I sat and watched my daughter jumping into the pool over and over again. Each time she jumped, she created a new crazy way to enter the pool. My favorite part about watching her weren’t even her moves, though they were entertaining. I absolutely loved the names she gave each one of her inventions. Some made sense, like the “kangaroo,” while others were silly jibberish. For some reason the names made the jumps so much more fun! They described so much more detail about what she was thinking and why she was motivated to do the crazy things she was doing. I was soaking it up. I understood her. She is me.
It is beautiful that we all carry the fingerprint of God. It is amazing that it looks different on each of us. For all songwriters, part of that print looks like naming.
Genesis 1 begins with creation. Verses 3-4 in the Message say this:
“God spoke: ‘Light!’ And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night.”
Then, after God created man, He began to show him his creation. God waited to see what Adam would name his creations. Genesis 2:19-20 says, “So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name.”
As we can see in these passages, there is an inherent link between creating and naming. There is something remarkable about a name. What is even more amazing to me is the fact that not only does God name, he also renames.
As writers, we name and rename truths and feelings. Many times during cowrites in the past, I recall not using lines in songs because “it’s been said that way before.”
There is nothing more refreshing than to hear a song that describes the things we feel in our hearts in a new way. So, rather than saying something like “I’m feeling introverted today,” you may want to say “There’s a silence as loud as sirens in my ears (to quote one of my songs☺.)”
So how do we do that? How do we come up with new names? I believe the best creativity altogether comes from the Creator. Training your heart to listen for him, rather than trying to create yourself, usually surpasses anything we can come up with.
So seek Him, read His word, read some good books, listen to some new songs, and then simply listen for Him. The Creator is speaking. Just like with Adam, He will bring you new creations. And you will give new names.
