Songwriting Ideas From the Man After God's Own Heart

I've been writing a lot lately.

  Believe me, this didn't used to be the case. I would write papers for school, but outside of that I would have rather opened up a book, watched television or played a musical instrument. But for some reason I decided to start writing music. I've never been good at faking anything, so I wrote lyrics about what I knew. After writing many, MANY bad songs I became good at writing them, as long as it dealt with what I was feeling at the moment. Now, five years and countless songs later, I am writing quality songs on a consistent basis.

Lately I've been thinking about King David as a writer and how he impacts my writing style. He was a man of many talents. He was a warrior, a leader, and a shepherd to go along with the whole songwriter thing. He has an entire book of the Bible that HE wrote largely by himself (Psalms) in addition to all the awesome things he did that are chronicled in 3 other books of the Bible. It's easy to see why I look up to him, but I'm gonna give you a few reasons why anyway.

1. 150 of his works have been published.

From a writer's perspective, I can't help but imagine how many of these Psalms he wrote that didn't make the cut. I can't count how many notebooks of half-finished lyrics and terrible songs I have that I won't ever show people, and I've only been writing for 10 years! Imagine the amount of papyrus (or whatever David used to write) discarded after a lifetime of writing! Another way to look at it is that he had 150 poems/songs that were deemed good enough to be put in the Bible. As a songwriter, I don't think I have 40 songs that I would even be willing to play in front of people, much less publish.

2. He wrote about everything

I know what you're thinking: "Wait a second, David wrote about everything? Like lightbulbs and cars and Pop Tarts? How would he have even known about Pop Tarts unless....God showed him in a vision!" (wow, that was a stretch to try to be funny. Sorry folks) David didn't know about those things, but he knew all about the human condition.  Most importantly, he was not afraid to write about these emotions. He wrote more than the "Oh, God you are so great. I love you" poems that seem so easy to write without meaning anything. A lot of his psalms are not happy ones. They deal with rejection, abandonment, and other human qualities. It takes courage for David to reveal to God his honest and most personal feelings. That way, when he does praise God for all of his blessings, it means much more.

3. He wrote at different lengths

Sure, David had the 50-verse soliloquies that marveled at the wonder of God, but come on; how many of us can even listen to someone talk like that without becoming the least bit cynical? For every epic poem David wrote, he had the nine-verse-long song that was as every bit meaningful and genuine. Don't believe me? Look at his most famous Psalm, the 23rd one: Six lines. Sometimes short and sweet is equally as good, or even better.
       
      I know that a lot of writers get discouraged. They think their idea well has run dry and they will never write another decent sentence again. Whenever it happens to me, I search for inspiration. Sometimes I look in my iTunes playlists, other times I try to find it in movies and television. But some of the best songs I've written, some of the most honest and personal lyrics I have put down on paper have come from a place that's much deeper than anything else out there. They come from God. 


     Maybe the next time we're searching for restoration, we should look there first.

Starting Off...

That's right: Andy has a blog.

This is an age where technology has inundated us with everything from portable music players the size of a quarter to programs for your phone that can be used as a flashlight. But often times these applications and devices come under the question of what is practical. Because as cool as movie theater stand-ups are, they have no practical use in a house (other than taking up space). This is a question I had to ask myself.

Back in high school, I had two MySpace accounts. One was for me personally and the other was for my music in its most primitive forms. For two years I would get on and be actively involved; adding friends, posting comments on blogs and friends' walls and even writing every once in awhile. But once college hit and Facebook was made available, I jumped ship and my 'new' life was documented there. Going even further, I am active on my twitter account (andyunger if you want to follow me), which stays updated at least once a day. Nowadays, my MySpace accounts have shifted off of my brain, save for the little updates I get from people trying to make money off of my music.

I've contemplated getting a blog in the past, but the little apps inside myspace & facebook have satisfied my desire. More recently I have had to consider the practical question. Since I already spend a lot of my life on facebook and twitter, would I be able to consistently have something worth mentioning and give the time needed to mention the somethings? Obviously the answer is clear because this blog exists. A few things about how this blog will relate to you and me:

1. My life is crazy. There's never a happy medium or a sense of normalcy. It often shifts between being busy, swamped and inundated. I sometimes complain, but the truth is I wouldn't have it any other way. I think this is why I procrastinate until the last moment (I think that last statement is redundant). I feel more alive and productive when the clock is ticking. That being said, a post will not be an everyday occurrence, but I will try to post regularly.

2. I have many passions, which gives me a lot to write about. I love all aspects of music (writing, recording, performing, listening) and do these almost every day. I love being a God follower and all that that entails. I love watching, following, and occasionally playing sports. I love movies and television and talking about the shows I watch. Which brings me to..

The point of all points

3. I chose the title of my blog, My Life on Shuffle, because one of the things that I love doing is keeping my iTunes on shuffle all the time. I have iTunes playing all of the time whenever I am on my computer. All those free downloads and albums I wouldn't think of listening to get an equal shot to be played. Yes, some of them are not very good. But everyone once in a while, I find a truly great song or artist that makes sifting through the crap worth it all.

My Life on Shuffle isn't specific to one topic. Some of it might be funny, some of it insightful or even turn angry. But isn't that life? Would it be as interesting if we were happy all the time or everything went right or we didn't feel pain? Odds are that life would boring. Hopefully this won't be boring.