Over on Idol Chatter this week, blogger Kris Rasmussen shared a list of songs she and her friends hate to admit that they love. They range from the Chris Rice's "Cartoon Song" (which he's admitted he hates to sing) to Carmen's "Who's in the House." (Do you even need to name a specific Carmen song to be embarrassed?)
The irony is that before I even read this post, my friend, author Phil Tomasso (who writes currently under the pen name Thomas Phillips) were having a discussion about Christian music that inspires - in particular, music that inspires creativity.
Phil's new book The Molech Prophecy came out in July, and at our writers' group meeting Tuesday night he was telling me that he listened to music the entire time he was writing. I found that fascinating, since the book is a suspense tale. I don't know how he was able to keep the details and clues of the story straight and listen to music at the same time.
(The book, by the way, is the tale of a new Christian with a sordid past who, at the request of his pastor, helps track down a missing church secretary. Throw in a Wiccan church, an ancient prophecy, and a some underlying romantic tension and you've got a great beach read.)
I, on the other hand, need complete silence to be creative. In fact, as I write this, the only sound I hear is the birds chirping. The dog is snoozing at my feet and the cat is breathing silently on my desk. I only have music on while I'm writing if I'm reviewing a CD, and even then I've already listened to the album in its entirety (usually in my car) and am just scanning tracks to remind myself which songs I liked.
Which brings me back to songs that inspire. On his blog today, Phil writes about how music plays a part in his creative process.
So my question to you is this: What songs inspires you and how?
Do you use Christian music to spur on creativity, or pump you up for a sports activity? Do you have a favorite song that you just have to sing on Sunday morning or church just isn't the same? Is there a song that challenges you spiritually, makes you cry, makes you want to run to the altar and throw yourself at the foot of the cross?
Can't wait to hear your thoughts!
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I'm like you. I require silence while I'm writing or otherwise creating. The thoughts flow and music begins to play. I hear Bruce Cockburn's acoustic guitar playing "Lord of the Starfields" and I'm transported to a concert in an old theater on a frigid night in Toronto years ago. My grandmother sings "...and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am His own..." and pretty soon I can reconstruct her deep brown eyes, the wrinkles across her forehead and smell her trademark molasses cookiesccoming out of the oven. It makes my mouth water...
So Phil, fill your brain with a wall of sound if that's what it takes to keep cranking out the suspense tales. I don't know how you can do it, but apparently it works?
The songs that never fail to make me cry: Ripple by the Grateful Dead and Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door. In church, Be Ye Glad by Glad.
Whenever I am in need of some deep inspiration, I sing along with Twila Paris to "I Will Listen". It is a reminder that I must take my stand and continue to listen to God's voice, anad it inspires me to stand firm in spite of adversity.
"I can not imagine what will come
But I've already made my choice
And this is where I stand
Until He moves me on
And I will listen to His voice."
Phil Keaggy has been responsible for more than a few chills up and down my spine and tears in my eyes. "Maker of the Universe," and "Let Everything Else Go," immediately come to mind. Bruce Cockburn's "Lord of the Starfields" also fills me with a sense of the wonder of God - amazing song. DA (or Daniel Amos) manages to touch upon a stranger type of spiritual euphoria with "Banquet at the World's End," a rollicking tune about the variety of guests we'll encounter at that big supper in The Sky one day. The sheer joy and profound truth of this song, that most people might call anything BUT worshipfull, fills me with a sense of wonder and awe of God's grace towards people as off-the-beaten-path as me.....
I can't listen to music when I write, but when I do art I have a lot of stuff that I listen to. Right now there is one song that is just firing me up though. It is called something big by John Waller. The song to me is a prayer saying to God that I want to do something for Him so big that it will fail if he's not in it.
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