Graham Jones | Songs That Inspired "Eyes Renewed"
by Graham Jones
While working on my next record, Eyes Renewed, I was thinking about the songs and artists that have inspired me over the years. These songs make me think, wonder, hope, laugh, cry, gasp, and say as a songwriter, “I want to try that!” Maybe some of these are already your favorites. Maybe some of these could become new ones.
“Half-Acre” by Hem
Picture seven guys crammed in a 2000 Dodge Intrepid crying while they go get Little Caesar’s pizza at 10pm, and you’ve got my college experience. I can thank those guys for getting this song stuck in my brain. The whole record is wonderful Americana folk goodness, but this song especially hits home. I love the way the light piano, mandolin, strings, and clarinet help tether melancholy to hope, all while Sally sings:
But I am holding half an acre
Torn from the map of Michigan
I am carrying this scrap of paper
That can crack the darkest sky wide open
Every burden taken from me
Every night my heart unfolding
My home
“Authenticity” by Madison Cunningham
Just call her “Midas,” because everything she plays and sings turns to gold. Even (especially?) on this first record of hers, you can hear that same butter-smooth vocal control, that I-should-go-ahead-and-quit-now-huh? guitar prowess. Songwriters and composers: take note. This title track has always struck me as a great example of what changing from the minor to major mode can do to the thematic punch of a song. You can hear my attempt to do a similar thing in “When I Fall Down” (featuring Caleb Christopher Edwards).
“Say” by Valley
This poppy energetic band from Toronto isn’t in my usual diet of “folky Christian guitarists sing the Inklings,” but this song is just so FUN. And music should be fun, right? The irony is, the lyrics are about some rough fight/break-up, which I think leads to good questions. Could voicing honest frustrations actually bring joy? Does the gospel offer hope for the frustrated? That’s the question I ask in my tune, “Small Things,” clearly inspired by this bop.
“Did Not Our Hearts Burn” by Jess Ray
This song, like Jess’s music, combines basically every hope I have for indie Christian music. A melodic, lyrical hook that buries Scriptural truth in your heart? Check. Honest verses about born-again faith in Jesus that makes you nod teary-eyed with wonder? Check. After you finish spinning all her great worship tunes (Mission House, Matins projects, etc.), spend an afternoon digging into her whole discography. You won’t regret it, and you won’t leave unchanged.
I’ve heard of him, the mighty wind, one hundred stories
Till I was convinced to let him in, he waited for me
From black and white to technicolor bright, he changed the way I see
A mystery came over me, wonder and glory
Did not our hearts burn inside our chests?
“The Reckoning (How Long)” by Andrew Peterson
I had the immense privilege of opening for Andrew earlier this year, and after my set, I was just giddy sitting in the audience listening to him. Until, that is, he played this song. Let me tell you, I wept. That’s probably because it’s the first AP song I heard live, but it’s also because “The Reckoning” is an excellent song. The song respects real Christian faith by offering a worthwhile musical journey (as in, it has a meaningful beginning, middle, and end). The gospel is a story worth believing, and Andrew’s song structure makes me want to. Like so much of his writing, the lyrics are a study in soaring poetry and simple honesty. When the same voice sings “I can hear the howling wind and feel the rain tonight, every drop a prophet in your name” and “I know that I don’t know what I’m asking,” I’m inspired to both loftier thoughts and more honest prayers. I can thank AP’s influence for songs of mine like “Resurrection Song” where I’m really just trying to tell the story of Jesus, capture my own heart, and remember the truth.
“Dear Marie” John Mayer
If you’re already a John Mayer fan, you already know that hidden behind this bluesy baritone pop/rock star is a masterful songwriter. If you don’t, use this song as your front porch entry. Or “3x5,” “In Your Atmosphere,” “Age of Worry,” “In the Blood”…basically anything except “Your Body is a Wonderland” (unless you count Dave Barnes’ parody). Try to learn any of his tunes, and you’ll often be humbled trying to adapt his intricate guitar work and chord progressions. But this song in particular leaves the punch in the lyrics. Instead of just coming out and asking, “is my life all that I dreamed of what I was a kid?” John sings to his middle school crush,
From time to time, I go looking for your photograph online
Some county judge in Ohio is all I ever find
Dear Marie, tell me do you still believe in me
Yeah I've got my dream but you've got a family…
I aim for the same kind of specific, honest storytelling in “Eyes Renewed,” the title track for the new record.
“White As Snow” Jon Foreman
When Jon tells the story from the stage before how his wife asked him to make a worship album—not Chris Tomlin covers, his own stuff—he says something like, “I figure the Bible’s been in the public domain long enough, and I don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing.” We all laugh, but it’s true, and Jon’s struck gold in this category, as in “Your Love is Strong” (Matthew 6), “Equally Skilled” (Micah 7), and of course, this wonderful setting of Psalm 51. Here, Jon effectively conveys the humility and earnestness of David’s need for forgiveness coupled with a simple confidence in God’s mercy: “wash me, white as snow, and I will be made whole.” Even the music and production does a wonderful job of combining a sense of both penitence and peace.
This category of songs from Jon certainly inspired Psalm 56, “When I Am Afraid,” offering a similar sense of musical richness and invitation to the listener to lean on the Lord in times of fear and trouble.
“Lights Gone Out” by Taylor Leonhardt
Don’t fight me, but I think this is Taylor’s best song (by a close margin). It’s earnest, accessible, lyrically honest and rich, filled with musical longing, masterful production, and incredible vocals. I’ll let her words speak for themselves:
What will we find at the bottom-up?
This bitter drink, this awful cup
When all the pain's been swallowed up
Will it make us different?
Will we say with confidence
That the love was worth the risk
That the end is joy?
“Touch the Wall” by Ben Shive
It’s scientifically impossible for a song with the lyrics, “you’re gonna pee your pants when I Peter Pan into the blue,” to make you cry, which means this song is magic and Ben Shive is a wizard. You probably already know that Ben is a top-notch producer and composer (as heard in his 5-star records for Colony House, Andrew Peterson, Ellie Holcomb, and others), but Ben’s songwriting is another thing to behold. His songs feel like a night at the symphony and a chat with an old friend and reading C.S. Lewis, all happening at once over a few minutes. If I ever write a truly great song one day, I hope it sounds like one of Ben’s.
And here’s even more tunes, to give you another window into the music that inspires me. I put these all on this Spotify playlist. Enjoy!
Graham Jones is a Texan singer-songwriter who traces the story of the gospel with thoughtful lyrics and rich melodies. Graham lives in Arlington with his wife Bethany, their son Luke, and their golden retriever Daisy. He loves movie scores, fantasy novels, games (video, board, and D&D), and most of all...chocolate chip cookies. Find more of him and his work at https://grahamjonesmusic.com.
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