Give to the Wind Your Fears

I tend to draw on different sources of inspiration as I write music. Anything from other artists to conversations to reading material can be the an important piece of the puzzle in the early stages of a song. Several years ago I picked up a few old hymnals with a variety of songs for just such a reason.

A few months ago I came across the hymn "Give to the Wind Your Fears" by Paulus Gerhardt and translated by John Wesley. The first verse really captured my attention and was the springboard for expressing some things that had been on my heart for awhile. Over the last year I've had friends and family going through struggles of many different kinds including hospitalization, divorce and death. I am thankful for the ways that God has ministered to each of these and continue to pray for His peace and healing. This song is just an extension of that.

The first verse spoke so beautifully what I would have wanted to express that I used it verbatim and simply reset it to a new tune. I then wrote new material for the chorus and second verse that I thought better represented what I wanted to say. I would not say that it's one of my best songs, but I'm pleased with the outcome and wanted to share it in case it might minister to someone who needs to hear it.

You can check out a rough video of it here.

The Art of Letting Go

I've been struck recently with the idea that I often get so fixated on perfection in my songwriting that I limit myself in my growth as a songwriter. I received Rob Bell's Drops Like Stars book for my birthday and came across the following section.

David Bayles and Ted Orland in their book Art and Fear tell the story of a ceramics teacher who divided the class into two groups - one group would be graded on how much they created in the designated time, while the other group would be graded on the quality of the one work they made. In the end, it was the "quantity" group that ended up producing the works of most quality.
They conclude "that while the 'quantity' group was busy churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the 'quality' group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."

I have been working on a song over the last few months that I had really hoped to share with the songwriters' group on Sunday night, but was still unsatisfied with it. I worked on it for a few hours on Sunday and decided that while I still wasn't completely pleased with it, it was at least in a state where I could share it, get feedback and continue to craft. When I shared it, I got positive feedback from it and had to admit that my desire for it to be "perfect" probably was keeping me from devoting time and energy from other songwriting projects. I had to admit to myself this morning that the song probably is not the best thing I've ever written and may not be heard much. The choice that I'm left with is to either try to continue to sculpt away at it, or learn from it, move on and let it be a part of my maturing as a writer as I continue to pursue the craft.

I'm letting go, moving on and hopefully becoming a better artist because of it.