Songwriting

Paul and Silas are in the Old West on their Great Gospel Tour. Paul preaches, sings this song, and preaches some more (I don’t picture him short of words).

A woman changed by the God’s love also joins in, and this song becomes a duet. And then the whole crowd of new saints join in the chorus.

I wrote this song for all of the people who experience major or minor changes in their lives because of God’s love. For those who grew up in church and those who didn’t.

Regardless of our background, the essence of Christianity is that God reveals himself to us and makes us spiritually whole. We’re still rotten kids but now we’re redeemed dirty rotten kids.

The Great Gospel Tour is like a musical in my head. There are scenes, dialogue and songs. I think of it as Paul and Silas traveling through the Old West. What an event that would have been.

This song is sung my a woman who hears Paul preach. As she is listening, God reveals to her that He wants to change her, not condemn her.

At least that’s how it plays out in my head.

I was stuck in the middle of Alaska when I wrote this song. It was coldest winter they had seen for ages. Day time temperatures were 50-below, and that’s without wind chill.

Every felt trapped?

Singing praises to God seems to help me. So I wrote this simple chorus, which became fairly widely used as a praise song.

This is the first recording of the song, as far as I know. It also features my daughter Heather.

Not The Mall was the first song of mine I heard played on the radio. Others have since been broadcast in several different countries. But I was driving down the freeway when Not The Mall made its debut. I had no idea it was coming. What a thrill!

I’m not sure how much mall traffic there is nowadays. To update the song, I’d have to switch it to Oh, No. Not The Online Shopping Site.

But it’s good to have a little during this time of the year.

The Back Porch Group, or whatever I called it, was a great bunch of studio musicians showing why they aren’t backup singers. They were more than a bit shy at first but then jumped in with both feet. Thanks, guys!

The first Christmas wasn’t a special event. It’s wasn’t a holiday. It was just another day. Another baby was born. We didn’t know God’s plan. We didn’t know.

The song came about because I couldn’t afford the royalties for Sweet Little Jesus Boy. So I wrote my own.

The scream (or graceful vocal riff) was an artistic choice. Not sure why. Just seemed like a good idea at the time.

I recorded this at the end of a very long day in the studio. I was tired. The musicians were tired. And my voice was shot. After I finished this song, I couldn’t talk for nearly two hours.

I finished writing this song shortly before flying to N. Carolina for the session. No one had seen it or heard it. It was a last minute addition.

I asked Richard Putnam (who was doing the charts for me) to look at the lead sheet. While he did, I recorded another track. There was Richard, off in a corner, trying to make sense of my song and ignore the song I was singing. He only had time to jot some notes; “charting” would be too generous of a term. So we mostly flew by the seat of our pants.

The result is one of my favorite songs. I like the thought of noel (peace) being an on-going event. The birth of Christ may have been the first noel but not the last. I believe God is still saying: Peace.

 

I started thinking about Paul and Silas traveling through the country spreading the Good News. So I wrote a brief history of American gospel music from the 1800’s up til pre-WWII. So each song represents a different period of time.

I wrote this song in the middle of doing the album but the sentiment had been part of my life for years. I always started my sermons with “I’ve got Great News for you.” It kept me from giving a negative sermon. Cause you can’t start with Great News and then tell people they’re going to hell.

When I was a young pup, I tried to be a preacher like my Dad. Dad was a really good teacher-preacher. He had that preacher voice that was expected in those days but he was more concerned with presenting good theology than with jumping the pulpit in a single bound.

Being an evangelist is an easy gig, my Dad used to say. You work up 3 sermons and move from town to town. Every time you preach your sermons, you get better at it. And moving from town to town means everyone thinks you great; they never hear your 4th sermon.

This song is about two traveling preachers who roll into town in their wagon. It’s Paul and Silas. And they’ve got Good News.

It’s Good News for people in trouble. Good News for people in pain. Good News for everybody: Jesus is alive!