Christmas song demo

[Trent]

Hey guys--here's the first version of a new cross-centered Christmas tune I wrote this last week. Not sure on groove yet--could go a little faster and be similar groove to "Sweetly Broken," but I don't want to drive too much and lose the vibe.

TrentSmithMusic - Emmanuel (Jesus, Morning Star) - SoundCloud

Emmanuel (Jesus, Morning Star)

Sun of glory, Fount of light—
Emmanuel.
Portrait of the Father’s heart—
Emmanuel.

How deep is this violent love,
That would lead You to a cross.
How wide is Your mercy, Lord,
That You made a way for all of us!

Jesus, Morning Star,
You are Emmanuel.
Holy Lamb of God,
You are Emmanuel.

King of Heaven, Hope of Life—
Emmanuel.
Freely given for Your bride—
Emmanuel.

Hallelujah!
How great is the love lavished on us!
Hallelujah!
Salvation has come to us,
Has come to us.


Feedback welcome!
t

[Lisa D]

That is a beautiful song! The words are so simple, but they are really beautifully simple if that makes sense. I love the melody too! Really nice!

[pian0dude]

@Trent: Love it dude!

I do have to be honest with you about one things... many aspects of the chorus vocally remind me of "Falling Slowly" performed Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in the movie "Once".

The vocals (bgv included) on the beginning of your chorus, especially... remind me of the "take this sinking boat and point it home". Notice I said "reminded" me of ;-)

Beautiful song though!

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

Great song. Tells the reason for the Christmas story, not just the sentimental part.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Tom

[russhutto]

Hey Trent, good stuff!

I like the vibe!

Could you elaborate a little bit on your choice of "violent" love in the prechorus? I love the lyric, I'm just curious to hear your thoughts behind using it.

[Trent]

Thanks for the feedback!

Russ--why "violent love"? I see God's love as "violent" on several levels--if it is true that "none seeks after God" (Rom. 3) and that the heart of man is "desperately wicked" then God's love must be nothing less than an arresting force to reach us. Also--the means of our redemption was nothing short of barbaric...the word "violent" is a reference to that as well. Overall the lyric of the song is simple and I don't want people to gloss over some nice words and say "endless love" or something else that's warm and fuzzy. I mean to kindly knock them over the head with the facts. I guess I'm a little violent too.

@Pianodude--yaaay! I was hoping someone would hear the similarity. I didn't try to mimic "Falling Slowly." I did realize part way through that there was an influence there, so I took deliberate measures to not use exactly the melody or chord pattern. Maybe 5 years ago I would have given up on a song because it was similar to another, but I just hear way too many songs that are similar to each other to let it bother me anymore. We could all list MANY examples. In fact, a publisher I talked to yesterday said he recognized the similarity in vibe and thought it was a good thing--that I should be careful not to lose that when recording it.

[pian0dude]

@Trent: I agree with your comments. So you said "yaaaay"... do I win a prize or something? Ha ha

[danielled]

Maybe 5 years ago I would have given up on a song because it was similar to another, but I just hear way too many songs that are similar to each other to let it bother me anymore.

That's a really good point. I don't know how many songs I've given up on before I even really gave them a chance because some amazing writer somewhere already wrote on the subject. As a result I have very, very few songs written If we want a song that has no similarities to anything else in content and style we might as well just give up! BTW, I love the Once soundtrack.

[Trent]

new version

just posted a new version of this song--minus BU vox...

Piano is a little busy--need to chill a bit on the keys.

t

http://soundcloud.com/trentsmithmusi...-star-version2

[Lisa D]

I still like it.....I really don't have a lot of experience to critique....but for someone who just loves music....I do like it a lot!

[pian0dude]

Trent, being a keys player myself, I love the keys on the 2nd version... sounds beautiful... I did definitely miss the BGV's though, especially on the chorus.

What you are doing on the keys through the verses definitely makes it sounds somewhat "Christmasy" which I think was the original intent of this song right?

Great work!

[Trent]

BG vox

Yeah--I recorded this for the other half of the duet to pratice to! The finished version will def have BU vox...

thx for your kind words--God Bless!



trent