If you have a song idea don’t limit it to one song. You may be able to write several songs from that one idea.
I’ll show you three questions to ask yourself and if you take the time to answer these questions you end up with more songs than you thought and deepen your songwriting well.
Together, with my wife Lisa, we’ve written over 100 songs and many of those were written about the same subject but expressed in different ways.
For example, the fact that the veil was rent and removed brought freedom to me so my theme was freedom. At least three of my sings were written about the veil being removed and the freedom, boldness, and new things that it brought.
Those three are Rocking’ In the Holy of Holies, I Wanna Praise You, and The Veil Is Gone. The links to these songs are down below if you’d like to hear them.
As you may have guessed, Rockin’ In the Holy of Holies is an fun old-time fast rock style that declared “Rockin in the Holy of Holies/ Now that the veil is gone/ Dancing around with the King of Kings/ Celebration’ ‘round the throne,”
I Wanna Praise You is a soulful medium tempo song that declared. “I wanna praise You/ With a new song/ While we’re doing a new thing.”
The Veil is Gone is a slow powerful declaration that says “The veil is gone/ And I am free before my King/ The veil is gone/ I will love my voice and sing/ The veil is gone/ It’s forever striped away/ I will worship boldly / And I’ll freely dance before You/ The veil is gone/ The veil is gone.”
So looking back, these songs were about the same main point but expressed in three different ways of theme, angle, and tempo.
Let’s look at these three areas that will help you in writing more songs than you thought.
Three Questions To Ask Yourself
Regarding Theme
When you have a scripture or an idea to write about ask yourself this question. “What is the main point and what are the subpoints? The veil being rent was the main point and the subpoints were celebration, boldness, and freedom.
Regarding Angle
Who is singing this song? Is it an I, we, or even a third person song? Is it from God, to God, or about God? These questions will cause us to think of different messages and subpoints to write from or about.
For example, my song Open Up The Gates was written from the angle of the gate keepers from Ps. 24:7-10. (Link below)
Tempo
What would this message sound like as a slow, medium, or fast tempo? Would the tempo change the lyrics or feel? You can write three different songs from that one question alone.
Summary
Every songwriter can be more productive when you don’t limit your songs to one per idea or revelation. At minimum, you could have three different songs by answering these questions and considering these points. Theme, angle, tempo.
Action Items
- Choose one scripture or idea you’ve had and jot down three points to write about.
- Write down three different angles you could write from.
- Experiment with three different tempos to see what comes from this exercise.
So, there you have it. Three ways to help you write several songs from one idea.
Remember when posed with a question the mind goes to work. And every songwriter can deepen their songwriting well.
Song Links
To hear these songs, you can listen to this podcast episode here or follow these links.
