How To Write A Song – Some Suggestions
In the blog post I provide 3 variations on how to write a song using scripture. Feel free to watch the video to follow along.
Tell A Story
First variation is having a theme or a story to tell. Example follows.
For this we’ll use verses from a song I wrote using verses from Romans 1:16. 5:8, 5:1.
Starting with the verses themselves, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What is the theme? Reading the verses we might come up with themes like Power, gospel, or God.
For the Song form, I used one melodic idea repeated for each verse. Concerning the Lyrics, to determine whether they would fit the melody I counted syllables to make the melody and the verse easier to remember.
Identfy a Theme
Another Example of identifying a theme is shown by this song from Romans 15:13.
Here is the verse: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
For the theme what else but hope could it be? God is a God of hope!
The song form is Verse/Chorus. I used the Bible verse for the chorus and wrote other lyrics to support it for the song verses. I added verses that follow the theme, not scripture, per se, but ideas that come from scripture.
Memorize the verses word for word
My 2nd variation deals with having a verse or verses to memorize. Follow along with the video below to see how it works.
The lyrics came from these verses 2 Peter 1:3, and Ephesians 2:10.
The first verse is here: “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” And then, similar to a medley I added the verse from Ephesians. “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do works which God prepared in advance for us to do”.
Listen to how I chose A/B Separate melody for each verse in a medley approach. That’s an A/B form.
Each verse had a distinctly different tune. This kept the lyrics separate as well with a unigue melody.
Here’s another example of having a verse to memorize and writing a song to help – John 1:12.
Here’s the verse: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
For the Song form, I used Verse/Chorus. Then I counted syllables to make sure things fit. This helps the listener remember more easily. I added verses that support the chorus.
For my 3rd variation let’s consider a call to worship, some say a “‘Call To Action”. An example follows from Psalm 28: 6,7, 30:4.
Here’s the verse: “Blessed be the Lord Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song, I shall thank Him. Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.”
For the Song form, I used Verse/Chorus. The Call To Worship/Action is the chorus.
For Lyrics I used scripture which made the melody and the verse easier to remember. The added verses support the chorus memory verse.
For another example of a call to worship, consider Psalm 123: 1, 2.
The verse reads “To Thee, I lift up my eyes, O Thou art enthroned in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He shall be gracious to us.”
The Song form is one melodic idea repeated for each verse. This makes the melody and the verse easier to remember. Adding verses that support the chorus memory verse is also a best practice.
