A New Way of Writing

I wish I could say I've been doing a lot of writing lately. I haven't. (Which is pretty obvious from my lack of regular posts here) But I want to write more...I really do. To make things even more frustrating, I've actually been coming up with more ideas to write about, than actually writing them. I have ideas for five books, three devotionals and a couple of video concepts. I just can't seem to sit down and find the time to flesh them out and put 'em down on paper--er, computer. But I have had time to do one thing: Make up songs for my little boy. Even before he was born, Morgan had some songs written for him. The first was simple. I would lean into my wife's belly and sing:

Morgan...beautiful boy. Morgan...it's your daddy!

Then, once he was born, I wrote this for him:

You're such a beautiful boy, baby Morgan.

Oh such a beautiful boy, baby Morgan.

And daddy loves you, yes he loves you

Oh he's always gonna love you

baby Morgan...baby Morgan.

And then I'd repeat it and change "daddy" with "mommy" and "he" with "she."

This past week, I wrote a new song for my little boy. I was rocking him to sleep at bedtime...when I came up with this lullabye:

Good night...baby

Good night...son

It's been a long day of playing,

but now the day is done.

Good night, sweet boy

Good night to you.

Lay your head down and close your eyes

May all your dreams come true.

So, it isn't exactly the type of "writing" that I normally do...but I'm having a blast doing it!

Will You Remember Me?

This weekend I'll be in the studio again. We've been making a lot of progress on the album. In fact, three songs are completely mixed. (I put one of them on my music player on my MySpace page, it's called Forgive and Forget. Check it out when you get a chance.) We still have background vocals to cut on four songs...and a bass track to finish on another. But this weekend, I'll be focusing on something else. This weekend, I'm going to be recording a song I wrote for Compassion International. I wrote it after my trip to Kenya last August. While we were there, I met a single mother, named Anrietta, who was HIV positive. During my conversation with her, she asked me twice: "Will you remember me?" I thought it was an odd question. I told her, "Of course I will!" Later, as other members of our group were talking to this same lady, she asked them the same question: "Will you remember me?" And it dawned on me. She was afraid. She was afraid that she'd be dying soon, leaving her young daughter to fend for herself. She was afraid she'd die...and be forgotten. Then I started thinking about the 1-billion plus children who live in extreme poverty in our world. They struggle just to survive. 30,000 children die everyday, from things that could easily be prevented. Who will remember them? I suppose we all want a legacy, right? We all want to leave this world a better place than the way we found it. We all want to be remembered. So, I'm going into the studio this weekend to start recording on this song...and to remember Anrietta. I'll upload an mp3 file of it once it's done. In the meantime, here are the lyrics: Will You Remember Me? VERSE: I am naked and I am poor I’m an orphan but so much more Won’t you look beyond your own front door to save? I’m just looking for some food to eat A pair of shoes for my two bare feet And I was hoping you could meet those needs today. CHORUS: When you hear my cries, will you rescue me? Will you just walk by through the moment? When you see my tears, will you comfort me? If I disappear, will you notice? I want a legacy…but will you remember me at all? BRIDGE: What’s it matter, how I got here? What’s it matter, where I’ve been? All that matters, is I should matter… Yes, I should matter to you. CHORUS: When you hear my cries, will you rescue me? Will you just walk by through the moment? When you see my tears, will you comfort me? If I disappear, will you notice? Yes, Anrietta, I will remember you.

Carol Abuse

"It's the holiday season..." And you can't escape them...those holiday songs. At the mall...in the elevator...on the radio. I actually love Christmas songs--well, most of 'em anyway. There's the occasional droll tune that just makes my skin crawl, such as Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer or that monotone kid that sings I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. And then there's the cheesy, "we just tried too hard to make you cry" type songs like the Christmas Shoes drivel. But the ones that really get under my skin are the stupid commercial jingles that take holiday songs and change the words. "Happy Honda Days!" "Give a, give a, give a Garmin..." "On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...5 onion rings..." Are you serious?! Can we just leave the holiday songs alone please? Write a new jingle...or use a holiday song as-is...but trust me, you're version of Oh Christmas Tree using only the word "duh"...is not an improvement! My .02 worth anyway. Feel free to let me know what you think.

A Little Family Pride...

You know, usually when someone tells you they have a family member that's "really talented", you might think, "Yeah, yeah...whatever." Well, at the risk of falling into that category, I do want to tell you about my 15-year old neice, Shayne. I didn't even know was interested in music, but last week, she recorded her first song with a friend...and in my opinion, it's pretty good. She shows really good vocal technique and the hook is pretty strong. Good writing. I love good writing. I know it may sound silly, but I'd love it if you would at least listen to her song on myspace and leave her a comment. Trust me, it would go a long way for her. Check it out! Thank you so much!