BEHIND THE MUSIC

Songs and ideas grow in a very specific environment. They are drawn from our life experiences and reflect our sensitivities, interests and learning. The creative process has often been seen as a mysterious endeavour which perhaps only a few special ones really master.

Behind the Music is going to take the form of an ongoing interview over the life of this website. I want it to be an upfront and honest account about who I am and how I understand the creative process so that there are no mysteries… I find this approach to be essential when it comes to this kind of music – praise and worship songs meant to be sung by Christian congregations. These are songs that inform and form people in the way of Christ… at least that’s the hope. I find that writing for this particular group can be demanding. It isn’t something that you can rush, because the potential to teach and shape others for good or bad is a high responsibility indeed.

To write music that can easily be sung by men and women, boys and girls and those who have no sense of rhythm, rhyme or pitch… and keep it fresh and different and fun is a task in itself. To make songs accessible to novices and yet challenging for accomplished musicians is always a high wire act. Making sure that the concepts about God are accurate and make sense of the Biblical accounts. Making sure that we communicate in language that people can understand. All of these things and more are in constant tension as the worship song writer engages in the task.

I don’t know about you, but I often find that the words in these kinds of songs can seem so refined, pristine and spotless that it tends to portray the writer in only the best light. Worship leaders on far off stages not to mention small chapels and even smaller living rooms can seem larger than life and their personal holiness unattainable. That is, until you get to know us… because behind the music is often a struggle and a different kind of story line. These songs are so often formed in the crucible of a life of struggle and temptation and failure to get it right.

When you get to know us, those of us who lead people in worship, or speak from the scriptures week after week, then you will know that we too are fragile, that our family lives can be complex and even tragic at times. Messy Christianity is our reality too and our temptation and failure rate can be higher than average…

So with all that in mind, I hope that this section is helpful to others who are on a journey as songwriters and also to those of you who have never quite understood those who pen the songs that you sing week by week.

Tell us about the songwriting process

Jonathan Green

I think that the process of songwriting is different for everybody. This is how I approach it. Firstly, songwriting is not something I do but someone I am. I never sit down to deliberately write a song – that seems weird and alien to me. You can spot a song that has been ‘forced’ a mile off, lyrics that were written to meet an album deadline rather than lived through and then lived with. I try and make sure that my life is always open to receive songs. Songs are gifts… I never throw one away… and if a song comes, whatever I’m doing, I try and record the idea as soon as possible. I have even excused myself from meetings to quickly sing into my phone!

Secondly, I often think of the songwriting process like trying to make a great cup of coffee. The coffee beans are our experiences of life. The beans need to be ground… sometimes life is like that, but the pain and brokenness that we live through and with can release the most beautiful aroma. Then you add hot water and wait. I think there can often be a gap between what we live through and when the songs come. This brewing/percolation process is necessary and certainly worth the wait. So you have the coffee. Now what? Well, if the coffee is the inspiration… the next part is the presentation… or the perspiration stage as songwriters often call it. In the same way as you can take a cup of coffee in many different ways (Mocha, Latte, Macchiato, Frappuccino etc) You can take the song in lots of different ways too.

I once ordered a caffe latte with hazelnut syrup. It tasted odd, that’s because straight away I noticed that the barista had forgotten to add the coffee… it was hazelnut milk… nice presentation but the essence of the drink was missing. As with coffee so with songs… you know straight away when a song is lacking essence, and just like hot frothy milk, song’s laking essence will send you to sleep rather than awaken you… like a double espresso!

Once the inspiration comes, I then try and explore the theme of said inspiration and work at crafting the song. This part I do sit down for and work at for as long as it takes. But I never force an idea – I work gently with a song. One of my songs — Invocation — began its life in 2001 and was finished in 2009 having gone through about 10 major rewrites. It’s worth the wait and the song has ended up with the essence intact and developed. The essence of that song was just the first two lines.

When it comes to songwriting then, I never try to rush a song. On average a song will take me about 18 months to complete and I will have many on the go at the same time. The longest so far has taken 8 years, the shortest, Love One Another took just 5 minutes.

For me, songs are my journal. Some are deeply personal songs that others will never hear, others are to be released for others to sing, some for people to hear. My songs are my story and there is often a time delay between the living and the singing. That’s okay, some things take years to process. You never quite know when a song might present itself to you. You turn a corner and one runs into you, you pick up a stone and there is another, uncovered, wiggling about, peculiar and full of potential… to bless, to inspire, to teach, to unravel, to confound, to wow, to celebrate, to bring joy, to evoke tears.

I love writing songs and I love encouraging others to posture themselves in such a way that they too might receive these precious gifts. I also love to share songs, because as my nan always says, it is much better to give than to receive. So as wonderful as the songwriting process is, releasing a song is a wonderful journey in itself. As God has designed it, blessing is supposed to flow to us and through us to others… what a wonderful thought! And now for all this talk of coffee, I will sign off here and grab a black filter…

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How many songs have you written?

Jonathan Green

I have written about 40 songs that I consider finished – if you ever really finish a song!

I have a further 30-40 songs that are in various stages of completion.

I also have lots of random sound files that I have sung into a phone somewhere or into my portable mp3 recorder as well as a number of ‘hits’ from half remembered dreams…

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How long have you been writing songs?

Jonathan Green

I was picking out tunes on a piano since I was tall enough to reach the keys. I have always known music, in the same way that I’ve always known the presence of God in my life. I received piano lessons from the age of 6 and sang too. I taught myself guitar when I was 11. The music would always come naturally, but the words wouldn’t begin to flow for a long time.

I remember a growing sense of wanting to be a songwriter since I was in my mid teens, but any songs I tried to write would end up being a load of random christian slogans tangled together with lots of cliche for good measure. Saying that, there was a purity of intent – I wanted to write songs for the church that came out of times of personal worship – I just needed to find my own voice, a process that took a few years and in many ways is still an ongoing process.

I sensed that I needed some training, so I went to Bible College to study theology. My main reason for doing so was to become a good songwriter. I desired to write songs of depth and purity that touched others and moved them to worship and into a deeper walk with God. Whilst at College I felt a strong command to ‘wait’ from God. So I didn’t write for 4 years and allowed my thoughts to be challenged and shaped. Then I became a pastor and God seemed to say ‘start’ writing. I have been intentionally writing songs for 11 years now.

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