The process of writing worship songs can be maddening. Here’s my typical process:
- Try to write a worship song that will nuke the world in God’s glory.
- Fail miserably.
- Lament that I am not a prolific writer like Reuben Morgan or Matt Redman. Neither are flashy rockstar frontman-types. They seem like regular guys, like me. They write in ranges for normal voice ranges, like me. Unlike me, they write freaking killer songs all the time.
- In anguish and torment, I yell at pictures of Reuben and Matt like I’m Salieri, Mozart’s rival in 1984’s Amadeus.
- Vow never to write again and don’t play my guitar for six months.
- Finally return to the heart of worship (gosh, Redman…you even wrote a song out of these kind of moments. You freak.)
- A song idea comes from genuinely worshiping Jesus.
- Finish the song.
- Try to write a worship song that will nuke the world in God’s glory.
I suppose the secret lies in staying at steps 7 & 8. Here are a few other things I’ve done in crafting songs (step 8, I guess) and of course, these are just my personal tendencies:
1. Raise My Game.
I hold myself to the same standard I use to pick songs in worship. If Reuben Morgan has an A+ song on an album and I use it at church, I write to make mine the closest possible to that A+…so I can use it at church. I never thought it was right to lead people with A+ songs and then subject them to a D+ just because I happened to write it.
Going a step further, I put myself in other worship leaders’ shoes and ask: “If I heard this song (one of mine) on an album, would I use it?” If you’re a writer and want others to use your songs, you are competing with the very best songs from the very best writers out there. You’ve got to raise your game.
2. Write Press Songs.
I personally like to write songs that pull on heaven and set the table for people to press deeper during worship. That doesn’t mean a song has to be charismatic in nature, but it has to be honest, vertical, and exalting. God is attracted to my honesty, and that’s when His presence comes. Every lyric I’ve written, even if cliche, meant something to me at that moment.
It’s personally hard for me to write horizontal songs, though I am trying. One of my favorites is In Christ Alone. Horizontally-focused song, still super-anointed. Some feel it’s wrong to consider certain songs more anointed than others. I totally disagree. There are songs that “have oil” on ’em. If you sing Jennie Riddle’s Revelation Song for just 3:00 minutes, it’s like a worship crime!
3. Write Lyrics I Can Preach.
I’m more a lyric-writer than melody (but when I write, both happen at the same time). I want my lyrics to be preachable. My best known song is probably Greatly To Be Praised. During the recording, I had all these different lyric lines and just sang one of them because I couldn’t settle. The problem was the line, “all of heaven stands amazed”. It bothered me because I didn’t know if it was biblical. (Don’t the 24 elders sit in heaven?) There, I said it. Now stop using the song.
4. Get Back in the Crowd.
When I get stuck on a song, I picture myself in a crowd and envision [famous worship guy] leading. I hear him lead the part of the song I’m writing, then try to picture what he would sing that makes me go “DANG!!!” We’ve all been there—where you hear a song for the first time and it’s instant glory.
The first time I heard Here I Am To Worship, I wept. Same with Draw Me Close. I wasn’t leading worship, I was in a service and those songs just grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I go back to that place when I write. If it’s memorable and gripping after the first pass, it’s got oil on it.
None of these are have-to’s, just personal things I think about when writing. How do you write songs, or if you’re not a writer—what are your favorite worship songs and why?