Category Archives: Songwriting
Ballad Buffet!
“It’s a ballad!” “Oh, that’s helpful.” There’s been some recent discussion around the southern gospel blogosphere over the vagueness of the generic term “ballad” by itself. I personally believe David Bruce Murray nailed it with his categorizations, even though they … Continue reading
Filed under Great Music, Other Genres, Songs, Songwriting
Folk Rhyme Meets Southern Gospel: He Saw it All
The Booth Brothers’ “He Saw It All” was probably embraced largely by virtue of its uniqueness. Everyone knows the picture the lyrics paint—a mute man talking, a deaf girl listening, a crippled man running, and a blind man who saw … Continue reading
Filed under Songs, Songwriting
Poetry in Song: “If We Answer”
Okay, time for more music. I have at least one reader who wanted more in the Poetry in Song series after I kicked it off a couple months ago. Here is another installment, finally. Today I’m featuring an intriguing number … Continue reading
Filed under Poetry in Song, Songs, Songwriting
A Hymn Bridge Done Right: “Greater Still”
Some people think it’s “cheating” for a songwriter to make use of a hymn for the bridge of his song. The idea is that the song needs to be good enough to stand on its own, and falling back on … Continue reading
Filed under Songs, Songwriting
Poetry in Song 101: “Burn Away”
If you hang around here, you’ll occasionally see me grouse about the loss of poetic ear in songwriting. I can get kind of cranky on this particular topic. Well, with this series, I’ll showcase some contemporary songs that are particularly … Continue reading
Filed under Poetry in Song, Songs, Songwriting
The Problem With Modern Songwriters, or Ears of Tin and Clunky Cliches
This is an experience that’s all too familiar for me: I’m listening along to a song, maybe I like it, maybe I don’t, but all of a sudden, there’s a word or phrase that just falls with a gigantic *THUD*. … Continue reading
Filed under Commentary, Songwriting
Songs you could never dig
This weekend I will be sharing some Holy Week music and meditations, but before we get serious, I thought it might be entertaining to ask my readers this question: What’s one Christian song, for our purposes preferably SG, that everybody … Continue reading
Filed under Songwriting
A Song You’ve Never Heard: “Calvary”
Oh the myst’ry of that cursed, blessed hill Where the sinless Son fulfilled the father’s will… *** Today I’m going to point my readers to a song that, as far as I know, has never been professionally cut. It was … Continue reading
Filed under Songs, Songwriting
Songs that aren’t your cup of tea, but…
Some time ago, I came across a piece by respected Christian songwriter Joel Lindsey about songwriting. He talked about the experience of teaching a seminar where people brought their ideas for honest feedback. But at the end of the day, … Continue reading
Filed under Commentary, Other Genres, Songwriting
Christian Doctrine and Music: How are They Connected?
Hat tip to Daniel Mount (and David Bruce Murray in a subsequent comment), for inspiring this post. Daniel put up a post asking for reader feedback on whether differences among Christian denominations can influence the way a Christian song lyric … Continue reading →
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Filed under Commentary, Songwriting
Tagged as Christianity, church culture