Creative Plagiarism
It's been some time since I've had a creative run in me as bi-vocation and family life leave little time to stretch creative muscles, but I've been sensing a stirring of late in song writing and am eagerly awaiting the outflow that seems imminent once the dam breaks. At the same time, I've come to distrust some of the easier "inspirations" that come to mind for fear that they are actually the intellectual property of other artists.
In the past, this was an easy thing for me to test out. I was listening to a variety of artists that I was very familiar with and when I started to come to some firm conclusions on melodic content it was pretty easy for me to take a quick break, listen to other artists that my own work resembled and confirm whether I was truly creating or merely borrowing.
I have a pretty decent musical memory and there are times that I can lock a melody away subconsciously that I've only heard a time or two only to find it bubble up to the surface as I start to write. On the occasions that this has occurred I have either scrapped the idea entirely or used it as a framework, reworking it until it has a character of its own.
At the same time, I love to actively engage in another kind of plagiarism: that of using Scripture in song. I heard Matt Redman say that worship songwriting is great because it is one of the only places that you are actually encouraged to plagiarize. This line of thinking has come to mind a few times in the last few weeks. As prelude for service yesterday, we used a song that I wrote about four years ago that is based on Psalm 13 called Unfailing Love. I've also been eagerly awaiting Brian Moss's next installment in his "Prayerbook Project" series where he's been drawing on a set of Psalms as source material and inspiration for new music.
The challenge of this type of writing is that it can be either very inspired or very, very forced. I have heard a number of Scripture based songs that sounded like they were quickly thrown together as a memory tool for a Sunday school lesson instead of being crafted carefully around the inerrant, inspired Word of God.
In many ways recasting someone else's material into something creative is much more challenging than writing completely original material. What may have been lyrical and rhythmic in the source text may sound stilted and awkward in any English translation and may require faithful adaptation. I have started the process numerous times only to find that the diligence required for this type of creativity was more than I could afford in terms of time or effort.
Still, I hope to engage in this creative plagiarism in the months ahead as a means not only of self expression, but also as a way to wrestle with the depth of life that is given in Scripture. As I try to offer faithful interpretation of Scripture into contemporary and musical language, I hope that it gives me a better sense of the heart of God and what it means to try to live a life pursuing Him.
In the past, this was an easy thing for me to test out. I was listening to a variety of artists that I was very familiar with and when I started to come to some firm conclusions on melodic content it was pretty easy for me to take a quick break, listen to other artists that my own work resembled and confirm whether I was truly creating or merely borrowing.
I have a pretty decent musical memory and there are times that I can lock a melody away subconsciously that I've only heard a time or two only to find it bubble up to the surface as I start to write. On the occasions that this has occurred I have either scrapped the idea entirely or used it as a framework, reworking it until it has a character of its own.
At the same time, I love to actively engage in another kind of plagiarism: that of using Scripture in song. I heard Matt Redman say that worship songwriting is great because it is one of the only places that you are actually encouraged to plagiarize. This line of thinking has come to mind a few times in the last few weeks. As prelude for service yesterday, we used a song that I wrote about four years ago that is based on Psalm 13 called Unfailing Love. I've also been eagerly awaiting Brian Moss's next installment in his "Prayerbook Project" series where he's been drawing on a set of Psalms as source material and inspiration for new music.
The challenge of this type of writing is that it can be either very inspired or very, very forced. I have heard a number of Scripture based songs that sounded like they were quickly thrown together as a memory tool for a Sunday school lesson instead of being crafted carefully around the inerrant, inspired Word of God.
In many ways recasting someone else's material into something creative is much more challenging than writing completely original material. What may have been lyrical and rhythmic in the source text may sound stilted and awkward in any English translation and may require faithful adaptation. I have started the process numerous times only to find that the diligence required for this type of creativity was more than I could afford in terms of time or effort.
Still, I hope to engage in this creative plagiarism in the months ahead as a means not only of self expression, but also as a way to wrestle with the depth of life that is given in Scripture. As I try to offer faithful interpretation of Scripture into contemporary and musical language, I hope that it gives me a better sense of the heart of God and what it means to try to live a life pursuing Him.
posted by notsilent1 at
9:15 AM
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