Behind The Song: Your Difficult Decision

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Your Difficult Decision was the last of the pro-life songs I wrote last year. Having set myself a goal of writing four during the school summer holidays I found myself having to squeeze writing time in between leading rock band workshops. The song started in a deserted school playground, taking an acoustic guitar out during lunch hours.

The initial premise was that choosing to have an abortion is often spoken of as having to make a difficult decision with the implication being that because it is so heart-rending it is above criticism. But with every decision there is the possibility of making the wrong choice. But that idea fell by the wayside, as did the original angle for the whole project, which was to write from the point of view of the unborn. Your Difficult Decision ended up being ‘narrated’ by an impartial observer. Sometimes a song has it’s own idea of what it wants to be and you can bang you head against the brick wall or just let it get it’s own way.

The whole thing was a struggle to write and record. I finished recording it just before midnight on my final day but had to go back a redo it from scratch later anyway.

I really had my doubts about the degree of moral neutrality in the lyrics. It’s not child centred at all and there is nothing in the song that even hints that abortion is killing a person until the final lines “It’s your decision…Baby don’t get a say, but you can ask her someday if she thinks you made the right decision.” Even the ‘two people’ in the bridge whose fate is being decided could be misconstrued as being the mother and father, when they are actually the mother and child.

Writing songs like these can seem like an attempt to be holier than thou. I have nothing to be proud of. God has given me, against all odds, a stable family life with four kids and a wife who is far better than I deserve. But as a young man I would have made the man in this song look like a saint. I wouldn’t have promised my support “whatever you decide” while secretly crossing my fingers that my partner would choose an abortion. I would have actively campaigned for it and threatened my complete lack of support if the pregnancy went full term. I wanted the freedom to live in a totally self centred way, without having to consider the needs of anyone else and abortion was for me the final get out of jail free card. God showed me incredible mercy in not giving me the opportunity to add this sin to my many others.

I pray God would use this song to help somebody make the right decision.

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  Other Free songs by Matt Blick

Related Posts: Five reasons for writing pro-life songs
Behind the song: First Black President

The Sho Must Go On

Sho Baraka is one of the best Christian rappers out there. Not only has he got the same strong doctrinal underpinning to his rapping shared by all his Reach Records stablemates, he's a heavy hitter like Tedashii and he tops off the brew with a sense of humour. Here's a few recommendations for you to check out.

First up you want to get Sho's FREE mix tape Barakology. The flavour varies from the out and out silliness of the Serious Rapper Skit and the Intro to the epic track Glorious.


Sho recorded a great interview for christianmanifesto.com which you can download here.


Sho's Prodigy-influenced track Chaos is one of the standout songs on DJ Official's Entermission album. I'll be reviewing the album and giving away a free copy soon, but if you can't wait here's where you can download the track, the album or buy the CD.




Lastly Sho has a new album Lion And Liars out soon. Don't let the freaky artwork put you off ( if you aren't the lions doesn't that make you the liar Sho?).




Related Posts: Tedashii: Identity Crisis review
Lecrae Don't Waste Your Life video (starring Sho Baraka)



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Five Reasons For Writing Pro-Life Songs

If you've picked up a pro-life emphasis on this blog over the last few weeks you're right. Last summer I set myself a goal of writing 4 pro-life songs from the point of view of the unborn. The songs ended up in a kind of bottleneck as I worked through the pastoral implications with others but now my songs and I are ready to face the world, hence the temporary take over of this blog. Next Monday we'll be back to normal with a post entitled “Does the Holy Spirit thrive on chaos?” but today I want to explain what influenced me as a praise & worship songwriter to tackle this issue, by looking at 5 quotes that have shaped my thinking.

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

Fake Martin Luther (Quoted in Parker T. Williamson, Standing Firm: Reclaiming Christian Faith in Times of Controversy p. 5)

Nobody knows who said this, but it wasn't Luther. However the point is good. The amount of children killed by abortion is far greater than any example ethnic cleansing, war or famine. The death toll for the US alone is well over 50 million children since 1973. That is equivalent to a 9/11 every 6 days. Not everyone can be actively engaged in political campaigning, but surely all can speak out? I am a songwriter. Should I write songs about everything else and not this?

Let me write the songs of a nation - I don't care who writes its laws.

Fake Andrew Fletcher (An Account of a Conversation)

Actually what Scottish politician Fletcher said was "I knew a very wise man so much of Sir Christopher's sentiment, that he believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation" and his point was he didn't agree with the view. I think to some extent he was wrong. Songs and art can change hearts, changed hearts can change public opinion, public opinion can change laws.

The person who frames the terms of a debate almost always wins that debate.

David Kupelian (The Marketing of Evil)

Tim Challies pointed out this reoccurring phrase of Kupelian's . Using abortion as an example he says

“The right to abortion was not fought over the right of a mother to kill her child...The child has been left out of the equation altogether. Instead, the debate always has been and seemingly always will be over a woman’s right to choose. It was never presented an issue of life or death, but an issue of choice. And who, in a free and democratic culture, could deny a person the right of free choice? The debate was over and won before it began”.

These songs are an attempt to re-frame the debate. I wanted to present the unborn in these songs not as foetus's, extensions of a womans body or 'potential human beings' but real people with their own hopes, fears and desires.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
So that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD

Psalm 102:18

It's my greatest hope that one day I might meet a worshipper of God who is alive because their mother or father heard one of these songs.

Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9

It seems that no voice has been silenced more effectively than that of the unborn. Even among their champions the emphasis is often on changing legislation, religious ethics or preventing post abortion trauma. I am in no way criticising these aims, or even saying they are being over emphasised. Only that there is an almost completely unexplored perspective. Speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves rather than just speaking about them. And so, rather than ministering to people who have been through an abortion, I'm trying to serve those who have been, or are in danger of being, aborted.



I know it's unusual and somewhat unorthodox, and if the songs themselves suck it's all a lot of fuss over nothing. But...if you think it's a worthwhile aim please leave a comment and say so. Download the songs (the links are below) - they're all free, and if you like them leave a comment. I'm not looking for you to stroke my ego - your recommendation may encourage someone else to listen.

Lastly please give the songs away. Some of the content is pretty strong and you will have use your own sensitivity and faith in knowing when to share a song and with who. Don't forget those who have not had an abortion but would “if they 'needed' one”. And don't forget pro-choice guys too.


First Black President
mp3     Chord Sheet     Read Lyrics      Behind The Song

One Three Nine
mp3     Chord Sheet     Read Lyrics     Behind the song


Salt Water
mp3     Chord Sheet     Read Lyrics     Behind The Song


Your Difficult Decision
mp3      Chord Sheet       Lyrics       Behind the Song

New Song: Your Difficult Decision

Your Difficult Decision is the second of 4 songs I'll be posting through Feb and Mar with a Pro-life theme.

This song tries to capture the sad reality that the decision to abort a baby is often made with little (if any) support or input from the father of the child while, at the same time, still affirming that the decision being made is about a person's life.

When you look into his eyes you know he's frightened
Still he's trying hard to say what's right
'Cos he knows deep down a man should be supportive
So he says "I'll be there for you, whatever you decide"

But he's hoping all you want him to be there for
Is a lift home from the clinic when you're through
You didn't think that you'd be carrying a baby
And you know you don't have the strength to carry two

It's up to you - it's your decision...

Read the full lyrics
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Behind the song post




Related Posts: Behind the song: First Black President

Your Difficult Decision - Preview

Here's the lyrics for the second of my neverborn songs. Download the free mp3 here.

Your Difficult Decision

When you look into his eyes you know he's frightened
Still he's trying hard to say what's right
'Cos he knows deep down a man should be supportive
So he says "I'll be there for you, whatever you decide"

But he's hoping all you want him to be there for
Is a lift home from the clinic when you're through
You didn't think that you'd be carrying a baby
And you know you don't have the strength to carry two

Every woman's got to make it on her own
Every woman's got to take it on her own
They can sympathise, empathise
Blur the truth and rationalise it but
Every woman's got to make it on her own.

It's up to you - it's your decision
It's up to you - it's a difficult decision
They say time will heal
Who knows how you'll feel
One year on from your difficult decision?

When you see your friends and tell 'em all the bad news.
They give you pity and concern but no advice
Everyone holds up their hands as though they're frightened
Of being held accountable when you decide.

Every woman's got to make it on her own
Every woman's got to take it on her own
So they sympathise, empathise
Blur the truth and rationalise it, you know
Every woman's got to make it on her own.

It's up to you - it's your decision
It's up to you - it's a difficult decision
They'll applaud you today
But when you crumble they'll just turn and say
"You gotta live with your decision."

Sometimes there's nothing riding
On what you decide
And sometimes it's life and death.
Right now there's a choice to be made
About two people's fate
But only one gets to choose...

It's up to you - it's your decision
It's up to you - it's your decision
It's up to you - such a difficult decision
Baby don't get a say
But you can ask her some day
If she thinks you made the right decision.

(c) Matt Blick 2010 Neverbornsongs.com

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Behind the song post

Related Posts: Behind the song:First Black President

Wednesday News: A New Home For Grace Church

My home Church, Grace Church Nottingham, has been on something of a whirlwind journey recently. For the last few years we've been looking to lease a building as a more permanent alternative to rented rooms at the Notts County Football Ground that we are beginning to outgrow. On Sept 29th last year our venue team took at a look the former Labour Exchange right in the center of Nottingham. It was wonderful, but far too big (and almost certainly too expensive to lease).

Now a mere 4 months later Grace Church owns the building!

There isn't time or space to list all the marvelous ways that God has helped us through this season but here are a few...

As a Church we only had 3 weeks to raise a deposit. We had 1 week to offically announce an offering and then take it up. Things moved so fast that the information pack the church intended to produce never got made and a national postal strike mean the offering plans had to be rethought even as they were being announced.

And yet by the grace of God we raised £267,000 in a single offering! 
 Our church has about 200 members, around half of them students. This is nothing short of miraculous.

We beat 3 other commercial bidders.

We not only were granted 'change of use' planning permission on first attempt (very rare) but obtained it 2 weeks early. This is unheard of!

God went ahead of us in adding to us church members with experience in architecture, finance, project management and urban planning to serve on a venue team. These people have been such a blessing to us. We thank God for them.

In a few weeks we will have our last meeting at the Notts County Football Ground and begin a new chapter in the history of our church.

God is amazing, and a master of the unexpected.

Related Posts: Behind The Song: No Other God

Behind The Song: First Black President

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This song had it's roots in a pro-life song called 'Neverborn' which I tried to write but ended up scrapping maybe 4 or 5 years ago. All that remained was the title (which I'm using as the name for this project) and a desire to one day write a song reflecting my concern for the plight of the unborn.

Fast forward a few years. Feeling increasingly convicted to try again I set myself a goal of writing 4 songs from the point of view of the unborn over the 6 week school summer holiday - just to see if such a thing was even possible.

First Black President was an idea I had floating around for a while. I was so struck by the irony of Barak Obama's extreme pro-choice position when groups like Planned Parenthood are actively targeting Black majority areas and engaging in what some campaigners are calling a black genocide.

But this song is not about Barak Obama. It's about the millions of children (of whatever ethnicity) who never got the chance that he did to do anything with their lives.

 The opening lines were inspired by a testimony I read of a man who's partner had had an abortion years before. He remembered very little but when asked how old his child would have been if it had not aborted was shocked to find he knew the answer without a second's thought. It was only then he realised how much guilt and sorrow he had buried in his heart. I was also thinking about an article that talked about historical figures who would have been prime candidates for abortion today beacuse of their parental situations. While many such articles are grossly incorrect the point is still valid - who knows what a difference one small life might mean?

The song was written in a week. Early every morning I would run to my church's offices, arriving usually before anyone else, wash, write for a couple of hours, then run home again. Then at the weekend I demoed the song at home.
 
In the lyrics I wanted to capture the amazing and the mundane. A child who doesn't grow up to be the President still has the right to life. I was inspired to write a song in 'swingtime' by listening to Chris Spring's songs Skinny Water and Pilot Song. The old time signature bars in the chorus are either 5/4 or 6/4 depending on whether you're hearing it as a very slow song with a fast melody or more upbeat. I hear it slow. I expected to rewrite the music as I was worried that the chorus was too complicated and the verse was too simple. But they grew on me. Anyway, I had other songs to get on with.

While playing the song I often segued into singing The Bourgeois Blues by Leadbelly. I was really interested by the juxtaposition of Leadbelly's account of institutional racism in Washington , D.C. with the modern reality of a Black President in the White House. I would have like to sample the song but didn't have the time or technology to do it, so what you hear is my pathetic approximation.

My favourite line is "covered in glory 'cos I gave my life" as it was an unintentional double meaning (an American soldier's coffin is often draped in 'Old Glory' - the American flag).

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Related Posts: New song: First Black President
Best books and films of 2009

New Song: First Black President

First Black President is quite a departure from any songs I’ve written before and certainly any songs I’ve posted on this site. It’s not a ‘church’ song, it’s not even really aimed at a Christian audience, though it is still informed and influenced by my Christian faith. It’s a pro-life song.

Having felt for a long time that I should at least attempt to say something in the defense of the unborn, last summer I set myself a challenge of writing 4 songs from the point of view of the unborn addressed to parents, potential parents or medics.

It was a crazy goal, but I did it and so I’ll be posting free mp3s of the 'Neverborn songs', one per fortnight for the next two months, as well as posting a little more about the inspiration for each song and for writing about the pro-life cause. I really like to hear your feedback on the demos.

First Black President was an idea I’d had knocking around for quite a while but, like all the songs was written in one week, a few hours every morning at my church’s offices.

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'Behind The Song' post

You took away my birthday

Never gave me a name

Didn't know my gender

But you can't forget my age

Because thoughts come crashing down on you

In a playground full of kids

Just who do you think I would have been

If you hadn't done the thing you did?

I could have been a contender

The heavyweight champion of the world

Could have been a big sister

To your pretty little baby girl

I could have laughed and danced and drove a car

Wound up as messed up as you are

I might have even been the boy that heaven sent

To be the first black President.

There's a spot on the wall in your home

My picture would have hung

Is it a barren place now?

Or have you filled it with someone?

Thoughts crawl out of the woodwork

Too many to swat away.

Just who do you think I would have been

If you hadn't made the choice you made?

I, I could have been a hero

Covered in glory 'cos I gave my life

I could have been a mother

Three young kids and working nights

I could have been a nurse or a football coach

Could have had your smile, your eyes, your nose

Would my coming still be something you'd lament

If I'd have been the first black President?

Read the rest of the Lyrics

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'Behind The Song' post

(You can also watch an amateur video of the first live performance here).

Related Posts: Behind The Song: The Weight Of Glory