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Musicians often have hell to pay for playing rock and roll.  They shoulder the blame for being in cahoots with the devil, and for glorifying him with secret messages supposedly hidden in their lyrics.  If a berserk kid goes on a shooting spree, rock lyrics must have possessed his soul.  If a killer mentions he likes a certain band, their lyrics must have cast a murderous spell over him.  If your lottery numbers don’t hit, heck, why not blame the lyrics of a rock band?

Well, guess what?  There actually are rock bands who write lyrics about God.  Yes, that God.  They’ve glorified God—not the other dude—in their songs.  Here are a few musicians who’ve written music and lyrics about how God has rocked their world:

George Harrison – “My Sweet Lord”

With poignant sincerity, Harrison sang the lyrics, “I really want to know you/Really want to go with you/Really want to show you, Lord/That it won’t take long, my Lord.”  Deeply spiritual, Harrison subtly wove “hallelujahs” and Hare Krishna chants throughout the pious lyrics.  He also underscored his worship of a divine entity with the repetition of the lyrics, “my sweet Lord” throughout the entire song.  Harrison is now with the God he so dearly loved, and that makes the lyrics all the more meaningful.

Stryper – “Honestly”

Blessed with pretty-boy good looks, an abundance of talent, a knack for theatrics, and the ability to write music and lyrics that didn’t preach, these glam-rockers strongly connected with audiences worldwide, and brought Christian metal into the mainstream.  The gorgeous power ballad, “Honestly,” with its sweeping, majestic melody, and passionately delivered lyrics, became their best-known song.  Its lyrics, “Call on me and I’ll be there for you/I’m a friend who always will be true/And I love you, can’t you see/That I love you honestly/I will never betray your trust in me” is a message of comfort and reassurance from God to one of His followers.

Norman Greenbaum – “Spirit in the Sky”

Gospel call-and-response bursts make this sunny, classic rock song shine even brighter.  Greenbaum wrote the lyrics, which convey joyous anticipation of the afterlife, in a mere 15 minutes.  Greenbaum, who is also Jewish and makes numerous references to Jesus in the lyrics, claims he had no religious intentions when he wrote the song—he just wanted to reach a bigger market.  Disillusioning as that may be, the song’s uplifting melody and lyrics make the hereafter a little less intimidating.

Train – “Calling All Angels”

Patrick Monahan of this Grammy Award-winning alt-rock band plaintively sings the lyrics of this emotionally moving song.  He beseeches heaven, God and the angels above to give him a sign of their love amidst the world’s turmoil.  Hungering for an anchor of faith, and professing he’ll be loyal to it once it appears, he sings the powerful lyrics, “I need a sign to let me know you’re here…/And I’m calling all angels/I won’t give up if you won’t give up.”

KISS – “God Gave Rock ’N’ Roll to You”

KISS?  The fire-breathing, blood-spewing band who once dodged accusations that their name stood for Knights In Satan’s Service?  Yep.  A reworking of an Argent song from a uniquely KISS perspective, the lyrics include, “God gave rock and roll to you/Gave rock and roll to you/Put it in the soul of everyone.”  According to Gene Simmons, the song lyrics were rewritten, “as kind of a guitar anthem song, that being in a band and playing guitar was a privilege and a God-given gift.”  And we thank God they were given that gift!

Many rock lyrics aren’t an off-ramp directly to hell.  The bands that pen lyrics about God may come as a surprise, but they’re definitely going in a different direction, on a higher road.

This test will show you powerful lyric writing tips to use song stability to your advantage. This includes writing the music and lyric content.

Think about what your intention is in your songs. Do you want a stable or unstable song and how and where are you building and releasing tension.

Normally you want to match the stability of the music and the words content message. However you don’t have to, It will change the effect on the listener.

Look at how complex chord progressions are in tunes. Anything that isn’t a major chord in the key it’s written in will increase tension. Minor, diminished and augmented chords do this.

The further the chord is away from the solid feeling of the home key, the more tension it builds. Do the tension test that’s on my website Great Song Writing or read my article on it.

Here’s the test and your assignment. Does the chord or lyric leave you feeling like you’re just hanging from a cliff.

Does it leave you wondering what is going to happen next or feeling like you are leaning forward in anticipation? Does the chord or lyric make you feel settled or relaxed? Is it frantic or relaxing?

The next time you go to the movies or watch TV pay attention to the music in happy and suspense scenes. Notice the tension and how stable the scenes feel.

Ask yourself what the intent of the content of the scene is? Does it match the music? Notice what the effect of the combination is where the content and stability are matched.

The second part of the fun is to purposely write a song that gives mixed messages. Take the instability between the songs lyrics content and music to an extreme.

Notice how it effects your creation and the message that gets delivered. Don’t forget to play with instability in the lyrics and the music.

Both lyrics and music can have powerful affects on the listener. The term for music and lyrics fitting perfectly together is prosody.

However mastering having both working together at once and delivering stable or unstable dynamics can really drive the emotional content home.

Lyric and music stability testing will help your understand how to craft your songs to help get the emotional reaction you want from your listener.

When you match your intension with the music and lyrics, it has a far greater emotional impact on your listeners.