SONGWRITING #1

by Clayton B. Howell

When Micki and Gene asked me to write this, I was flabbergasted and embarrassed. Flabbergasted because, although I have a lot of years in the music business, I feel like there are others a lot more qualified than I am to write this column; I was embarrassed because they caught me with my pants down, literally. (I was in the bathroom). I thought of all the ways I could begin this column and all the stories that I could tell about important people that I have worked with, and then I came to my senses. Christian songwriters and lyricists don’t care about all that stuff. They hey want to know about your calling. Hmmm, your calling. Hmmm, now THAT’s like an ice cream flavor; Rocky Road.

Many of you can tell of your experiences in the Night Club circuits and the “seedier” end of the music business, and how God brought you out of it. So suffice it to say, been there, done that, got the t-shirt and sold it at the garage sale!

But through all of my years in clubs, there has been that still small voice that kept reminding me that I was called to take God’s Word to people who needed it. It’s not always easy, but it IS important.

I thought back to Anna who was in my Sunday School class at a church in Houston that I was assigned to help in by my Bible College counselor. She was a tough cookie and a “projects” kid, and she made my life a living hell. I wanted to say mean and ugly things to her and have her barred from coming, but for some reason I always managed to answer her sweetly.

After I left that church and took another posting a couple of years later, I went back for a reunion Sunday, and who should I see coming across the parking lot at a run? Anna. I thought, “Well, Lord, I hope she’s not gonna stick a knife in my chest, but if she does, I guess I’ll be coming home a little early.” She grabbed me and hugged me with tears in her eyes and said, “Hey Mister, I wanted you to know that I’m a Christian and I asked God to let me have a chance to apologize to you and say thank you for showing me how Christ would love me, and He DID!”

Teared up yet? I am. That’s what our job is, to love people through our music and to tell those stories to others so that they can find that same hope.

So, that said, I am going to say something to the novice writer/ lyricist and the veteran writer alike. Nearly everyone in the business will tell you to get a rhyming dictionary, and they will give you all the formats that supposedly work as a songwriter. But I’m going to add something here, and you will think I’ve lost my mind. If you are going to write songs to glorify God, get a children’s Bible and re-read the stories of Jesus from a child’s point of view.

Is everybody through scratching your heads and saying, “Huh?, yet? That’s our job. Tell the old, old story with a brand new perspective. There’s nothing better than to read those old Bible stories from a children’s book. It’s simple, just like the Gospel is meant to be. Uncomplicated. Real.

Many write of His Amazing Grace, but the best way to get it across to people is to tell the story behind it. We’re not called to see how clever we can be, nor to see what metaphors and allegories, etc. we can use to prove that we are “accomplished” writers, rather we are called to tell the stories of Jesus, simply, clearly and from a fresh perspective. You can’t DO that if YOU don’t have a fresh perspective. Get the children’s bible. You’ll see. Memorize those old stories. They bring the NEW life. And until next month . . . keep writing!