But in the meantime let me share a few hints and tips from my own, completely unexpected,  inspiration in 2017 when I wrote His Way after being shocked by the news that Frank Sinatra’s My Way had become the favourite secular song chosen for funerals. So sad that the nihilistic lyrics would be the last words of so many lost people! I wondered what I would want heard at my memorial service and one or two key lines began to take shape over a few days before, in the middle of a dark and cold winter night I could not sleep until I wrote them down. I didn’t even pause to find a notepad but, grabbing a discarded envelope I put down some of the vital lines and thoughts. As they took shape I could see I needed to remind myself of the full text of each verse of My Way and accessed the lyrics online. Even for this first parody I was strongly impressed that my version would be most memorable for using the hooks of the brilliant, but sad nihilistic message of Paul Anka’s thoughts on his Ratpack friend’s life close to retirement. I didn’t yet have the word ‘hooks’ that writers have in their essential vocabulary but felt God’s prompting so strongly that I was completely oblivious of the darkness and cold of that winters night!
 

In order not to start that longer article I will plan to put my lyrics of His Way alongside the compelling words of the original in my blog  to illustrate how my first song developed. I hope also to tell all of my parody stories in due time – if The Lord tarries of course!
 

So, on reflection, what advice can I set down here for aspiring Christian parody writers?
 

The first essential is, for me, our relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and God the Father that we have learned in our redeemed life to recognise his promptings through the Holy Spirit. Because I came to faith back in the 1960’s I have a good many experiences of acting upon His leading and the blessings and even miracles that are part of my redeemed life’s story. Sometimes though, God has to draw us over the long ups and downs of life. Others, like my sudden inspiration to begin lyric writing can come over a shorter time scale. It will probably be different triggers that set you on a new mission – as this has become with me. I guess my first triggers were shock, lament and concern as I mulled over this utterly disturbing trend in what used to be called a Christian country. I am not a conventional preacher and after a brief period giving up my secular job and working for the mission Spree ’73 during that year I felt called back to continue in a marketing role in industry followed by a number of self-employed entrepreneurial ventures, which at 81 years old I am still involved in part-time. As I grew in my Christian life I have become more and more exercised at our failure in the church to reach the lost with the eternal Gospel of Salvation and The Kingdom of God. I guess, therefore that this latent lament led me, first in 2015 to write my one and only book as featured in this website to share some of my own experiences attempting to alert others to the decline of freedom and freedom of conscience that opened the new mission to reach those who would never normally go into a church or even encounter believers in their daily lives. This, then, for me was the driving force to obey the promptings that have led to just seven outreach parodies and an opportunity for redeeming words crying out to be accessible to those searching for meaning to their lives.
 

After my first parody the others that followed were due to differing triggers as I reflected upon Bible verses and passages that set my thoughts on a particular new song. One trigger was a name plate outside a house that I passed on driving to a dental transplant appointment. By the time I had reached my destination I had most of the verses planted in my mind for a parody of the Ray Charles mega-hit Take these Chains from My Heart. They were virtually ready to be set down as soon as I got back home. The time when I saw on TV an item on the smash hit I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing and the most famous Coca Cola ad of the & 70’s (?) immediately replaced ’to Sing’ with ‘to Live’ (in perfect harmony!). And this was soon another song waiting to be sung about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. You Blessed Me Just When I Needed You Most was prompted after reading that the one hit wonder musician Randy Vanwarmer  wrote it about his father dying during Randy’s early childhood. To my mind this is the most beautiful ballad ever written and led me to reflect upon how many times God has renewed my spirit during life’s trials and tribulations. My lyrics flowed easily to the finished words which have since encouraged many who have heard it online.
 

I could go on, but I hope I have given the flavour of how it has led me to a renewed vision of the neglected vehicle of parody to ‘reach the many people who will never hear from preachers’ to paraphrase Delirious keyboard player Tim Jupp’s quote.
 

In the meantime read the footnote and keep watching my Blog for further revelations!

Wishing you good inspiration and lyricising! Every blessing, Rob/Jude  

 

Note: Take the time to analyse the song's structure, rhythm, and key elements. Try to use any iconic lines or hooks that you can creatively adapt to fit your message. For example, how I adapted "My Way" and incorporated the line "…without exemption," which is one of the most criticized lines in popular music. This is a great example of using a well-known hook that will be recognised by fans of the song. I began mine however, with the very first line “And When the End is Near, I then included a hook in most of the verses and in the last verse showed that ‘I am not ashamed to kneel before’ my, and our, almighty God!