Page 59 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

Writable idea: "He Is God"
Verse 1 – The problem
When I feel far from God I'll still trust He's there When I need someone to fight my battles
When I'm in a storm
I'll rest in the knowledge of His love, 'cause
Chorus – Declaration
He is God, powerful, Creator Kingdoms rise and fall
But He is God, still
Verse 2 – The response
Man can be selfish, full of pride on this earth But this is just a small snapshot versus eternity I'm comforted to know that...
Chorus – Declaration
He is God, powerful, Creator Kingdoms rise and fall
But He is God, still
Bridge – What it means/eternity
Looking forward to eternity
What an amazing thing to be standing before His throne Because...
Chorus – Declaration
He is God, powerful, Creator Kingdoms rise and fall
But He is God, still
Example of a Problem/Declaration lyric
The writable idea quickly became the draft lyric to "He Is God," which I loaded up to Evernote and polished up over the next few months. Having had the lyric settled for a while I entered it for Integrity Music's "Search For a Hymn" competition last year, which it went on to win.
We tweaked the lyric very slightly in the studio with the help of my fab producer, Trevor Michael, and Chris Lawson-Jones from the A&R team at Integrity, eventually deciding on a double Verse to start with. We also added a musical interlude signaling a change in focus before the last Verse.
Here's the final lyric:
Lyric: "He Is God"
Verse 1
I choose to put my trust in God