational chemistry thing. Sometimes it just doesn’t work.
“simple but not shallow” — excellent thought. I love it when songwriters review worship albums. It adds another layer to the listening process, doesn’t it? Thanks for doing this David!
Thanks Mandy. Are you a writer yourself?
In my off-time, prayer-time, and cathartic-time, yep.
OK, so I’m listening to some of your music on your site right now. Wow. Love your writing and your voice. Seriously.
Wow, thanks David.
A lot of people think that since I’m a worship leader then I probably write a lot of worship songs. But, it’s just so hard for me. I’m a lamenter, I guess. Not sure why. There are so many songs out there that sing the happy happy side of faith, and I feel off-balance. not remembering the harder heart-breaking side of things as they are placed in the timeline of life.
Anyway. Don’t get me started. Matt Redman is awesome to pull off fresh lyrics in a genre that doesn’t have many thematic holes to still fill in. 🙂
I think there’s a need for more “songs of lament” if you will. The book of Lamentations is in the Bible and the Psalms are full of them. Keep writing, Mandy.
I think you and I could have a long conversation, if we were ever in the same room together, on topics like this, but I don’t want to write a super long paragraph here so I’ll just mention one thing that I find funny…which is the co-write issue. I won’t be as dissenting as the extreme hipster, but some might say that if you have to co-write on everything, then it might mean that you have nothing to say yourself. Like a pop star that doesn’t write any of their own material, it could reflect a lack of personality to the song. I think the lyrics are the part where this matters the most, I believe in singing something that you mean, not just something that “works” or “fits”…kind of fitting in with your anti-shallowness angle. I’ll leave it at that to save you some time haha
Interesting perspective. I think for worship writers it’s important to not just write what we feel…but what is Biblically true. Sure, there’s room for honest expression of our feelings. But I think that should be more the exception than the rule. I actually find it easier to write by myself. Co-writing is WAY more frustrating but has resulted in stronger songs, in my opinion. About the whole ‘long conversation’ thing, we should set that up sometime 🙂 Where are you located?
Southern California…currently in a town called Hemet…you?
I wasn’t necessarily talking about feelings, but let me put it another, perhaps simpler way…when was the last time you heard a pastor co-writing his Sunday morning sermon? I mean, unless we’re counting the Holy Spirit, who should always be our co-writer, not to Jesus Juke myself too much.
Southern California to Pittsburgh, PA is slightly far 🙂
I hear what you’re saying. I suppose co-writing could be more the exception than the rule. But I know pastors also work out their sermon series’ in community with other pastors?
Thanks for sharing, Tyler. Good stuff, man.