The Ten Million Seconds & Moments Of Your Life

“My conviction is that a native has the whole consciousness of his people and nation in him: that he knows everything about it, every sight sound and memory of the people. I know now past any denial, that that is what being an American or being anything means …

“It is not the government, or the Revolutionary War, or the Monroe Doctrine, it is the ten million seconds and moments of your life – the shapes you see, the sounds you hear, the food you eat, the colour and texture of the earth you live in – I tell you this is what it is …”

— Author Thomas Wolfe, to his editor Matthew Perkins

Bobby and I wish our fellow U.S. citizens a happy Independence Day, and a good week for all of you, regardless of nationality. We are taking the week off from blogging but we’ll return next Monday with new articles for you.

See our How Should American Christians Observe Memorial Day & Independence Day

See my article for The Gospel Coalition, First And Foremost Citizens Of Heaven

Why Hymn Meter Matters

“Meter” comes from the Greek word for “measure.” When we distinguish metrical patterns, we’re asking ourselves about the “measurements” of various lines. Hymnals express this by counting syllables, so when you read that “Before The Throne Of God Above” by Charitie Lees Bancroft is 8888, it means that every line contains eight syllables:

Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me

Here is my friend and songwriting partner Brooks Ritter singing “Before The Throne Of God Above” using the melody by Vikki Cook of Sovereign Grace, on Sojourn’s Before The Throne album:

Horatio G. Spafford’s “It Is Well With My Soul” is 11.8.11.9, which tells you the number of syllables on each quatrain (unit of four lines):

Though Satan should buffett, though trials should come, (11)
Let this blest assurance control, (8)
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate (11)
And has shed His own blood for my soul (9)

What Good Hymn Meter Can Do, Even Without Music

A well-developed metrical scheme is musical by itself. When we read these poems out loud, the meter comes to us like musical cadence, even if we don’t know the accompanying tune (or if no tune has yet been written for the text).

This gives songs written in hymn meter a head start over song lyrics that have no regular meter of their own, but were instead grafted over the top of a guitar lick or chord progression. By “head start” I don’t mean it necessarily makes them better but it makes them more likely candidates for congregational singing, across musical genres, generations and even centuries.

Like music, the effect of poetic meter extends to physiology. English literary critic I.A. Richards said,

“It’s effect is not due to our perceiving a pattern in something outside us, but to our becoming patterned ourselves … the pattern itself is a vast cyclic agitation spreading all over the body, a tide of excitement pouring through the channels of the mind.”

So just as biblically sound, gospel-centered worship words are an aid to spiritual formation, meter helps by grafting this message deep into our emotions and physiology.

Genesis: Order From Chaos

Kristen and I

Warning! Songwriters, Don’t Break Contract With Listeners & Singers

In my article Are Inconsistent Rhyme Schemes Destroying Your Songs, I wrote:

When you begin a song, you establish a contract with your listeners — you make certain promises.

As I went on to discuss in that article, your rhyme scheme is one part of that contract. Meter is another. This metrical contract is your promise to keep the meter (line length and syllabic stresses) consistent throughout the song. You begin establishing this contract from the first line. By the end of your first verse, your contract is signed, sealed, delivered.

To demonstrate, let’s look at Isaac Watts’s two famous hymns about the cross, “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?” and “When I Survey The Wond’rous Cross.” He wrote the first in Common Meter (alternating lines of 8 and 6 syllables) and the second in Long Meter (8 syllables in every line).

Sing the following aloud, to any tune you know for “Alas …” but not any tune for “When I Survey …” We’re pretending that the “When I Survey …” verse belongs to “Alas …” If you don’t know any tune for “Alas …” just read these lines aloud or use the Sojourn tune, written by our friends Alex O’Nan and Brooks Ritter:

Alas! And did my savior bleed?
And did my sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

If Watts had intended that verse from “When I Survey …” to follow the preceding two from “Alas …” he would have broken the metrical contract with us.  After all those Common Meter lines we don’t expect him to suddenly switch to Long Meter. The even-numbered lines of that last verse are too long. If he’d really written those verses together as one hymn, he would have needed to trim the last one so the verse matches the other two, like this:

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose a crown?

Beginning songwriters often break the metrical contract with their audience, which forces singers to unnaturally cram too many words in a space designed for less.

They also break metrical contract if they

Making Children’s Music The Village Church Way: My Jeff Capps Interview

The Village Church is a multi-campus worship community in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas area, pastored by author/Act29 President Matt Chandler. It’s also home to a vibrant music community, filled with songwriters and musicians with a passion for leading worship and giving new songs to the church.

In addition to worship songs for adults (like this year’s Dove-nominated song “Glorious Day,” written by Village worship pastor Michael Bleecker and John Wilbur Chapman) they’ve also produced two albums of songs for kids, including the brand new Blessed Is The Man, available here on iTunes and here on Amazon.com.

Most of the 10 songs on Blessed Is The Man are verses of the Bible set to music, to help children memorize Scripture – an idea taken from Psalms 119:11. The music is diverse, skillfully played and catchy. I talked with producer/Associate Worship Minister Jeff Capps in this latest installment of the My Song In The Night interview series. Dive in with us to learn more about writing songs for children, and to see how God is using The Village in this important ministry.

Bobby Gilles: Do you find it easier to write children’s music than writing for adults, or more difficult?

Jeff Capps: Writing children’s music is a welcomed challenge for me because of the difficulty involved in communicating biblical truth that translates to a certain age group.

Bobby Gilles: What different skillsets are needed when writing for kids? Are there any pitfalls to avoid, that writers who haven’t specifically written for kids might fall into?

Jeff Capps of The Village Church

Jeff Capps: A deep knowledge and love for Scripture is imperative when writing for kids. You also need to be able to write with clarity. I continually come back to this, whether I am writing a children’s song or a song for the church at large.

Many times music takes a front seat when writing for kids, in hopes to engage them emotionally without taking into consideration the necessity for strong biblical truth supporting that music. Music is the picture frame that decorates and draws our attention towards the picture. We want to be captured by what deserves our attention, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bobby Gilles: Your new Village Kids record Blessed is the Man is in large part made up of scripture memory songs, whereas the previous record Jesus Came To Save Sinners contained songs dealing with five foundational truths of scripture. How do you come up with themes for children’s albums?

Jeff Capps: The themes for these albums have derived directly from what we do corporately each week in Little Village (Birth – K) and Kids’ Village (1^st – 5th). Jesus Came To Save Sinners was an album that we wrote to remind children of the gospel truths we teach weekly in Little Village, and Blessed is the Man is a collection of songs we have been singing for years in Kids’ Village to help children understand and love the gospel by remembering God’s Word.

Bobby Gilles: Besides The Village worship band you’re using kids voices on Blessed is the Man. Did you do any recording Sunday children’s Sunday school time, or did you put out any open calls for kids to come to the studio at a certain time?

New Article For The Resurgence: True Seeker Sensitivity

Today Bobby and I are honored to have a new article for you, published by our friends at TheResurgence.com, entitled True Seeker Sensitivity. It begins:

Seeker Sensitivity was all the rage in churches for a while as pastors sought to remove emotional barriers to entry. After all, the gospel is offensive enough. Why not make our churches as welcoming as possible, right?

But in many ways contemporary American churches went too far, watering down the message of the cross and creating environments that were unintentionally seeker insensitive to two large segments of society:

We believe that pastors, worship leaders and other service planners will find this short article helpful.

Tomorrow we’ll be back with original content here at My Song In The Night. Until then, see you at The Resurgence. If you’ve missed our past articles there, you can view them from our bio page at TheResurgence.com.

If Confused About Future Of Music, Go For Broke*: My Will Gray Interview

Is it possible for an independent singer-songwriter or band to “break” — to become successful in today’s music industry, amidst file sharing, illegal downloads, and free streaming options like Spotify and YouTube? That’s the question posed by the new, award winning Broke*, which also provides answers from many artists (undiscovered, famous and in-between) as well as marketers, industry professionals and fans of music.

Broke* follows artist Will Gray, who directed the film, as he journeys through the recording process of his first record. If you love music, you should see it. If you have any aspirations of breaking as a musician yourself, you should see it. I’ll tell you how to do that locally in a minute, but first join me in this My Song In The Night interview with Will Gray himself. Then, run to the Broke* website for more previews and deleted scenes, a cast list, and much more.

Bobby Gilles: Your own road as an independent artist has taken you to a contract with Warner/Chappell Publishing, a debut produced by T Bone Burnett and songs licensed by the likes of MTV, Ford and Sony Playstation. Would you say that Broke* is your statement of “Here’s what I learned along the way”?

Will Gray: Not exactly… 🙂 Broke* is more a “let’s do this together” statement. My story is individual, but not overly unique. Most working musicians have all shared in similar narratives, with different characters. It was my hope in making the film to spark a dialogue. I needed to know if

Strengthen Your Writing & Public Speaking With The Verb Skeleton

Good writing depends on crisp, active verbs. This is true for songwriting, fiction, sermons, essays and all other forms of writing. Also, preachers and liturgical readers can better hold the interest of listeners by emphasizing verbs when speaking.

Author/professor of English Frederick Smock has said:

Sometimes I ask my students to make a verb skeleton of a poem, or passage, that they have written. By isolating the verbs, one can tell if they carry the weight of the action (which they should). A good writer’s sentences move on the wheels of the verbs.

• Songwriters, do this with your lyrics
• Preachers, do this with your sermons
• Hymnodists, do this with old hymns you’re revising — especially if you want to edit archaic language. Don’t replace strong verbs with weak ones.

Circle or highlight your verbs. Or, if you’re ambitious, write the verbs from your latest song on a separate piece of paper. What do these verbs tell you about your song? Does it zip or plod?

Here is a partial verb skeleton for mine and Kristen’s “Rising Tide,” one of the songs you can get for free in our The Whole Big Story record, on your right:

sweeps

subdues

erases

entered

came

became

watched

fell

became

crushed

conquered

canceled

ascended

sent

draw

lead

Some of these (sweeps, fell, conquered) are stronger than others (came, became). We didn’t find it necessary to revise came/becameout of the song. We needed those lines, and we liked the ratio of strong to weak verbs.

This is something you’ll have to decide each time. You need not delete every was and became, nor exchange every passive verb for an active one. But too many of them will make for a brittle, boring skeleton. Make yours strong, straight and ready to spring to life.

For more on how to improve your writing through verbs, see:

• How To Electrify Your Writing
• Know What Your Testimony, Sermon or Song Needs? Action Verbs!

Why Do Pastors And Theologians Pick On Worship Songwriters?

We put words in people's mouths

Last week two of my favorite bloggers wrote about issues they have with the lyrics of a couple songs for worship. Both incidents hold lessons for those who choose songs for congregations to sing, and for those who write worship songs.

First, Trevin Wax took issue with the word “just” in “I’m just a sinner saved by grace” (this popular slogan is also the lead line in the chorus of the gospel song “Sinner Saved By Grace”). Trevin is an author, and the managing editor of The Gospel Project from Lifeway Christian Resources. He recounts the conversation he had with his grandfather, which included:

He shook his head again – vehemently. “It’s the word ‘just.’ Don’t dishonor the Spirit!”

“What do you mean?”

“Trevin, you are not just a sinner saved by grace.” He was preaching now. “You are also a saint indwelled by the very Spirit of God!”

Then Mark Altrogge “messed with” the hymn “Come Thou Fount,” because of the line “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” Altrogge is the senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Indiana, PA, and writer of many worship songs, like “I Stand In Awe” and “In The Presence.” He writes:

Though I know believers are tempted to wander and tempted to be unfaithful to Christ at times, I don’t see that Scripture says we are still “prone” to sin and wander.

He goes on to say that the indwelling Holy Spirit is the driving force in our lives, not our indwelling sin.

Both authors make good points, as do some of the commenters who defended the song lyrics. But the larger issue for worship leaders and songwriters is that we must carefully consider every word. We put words in people’s mouths, which they will sing in church services as well as their homes, cars and other places throughout the week as they worship God. If you don’t feel the weight of this responsibility, you should. You must.

If you’re a songwriter, critics may occasionally feel that one of your songs is theologically misleading or at least unclear. Sometimes they will be right, sometimes they will be wrong. And sometimes the issue is trickier than right/wrong. Words, phrases and theological terms mean different things to different people, based on their background. An example:

Screen A New Documentary About How To Break Into The Music Industry

Have you heard about Broke, the award nominated documentary about the modern music industry? It’s a provocative film about the situation and practices of today’s music business, and how independent artists can turn negatives into positives and “break” into music.

If you’ll be in the Louisville area on July 3, we invite you to attend a film screening and Q&A at our the Midtown Campus of our church, Sojourn, at 930 Mary Street, 40204. Artist Will Grey will present Broke, then perform for us and hold a Q&A session with the audience.

The event will run from 7pm to 9:30. $10 registration required. Register here.

Watch the preview for Broke here:

Broke* Trailer (in production) – http://www.brokedoc.com from Mindfree Entertainment on Vimeo.

Worship Songwriting Workshop Idea: The Writing Marathon

In Writing Down The Bones, Natalie Goldberg shared a writing exercise she uses with students called the Writing Marathon. Her rules:

Everyone in the group agrees to commit himself or herself for the full time. Then we make up a schedule. For example, a ten-minute writing session, another ten-minute session, a fifteen-minute session, two twenty-minute sessions, and then we finish with a half-hour round of writing. So for the first session, we all write for ten minutes and then go around the room and read what we’ve written with no comments by anyone. . . . A pause naturally happens after each reader, but we do not say “That was great” or even “I know what you mean.” There is no good or bad, no praise or criticism. We read what we have written and go on to the next person. . . . What usually happens is you stop thinking: you write; you become less and less self-conscious. Everyone is in the same boat, and because no comments are made, you feel freer and freer to write anything you want. (150)

Since then, participants in the National Writing Project have modified this exercise, following the New Orleans model. Rather than stay in one place, writers travel in small groups throughout a building, park or city, stopping at select markers for each writing session. They let each place marker influence their writing during that exercise. For example, a cemetery might yield a song about death, loss, resurrection, completeness, fear, breakup, sacrifice, peace … anything that “cemetery” conjures in your mind.

This group writing exercise is ideal for churches that want to encourage and develop worship songwriters from within their congregation and nearby communities. The following is an example of what a Writing Marathon might look like using rooms in a typical church building. I’ve also included examples of some kinds of worship songs each room might inspire:

• Missions’ Office – Missions, the universal reach of God
• Pastor’s Study – Word of God, wisdom
• Children’s Wing – Kids’ songs or songs about the doctrine of Adoption
• Baptistry – songs about being born again, new life
• Janitor’s closet – working for the kingdom, service
• Pews/chairs in auditorium – songs about unity, the Church
• Food bank – social justice, mercy, benevolence
• Prayer room – the power of prayer, communion with God

I’ve used obvious examples of song themes in the list above. Let your participants come up with their own themes. You never know what will inspire someone. One single book in a Pastor’s Study or a photo in the Mission’s office may inspire any range of songs for worship.

5 Rules For Participants

1. At the beginning:

Turn to all your fellow participants and say, “I am a writer.” This ritual binds all writing marathons together, sets the tone for the day and helps you remember why you are there.

2. Write until you run out of time

Once you get to your location, your chaperone or guide sets the timer and you start writing. When the timer goes off each person in the group can read their work to the rest of the group or pass. Do not respond with criticism or encouragement – say nothing but “Thank you,” no matter how much you like or dislike the piece. This is not a critique group.

3. Strongly consider