Comments on: Lyrics, music, musicality

By: Marty Funderburk

Marty Funderburk — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:48:00 +0000

Amen, Trent!

By: Trent

Trent — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:42:46 +0000

When discussing the musicality of a song you hear on a recording, one shouldn’t forget the role of the studio musician in the final product you hear. I think all songwriters who have had a cut that Nashville’s players played on would agree. A gospel song (or any song) starts out with a songwriter plucking the song on a guitar or playing it on a singular piano. Musically, the song sounds almost naked to what it will sound like after it has made its way through the wonderful cornucopia of a studio session.

By: David Bruce Murray

David Bruce Murray — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:49:00 +0000

“his use of oversimplified food imagery to account for musical effects is telling”

Telling us what? That he likes to eat? That his simple metaphors for food are reflected in his songwriting?

I’m inclined to reduce what Marty is saying even further.

Songwriting isn’t rocket science. It’s art. To use an art metaphor (which I personally find more fitting than food), Marty is merely saying there’s room for both Pablo Picasso AND Charles Schultz paradigms in the world of memorable Southern Gospel songwriting.

(Maybe Schultz and Picasso aren’t all that far apart. Maybe I should have said Rubens instead of Schultz. Maybe I should have said Norman Rockwell. Hopefully, you get my point regardless…)

I get tired of too many weighty songs after a while, no matter how well-written and perfectly wedded to the assigned tune they may be. At the same time, when I look back over the years and I’m asked to determine which songs were the “best,” I find myself more naturally recognizing those songs of epic proportions that have stood the test of time.

I’m going to include a few songs like “Just A Little Talk With Jesus” on my list because those songs are always fun to hear and sing, but I’m also going to consider a large percentage of songs that paint dramatic images like “I Bowed On My Knees” or “Midnight Cry.”

By: Dianne Wilkinson

Dianne Wilkinson — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:32:32 +0000

Avery, I don’t know if you are a songwriter or not, but you certainly have some remarkably in-depth observations to make about the process of writing (crafting) a song. Marty loves to write power ballads, and occasionally some of those come to me as well. But I LOVE writing the up-tempo song. I think I’m known as the “quartet songwriter”, and I’m happy with that description…because when quartets call me they almost always say they have the ballads they need, but they need something up-tempo. The points I want to make about the SG songs that are fast and fun are that they do need a great tune (and that’s fun for me, because I’m an old-time piano player), and also, no matter how “fun” oriented the song is, my goal is that the song ALWAYS have substance. Ideally, something of doctrinal value. “I’ll Fly Away” is a great song and a classic…but it is really about I Thess. 4…the Rapture of the Church. So even if a song is puff pastry, Marty would be the first to say it needs to SAY something substantive…in this day and age, more than ever. I SURELY enjoy reading your blog…and even when I don’t agree, you challenge my thinking. God bless you…and keep it up! Dianne.

By: Marty Funderburk

Marty Funderburk — Fri, 25 May 2007 03:49:55 +0000

LOL! Avery, you GOT ME! Nothing gets past you. Shortly after we demoed “It’s All About the Blood” I heard “It’s Still the Cross” on the radio and almost fell out of my seat! The verses each begin with “It’s not…” Of course the lyrics go on to list different things and my main focus was the love of God as ultimately illustrated by the blood of Christ - but it’s still the same basic story - the one I try to re-tell every morning when I sit down to write. Hopefully imitation is still considered the highest form of flattery, though I assure you we had no idea we were imitating. The subconscious is a scary thing. In regards to my blog entry - it was more than a bit reductive - it was very much so. Unlike you, I can’t be assured that anyone will revisit my blog if I don’t keep it pithy and plain spoken. I’m just keepin’ the cookies on the bottom shelf (to use another food analogy) - can you tell that all this NutriSystem is driving me crazy? I totally agree with your assesment of music’s role in the equation. It is, however, a challenge to make a fast song musically interesting. In the SG market you have to keep in mind that the melody has to remain somewhat static so the harmony vocals can easily block around it. I’ve had to go back and iron out many a melody because it was just too hard to harmonize. And with a static melody, you typically have to keep the chord changes in check as well. Add to that the fact that, at the excellerated tempo, sizable interval leaps can most certainly be treacherous. Wayne Haun once told me to avoid writing chromatic lines - he said that SG singers can’t hear half step intervals (at least most of them can’t). I don’t know why, but I’ve found that to be true more often than not. Perhaps I shy away from the uptempo/fun tunes because I’m intimidated by the challenges I’ve just mentioned. Maybe it’s because I can’t play windshield-wiper piano. That’s why I write with guys like Jerry Kelso and Daryl Williams. But I totally agree that a great lyric with so-so music will never get a chance to be heard. That’s why I personally sweat over every chord choice, every inversion of those chords, the sensible and emotional rise and fall of the melody, and the most effective phrasing to convey the nuances of the story line to those who will listen without the aid of a printed lyric to follow. I agree that simple is not the same as simplistic. The art behind all of this is trying to say something substantive without being preachy - fun without sounding frivolous - sentimental without being maudlin - smart without coming across as condescending, and fresh without leaving your audience behind. Thanks for helping me clarify myself. We’re on the same page.