Music

One of the great perks of being a songwriter is having so many friends that can sing.  Not being a big fan of my own voice, I’ve recorded almost all of my songs with a wide variety of singers: pop singers, folk singers, theatrical singers, operatic singers, rock singers, jingle singers, choir singers,  rhythm and blues singers, country singers, and the ever inspirational gospel singers.  Several years ago one of my favorite gospel singers invited our family to a revival at her church. 

The place had room for about three hundred and fifty people, but I’m certain there were closer to five hundred at the service. There were only eleven white faces in the congregation, seven of which belonged to my family.  The singers bore their testimonies of Jesus in song, and they rocked the building.  The band was tight, the choirs were together, the harmonies were classic and the soloists passionate and inspired. 

It was so unlike anything my kids were used to and I watched them closely to see how they responded as each group took center stage. 

It was moving, in more ways than one. There was something going on in that room besides the rhythm of a gospel back beat. We were experiencing singing that was coming from a place in the soul many of us have never admitted existed, much less visited regularly.   Tears of gratitude, adoration and love came pouring out along with the heavenly acrobatic vocalizations of those feelings.

Walking out of the service my seven-year-old said, “Dad, how come we don’t sing like that?”

I thought about it for a minute and said: “Because we’re white.”

He was a little embarrassed by my answer. He was seriously wanting to know why our family, when we were at our church didn’t sing with the same amount of passion and intensity and uninhibited celebration as the people in that meeting. 

I tried to defend the culture I was bringing him up in and explained that spirituality has many faces, and that sometimes our sweetest feelings about the Lord are in quiet reverent moments. 

“But we don’t EVER have the other moments like they do.  Don’t we have as much to be happy about?”

Then, he gave a little list of all the things he’d been taught that were the core assets of our family’s chosen faith and asked, “Shouldn’t we be singin’ like we mean it?”

He was right. We should be singing like we mean it. But what does that mean?  For the songs of praise must one style fit all?  Try as I may, I doubt if I’ll ever be able to sing like my gospel singing friends who had invited us to their church.  And try as they might, the music where I worshipped each week may never feel familiar to their souls. 

I remember that during that service we attended, someone said, “If we ain’t livin’ what we’re singin’ it’s nothing but noise”. That and my discussion with my son got me seriously wondering what God thinks about how His children sing about Him, and to Him. If a song of the heart is truly a prayer unto God, which songs are reaching farther into heaven? Are the greatest songs of praise to the Lord not even songs at all, but little acts of compassion, moments of kindness, evidence of genuine love?

Sometimes I think God may have given us the ability to make music not because He needs to hear it but because we need to feel it. Maybe the singing of worship songs is solely meant to give greater spiritual focus to, and increase the commitment of, the singer.

The real question for me is, what kind of song can I sing? I love this song a lot, because it keeps reminding me that when all is said and sung, true love isn’t something we say, it isn’t something we sing, it’s something we do.

I WANT TO SING A NEW KIND OF LOVE SONG. 

I WANT TO SING WITH A VOICE THAT’S NEW. 

I WANT TO SING WITH SO MUCH FEELING

MY LOVE FOR YOU SHINES THROUGH. 

BUT WRITERS WITH GIFTS I’VE NOT BEEN GIVEN

HAVE GIVEN THEIR ALL TO FIND THE PERFECT PHRASE.  

AND VOICES THAT SOUND LIKE ANGELS FROM HEAVEN

HAVE ALREADY SUNG YOUR PRAISE.  

BUT IF YOU COULD TURN THE WATER INTO WINE,

AND FIND SOME HOPE FOR A MISGUIDED LIFE LIKE MINE. 

IF YOU COULD KNOW MY WEAKNESSES,

YET HELP ME TO BE STRONG,

THEN YOU COULD HEAR A SYMPHONY IN JUST A SIMPLE SONG

I LOVE YOU.  I LOVE YOU.  

AND EVEN THOUGH I KNOW A SONG WILL NEVER REALLY DO

I’LL MAKE MY LIFE MY SONG OF LOVE , EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE, WILL BE MY SONG OF LOVE, MY LIFE MUST BE

MY SONG OF LOVE FOR YOU…

CAUSE I WANT TO SING A NEW KING OF LOVE SONG.

My bottom line was this: If we ain’t livin’ what we’re singin’ it’s nothing but noise.

Listen to the song here: