Music Speaks Part One

For the first time on this little webspace called "Divine Contradiction" I'm going to be doing a series of posts titled "Music Speaks". Here's the first instalment:

What's Their Story?
Last week at College and Careers we had a time of praise and worship. As I flipped through the song book and took notice of many songs that have met me in different places of my life, I couldn't help but wonder "what's their story?"

Who is Marsha Stevens and what inspired her to write "For Those Tears I Died"?

"You said You'd come and share my sorrows
You said You'd be there for my tomorrows
I came so close to sending You away."

When she wrote this was she sitting alone in a hospital room? At a graveside? What brought on the song? A time of heartbreak? A time of loss? Of pain?

Or how about Craig Musseau? What's his story? When he wrote: "I sing a simple song of love to my Saviour, To my Jesus. I'm grateful for the things You've done."

Was he rejoicing over a blessing? Facing a trial? Remembering the Lord's faithfulness in the past? Or looking towards it in the future?

What was their story?

When I was in Nashville this past April attending GMA Week I attended an event titled the Songwriter Showcase. At this concert, the writers of some of the biggest songs of the year came out and not only performed their music, but they explained the story behind it. Laura Story talked about the drive at night that inspired "Indescribable" (performed by Chris Tomlin). Christa Wells explained the heartbreaking circumstances behind "Held" (performed by Natalie Grant). And for me, somehow knowing the story behind the song adds so much more meaning to it. Not that removing interpretation is the end goal, but when you add the inspiration to your own interpretation, it can be a pretty amazing thing.

Keep checking back for the next post in this series titled "When We Know The Story".