From the Mind of MandoRon

In my last Songwriting post, I discussed a song that was inspired by a situation. The second song that I completed last year was inspired by a chord progression.

I was practicing a song for Sunday morning, when I mixed up the chord progression and strum pattern a bit to see what happened. For some reason, I really liked what I heard. I immediately realized that there was a song buried in there.

The chord progression is Am7 - G - D. But here’s the thing, I think it only sounds good on the mandolin. I can’t find voicings on the guitar that work for me. The second funny thing is that I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the chord progression. It worked great for a chorus, but you need verses too, right?

I talked with some of my friends who understand music theory better than I do, and didn’t come up with anything that worked. So I gave up and wrote a whole song where the chord progression and rhythm never vary. My previous songwriting efforts were marred by complexity, so I figured I’d go simple.

It’s called “No Longer Alone”. If you are insanely curious, you can stream or download a very basic recording with my rather pitchy vocals on my Virb page. (I’ve discovered that I have a knack for writing songs that are out of my range. Good thing I don’t fancy myself a singer…) (I’ve also discovered that I have a tendency to try to cram a lot of words in each line. More on that next time.) Someday, I’d like to go back and record some lead guitar/mandolin and bass with it.

It’s not going to sell any records, but I think it’s a fun little song that I can be proud of. Now if I could just get someone else to sing it…

Just came across this site today, www.FreeCCM.com.  Right now there are free downloads from Addison Road, The Afters, and Laura Story.

Thanks to Tony for helping me stumble across this. 

This morning at church, the band played a new song called God of This City. It’s by the Irish worship band, Bluetree. Chris Tomlin performs the song on the recently released Passion 08 album.

On the day the album came out, I heard a radio interview with Lou Giglio, leader of Passion, talking about this song. I had it heard it on the Internet that morning, and honestly it didn’t do much for me. It was a little too mellow for my tastes.

When I heard the story behind the God of This City, I was floored. Bluetree had the opportunity to perform in a bar in Pattaya, Thailand, which is a big part of the industry in Thailand. While jamming along to a loop, this song come out as a prophecy over the city. I highly recommend reading this interview with the band for the whole story.

I was driving in my car hearing this story, and just got chills… My church, GracePoint, is in the middle of a series about Unleashing God’s love on the city of Wichita. I knew immediately that we had to play the song.  I’ve also been teaching the song to my Lifegroup.

Ed put together some video clips of GP serving the community, as well as simple clips of the city. The video ran on the screens while the band played. For the last chorus, Gil had everyone singing out “For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city!” It was awesome! If you missed it, we’ll be doing it again next Sunday. I’ll post a link to the video, if Ed puts one together.

Like I said earlier, God of This City isn’t really my normal style of music. But still, I get chills every time I hear it. In this interview, Chris Tomlin talks about what an important song God of This City is. I couldn’t agree more. It’s a very important song for the church right now!

A year and a half ago, I decided to try my hand at songwriting. I wanted to know if I could write a decent song or not. I’ve written several now, but only a few have been any good. My New Year’s Resolution this year, is to write a song for each sermon series at church this year. I’m hoping that the more I write, the better I’ll get.

In the beginning I dabbled around with a few things, but the first one that I ever finished as a complete song is called “Still I’m Waiting”. I came up with the idea for the song while sitting in line at an Oklahoma tollbooth on Thanksgiving Day 2006. You see I always end up in the slowest moving line, no matter where I am. And I usually get a little impatient. I wrote the lyrics at 6 in the morning the next day. The music came about a month later.

I really love the chorus and bridge, but I’ve never been really happy with the verses. One of these days, I’ll try to improve them. When I do, then I’ll record it.

Here’s the chorus: “Waiting in a line that just ain’t movin’. Waiting on a call that just won’t come. Waiting to find my life’s meaning. Waiting on You to show me Your plan.”

I’ll write some more about my songwriting journey over the next week or so.

The (unranked) Cowboys just knocked off #5 Kansas in Stillwater, 61-60.  Didn’t see that one coming.  It’s been a horrible season for the Pokes.

What a game!!!