Interview with Sam Middlebrook – Part III
So what does Sam Middlebrook have to say about songwriting? Here is what you wanted to know.
When you're writing a song for worship, what are a few things that you keep in mind for every song? Are there some guidelines or principles that you follow?
Yes, there are some things I keep in mind for songwriting for worship. The first is that I keep the melody to within one octave for the sake of singability. The second thing I keep in mind is to make sure that the words are common enough that someone who has never known Jesus or anything about worship can hear the song and understand everything I'm saying. This person might not believe, might not agree, and might not realize the depth of the words, but hopefully they at least understand what I'm singing. Lastly, I try to make sure that I anchor the "hook" of the song around the main theme. Too often, the bridge of a song is the hook, and we can be tempted to put words that are catchy and metrically appropriate instead of words that declare and honor the truth of the Word.
What are two or three things to avoid in the songwriting process?
First, avoid the catch phrases. We all know what they are, and we all sing them regularly. Be more creative than that! Secondly, avoid trying to sound like someone else. God wants YOU to write a song, so write confidently from the place you're at. Lastly, I try to avoid being too specific in my songs about my situation. I wrote a worship song while my son was gravely ill in the hospital back in the fall, and I started by writing the line, "Who am I that You would see me sitting in this room". It's a true lyric, and a fine lyric for me to sing to God, but it is too specific to the time and place that I was writing. If we're going to write songs that last and apply to everyone, we have to write about the human condition and our complete desperation and dependence for and of God.
What do you do to get "un-stuck" on a song that you're writing and you can't quite finish it?
I put the song on hold, and as fast I can, write something else about anything at all. Write a silly song about your car, your workplace, or your last meal. Get creative about something else, and then a few days later, sit back down with your lyrics, your melody, or whatever you have in the process of writing and try it again. Too many young songwriters give up - and even more sadly, there are some who see the "writer's block" as God telling them that this song is not worthy. I would say quite the opposite. There have been many seasons in my life as a songwriter where God has used my "writer's block" to grow me, stretch me, and teach me something, and the result is usually a deeper, more meaningful song.
How do you write songs in a way that make them true for everyone who believes, and not just you and your situation?
I start by asking the question, "Could a believer in prison for their faith sing this song?". If they can, then I keep working on it. I don't want to write or sing songs that only work for people in wealthy countries. I don't want to write or sing songs that only work for people who are healthy. I want to write and sing songs that speak about the reality of heaven, the reality of Jesus, the reality of hope, and the reality of redemption. These things are true for any believer, anywhere, in any time period, culture, or denomination. Focus on those things!
What is your process of taking a song you've written and using it at your church?
I'll play it for my wife first. She's loving and honest enough to tell me when it's good and when it's not. I then play it for my senior pastor, and he tells me honestly what he thinks. I'll then take it to a staff meeting (we worship together as a staff every week at my home church) and see if it's easy to catch on to or not. If it passes all of those tests, then I'll take it to a worship team and try it out. I would discourage anyone from trying a song in a worship service immediately after writing it - that can be an open door for pride to creep into your giftedness. Submit yourself and your creativity to leadership and critique from trusted people - you'll not only develop deep relationships along the way, but you're songs will be better, faster.
Do you find that your songs resonate more with your home church than they do in other places?
Not really. It's funny, I think most of our church has no idea that I wrote the songs that I've written. I try to avoid doing the whole setup of "Here's a song I wrote, and here's the story behind it". That takes the focus off of the Biblical truth of the song and puts the focus on me and my story. I'm not writing songs about me, so I try to keep the songs distant from me. Most of my songs are actually done more at other churches than at my own for this reason. It takes a very special person to handle the balance between sharing their songs with their church for the purpose of meaningful worship and sharing their songs with their church for the sake of attention and applause. Glory is something we should never seek - it all belongs to God.
Do you believe that with all of the new music & our technological ability to share it globally in moments, is contributing in a positive way to a common language of among God's people (like we used to have with hymnbooks that stayed the same for 25 years or so) or is our common hymn language deteriorating since there's so much new music? Does it even matter?
Wow, there's a lot in that question. I think that the technology is a great thing - the Church has more access to different expressions of praise and worship than ever before. The danger here though is that we have to set our filters even higher for what will make a song a good vehicle for praise and worship. Increasing the amount of options means we have to be picky!
About our common hymn language deteriorating - yes, I would agree that the use of hymns is declining, and while I think it would be horrible to lose our hymns, I also think that we as artists have to see hymns for what they are - old songs. Old songs are great! We know them, we love, and we need to use them. However, old songs are old. Creativity is new. To use a line from Mark Batterson, I'm not interested in worshipping God only from memory (old); I want to worship Him out of my imagination and creativity (new). As songwriters, we have to refuse to believe the lie that the Church's best music has already been written. We have to instead believe that God is building within us a good gift that He is blessing, and that this gift is worth investing in, worth the effort of putting in the long hours and the hard work to write theologically sound lyrics. We have to live the lifestyle that the Bible says God blesses, the lifestyle that opens our hearts, minds, and souls to the beauty and mystery of Jesus. We cannot put in the work of writing unless we're willing to live the life. However, we can't just live the life and not put in the work. We have to do both!
I am praying that this generation of songwriters I'm a part of will be blessed by God to write songs that are the best the Church has ever seen. I pray this generation of preachers, teachers, and artists of all stripes would be blessed in the same way... and I pray that the generation after us would top it.
Thanks for the chance to answer some of your questions. If you have more, please let me know!