Songwriters are probably the least recognized musicians in the world.
In this special edition daily devotional, we invite you to embrace the spirit of Thanksgiving and cultivate a heart overflowing with gratitude towards the Lord.
“I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.” (Psalm 144:9).
November 17, 2023 By Dr. George Bing
In today’s Daily devotional, we will continue our discussion on giving thanksgiving to the Lord through music and specifically songwriting. Yesterday we spoke about the many gifts of music that have been brought into the Church and God’s accessibility to them being used. We ended the Daily devotional by talking about a renowned songwriter Barry Manilow. He recorded a well-known song in 1979 “I Write the Songs.” that reached number one on the Billboard pop charts not long afterward.
As was mentioned yesterday; I believe that the lyrics to this song speak from the heart of every songwriter that has ever penned a work. These are the lyrics to the very first verse “I’ve been alive forever. And I wrote the very first song. I put the words and the melodies together. I am music, and I write the songs.” I would like to pose a question about those lyrics. Who do you believe that the lyricist is speaking about in that verse? My personal opinion which I rarely share is that he had to be talking about the Lord. Believe it or not, Barry Manilow was not the author of that song. “I Write the Songs” was written by Bruce Johnston. I realize that many people will probably question that.
Songwriters are probably the least recognized musicians in the world. The thing about songwriting is that if someone else records your song; it is more than likely assumed that the recording artist wrote it. The songs that truly have the most effect in the world are the songs that give God glory. Being a songwriter myself I have the experience to say that this is a fact! It is a very special gift indeed. Some songwriters are lyricists only and that is a gift that most people do not have.
There are other writers that the Lord gives them music and they look to a lyricist to complete that work. There are other writers gifted to write the licks (What they hear each instrument in the work playing). And then there are musicians such as Michael W Smith, and great secular writers such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and the Godfather himself James Brown who did it all. They wrote their own music and lyrics and recorded them.
My prayer is that none of these great writers who some have passed did not lose their soul. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). More on this great subject tomorrow the Lord’s will. “I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.” (Psalm 144:9). What are your thoughts?
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