John G. Elliott shared some thoughts below on how he came to write the song “Awesome Power”. I thought his words sparked some ideas for me…how about you? See what you, my fellow music lovers and worshippers, think:
That song has a most unique history. I had been working as a songwriter in Nashville beginning in 1983. By the time 1989 rolled around I had had 45 songs recorded or printed by other artists. GMA and ASCAP had me giving talks and seminars on songwriting and I always emphasized the importance of re-writing, re-writing and re-writing until a song came into its final form. I generally opposed the idea, held by many, that songs always come by "inspiration"----that it was more like a craft that requires time and investment and refinement. However, one morning in April of 1989 I woke up "hearing" a melody----I was coming, as it were, out of a dream. I cannot now remember if I heard the words "awesome power" at that moment or if they came to me almost immediately---but it would be an experience that I would honestly have to label supernatural. It is my opinion that I was hearing something that was happening in heaven itself---I guess you would have to "be there" to know by the nature of the experience. It has not happened to me in that profound kind of way since then.
Does Elliott’s experience resonate with you? I asked him afterward if he had ever wondered what it’s gonna be like to actually be in the Holy One’s presence someday, and to hear His voice. Is God a tenor or a bass, or can we expect Him to sing the lead?! John says: His voice will probably encompass ultra bass, bass, tenor, alto, soprano and ultra soprano all at the same time! John then suggests reading Revelation 14, as a way of trying to imagine what God’s voice will be like. This whole discussion has another question running through my head: If God is a musical being (as Zephaniah 3:17, among other biblical passages, suggests), do I engage in something supernatural when I sing or otherwise let music get inside of me and motivate me? Is that part of its power, and why God instructs us to sing to Him? Is His awesome power, as when he parted the Red Sea (see picture above), on us when we worship with music?
If John Elliott is right, and he was hearing something going on in heaven that April morning in 1989, I wish I had the ability to more clearly capture what goes on in my dreams, don’t you? (Check my November 15, 2008 songscoops blog entry http://songscoops.blogspot.com/search/label/Millard , in which dreaming is explored a little.) Maybe He’s just waiting for a time when I get more curious about heaven, a time when He can respond with a glimpse through images and sounds planted in my mind. Give it a try – maybe a song’s waiting to be born.
The song scoop story is the result of e:mail contact with John G. Elliott on 7/27/2010.
The below site is the link to a site that gives some history of Elliott’s life:
http://www.digitalcuts.com/mall/P_JElliott.htm
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