Not true! But it got your attention, didn’t it?

Songwriting is as easy as eating ice cream. And no brain freeze! It doesn’t get much better than that! 😀

It’s learning someone else’s song that’s hard for me. And I don’t mean intellectually, or technically, or mentally. I mean, dare I say it, psychically and spiritually. To me, it’s like being in a box.

Why do I feel this way? Because if I write a song, it comes from within me. I don’t look outside myself for anything.

That doesn’t mean God doesn’t provide inspiration through other things. Be it nature, scripture, musical notes I heard somewhere, something someone said in passing, a timeless quote, or a feeling–yes, these inspiring things are part of many songs.

However, the song is its own. Really, it’s God’s, and it has its own purpose for being. I truly believe that, and I am blessed to be the vehicle, the vessel, that carries the song to others.

Intellectually, it’s my song. If anyone holds its copyright, I do. But I don’t think of it that way. It’s God’s song, and I get to share it. Thank You God!

But what about learning others’ songs? I love the music others share! In their own way, with their own kind of song, they’re doing the same thing I’m doing. But in order to learn their songs, I have to look way outside myself. I have to learn and emulate someone else.

Looking with-out is what metaphysicians go beyond. So for me, learning others’ songs is a form of ego gratification. And the ego always, always boxes us in!

I like others’ songs. But the reasons I want to learn them are much different from the reasons I write. If I learned songs, it would be:

* To display technical playing or vocal abilities

* To learn a technique to use in my own music

* To give people something familiar to listen to, thus making a connection with them that’s based on past experience

* Because I “couldn’t write one, so I just picked one”

These are not “bad” or “wrong” reasons! But they do come from the personal mind or ego. My human mind, which is finite and limited in its scope, came up with these reasons.

God-Mind’s reasons for me to share music, are something like these:

* To fulfill my soul’s purpose

* To impart universal truth

* To make a spiritual connection first

* To express uniqueness and individuality–because You are One with Me (God-Mind) and I wish to express through You

* To manifest and realize (bring into form and make part of my life/reality) more of God in the world

Can this be done using other people’s songs? Absolutely! Many musicians do it all the time. That’s why there are so many successful cover and tribute artists.

Can this be done by me using other people’s songs? No way! And it has nothing to do with the songs or songwriters! It’s because my purpose is to manifest God uniquely through me, not through anyone else or their creations.

You manifest God through you. John Lennon manifested God through him. And I manifest God through… You guessed it–me!

If any one of us did not exist, God would be a little less manifest. A little less visible. A little less expansive. Because unmanifest Spirit, is not “the Word made flesh.” It’s just “the Word.” It can do more! And the “more” it wants to do, the “more” God wants to do, is to be visible through each of us.

I choose to live and compose by these God-inspired reasons. I still listen to and appreciate others’ music! The world would be much less brilliant without all kinds of people making all kinds of music! However, I choose to play and share what God brings through me.

Other people’s music can enlighten in many ways. One way is to have more people learn and play it. And another is to serve as a light to another composer. If someone’s music does that for me, I’m grateful for that music, the composer, and above all to God, for orchestrating the whole thing! Because “I of myself do nothing. It is the Father within me that doeth these good works.” –Jesus Christ

We all, as songwriters and writers of our lives on Earth, are here to spread a Word. And may that Word be true, God-centered, and full of the Love that created it!