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Have you ever spent days, even weeks or months working on a new song? And when you were finished with it you felt that is was the best work you had ever done?

If you have written more than two songs, you probably know what I'm talking about. We are constantly trying to improve our craft and make the next song we write be the best song we have ever written. A lot of times, we can tell pretty quick if our new song is our best work or not. But sometimes it is not so easy to tell. As a matter of fact, many times we writers are convinced that this new work is our very best ever.

So the next step is always to give the song wings to fly. You let everyone hear your new creation. This is where you can have your suspicions of greatness confirmed, or the hard jolt of reality thrown in your face. Perhaps the hardest reaction to take is one of indifference. When people just say "that's nice".

I have written over 1100 songs in my career. And one thing I have come to learn is that I seldom know when I've written a hit or a miss. Songs that I thought were my best work ever have gone no where. And songs that I forgot about writing have turned up at the top of the charts years later.

"Singing With The Saints" has been a very successful copyright for me. I remember the day I met with John Rowsey and John Starnes to write it. We had spent most of the day working on something else. Then we went out for a very long lunch break. We enjoyed eating and visiting for quite a while. When we got back to the office, we had a little less than an hour before we all had to leave so we decided to work on something else. John Rowsey brought out a verse and a chorus of Singing With The Saints. We made a couple of small changes in it and wrote a second verse to it. One of the changes we made in the chorus was using the word "can't" to rhyme with "Saints". I made the suggestion of using the word "Aint", which I'm not sure is even a word. John and the other John liked the idea so we went with it. After they said they liked it, I was convinced that I hated it.

We finished the song and all went home. I left there thinking that I had fun writing with my two friends, but that song would never get recorded. I thought when we rhymed Aint and Saint, that it would be the kiss of death for that song. So I forgot about it. I just remembered having fun that day.

A few months later I ran into Bill Gaither in Nashville and he told me that the Vocal Band would be recording that song. I didn't know what to say. Because I wasn't even sure if I had written a song called "Singing With The Saints." But Bill seemed to be under the impression that I had. So I went along with it and said thank you. I had to think hard before I remembered that "Singing With The Saints: was the title of that song we worked on that day. I had pushed it so far out of my mind that I couldn't remember a single line of it.

I was wrong. I am so thankful for two co-writers that didn't let me talk them into changing that line. I am also grateful for a publisher that sent it to Bill Gaither.

Now the other side of that coin has a lot more faces. I have written many songs and walked away from them thinking that this was my best work to date. And many times I have been surprised to find out that those songs failed to make the connection that I thought they would with the listener.

I think that when we write a song, we are far to close to it to judge it accurately. That's why a great publisher is such a necessity for a professional writer. It is their job to listen with fresh ears, and make the determination as to whether or not you have succeeded in what you set out to do.

You may not have a publisher, but most of us know at least one person who knows more about music than we do. If it is at all possible, don't choose a family member. They are too close to you, and usually love you too much to give a hard critique when one is needed. But choose someone who's wisdom about music you respect, and take their advice.

Until next time, keep on writing.

Daryl Williams
http://www.darylwilliamstrio.net

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