Despite being restricted within the four walls of our rooms, songs with lyrics that are powerful let us go beyond our boundaries. It makes us shift our mind, heart, and soul from the earthly to the heavenly in an instant. That’s the impact of what amazing lyrics and music do!
Here are 6 songwriters with varied genres who shared a piece of their journey that is sure to resonate with some of us.
David Livingstone
God rescues us from our brokenness to a place of wholeness, that’s the amazing testimony of David Livingston. He was born and raised in Hyderabad and has been currently living in Abu Dhabi for a year or so. He approbates that a song is a profound way of expressing your heart to God. His songs come to life during his quiet times with God. At the age of 17, he wrote his first song, ‘Aradhana.’ He has also written 10 songs thus far. He says “when our focus is on lifting His name there comes a kind of peace upon us that’s beyond our understanding”. Lastly, he believes music and lyrics are one of the most powerful weapons to reach people with the gospel. May this inspire many of us too to bring people to Christ with the music we create.
IG:https://www.instagram.com/david.sir/?igshid=959qyrvwrn2x
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEYQXt7atLY
Pratap Darshi
From a journey of being orphaned to finding his purpose in God, Pratap Darshi has written numerous songs that have touched the heart of many. He is the director of Burn 24/7 in India and South Asia and has pioneered the 24/7 Worship and Prayer Movement for the past 11 years. His lyrics and music come from a spontaneous outflow of worship, from the throne room of God which has touched and transformed many lives. Besides popular Sunday school songs that he’s written, his best-known songs are ’Sunadarane’ and ’Ninna Prasaanathe’ and there are many more to come.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/prathap_darshi/?igshid=1mgcz93w7910o
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShZ4b2NdZs&feature=youtu.be
Tali Angh
Born in a small town called Longleng in Nagaland, Tali moved to Dimapur in 1990 and currently resides there. He also has lived in Ghaziabad for a year and thereafter studied in Bangalore for 7 years. It’s been almost 14 years since he started his songwritingjourney. Tali writes his songs with a desire to connect people with God. He believes that inspiration can come alive anytime and anywhere. He also believes that at times, we need to be patient until we feel the authenticity coming from within when writing songs. Tali considers songwriting more of a spiritual practice than skill although that is very important, and it’s also about learning to work with the Holy Spirit and your co-musicians. ’My Only Dream’ was the first song he penned down. He has written over 30 songs thus far and there are many more that he’s currently working on. He will be releasing a new version of one of his old songs very soon titled ’Heros Never Fly Away’ and a few singles this year.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/tali_angh/?igshid=w9q9hatwbspp
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZgg-_d3qA8&feature=youtu.be
Joel Sakkari
Born in Dharwad, Joel went to Bombay in 2012 to learn songwriting and currently resides in Bengaluru. All his songs are based on his experiences in life. He has produced and co-written many gospel songs under the label of ’The Saccharide.’ He’s also part of a synth-pop duo called Droolfox for which he’s a composer and producer. The first song he released is ’Shukrguzzar.’ His song Sonder from a short film called ‘Jenny’ directed Vaibhav Mahadev will be out on the 24th of July 2020. Joel has a story to share through his songs, a message that there’s a solution for everything.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/joelmakesmusic/?igshid=1umsvhkjum7n1
YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSaccharideTv
Praveen Paul
The fundamental thing that Praveen believes in is “If we honor God, He will honor us” and he’s been living by that promise. Born and raised in Mysore, Praveen was someone who always loved music but never thought he would grow up to be a songwriter or a composer. It was when he gave his life to God, he discovered God’s desire for his life. He started writing songs since his college days but about three years ago, it became a serious passion. God has blessed him with a burden of writing for Kannada-speaking people. The first song which he wrote was ’Neene’ followed by ’Bidugade’ and his recent song ’Nanna Devaru’. His next single ’Nee Ba’ talks about welcoming the Holy Spirit which is releasing next month. Up until now, he composed 25 songs which will be releasing in the coming months so do keep a tab on his YouTube and Instagram pages for further updates.
“I encourage everyone to have a secret place and to have a quiet time with Him” that’s all he’s got to say.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/praveen_paul/?igshid=bekr2vemrkr
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDFY7V3xS7o&feature=youtu.be
RJBMADZ
A boy from aamchi Mumbai – RJBMADZ has been writing songs for a long time. He started by writing poems and rhymes and never realized he could convert them into RAPs until he was inspired by Christian rapper, Lecrae. He believes that rapping is his calling and now does it professionally. He credits God for how he has been able to spread the message through his music. Some of his known releases are ’Khel Na Hein’ and ’I Want To See You.’ His upcoming song ’Yeshu Mere Andar’ from his album ’Insaan’ is in the works. Do keep an eye out for its release anytime soon.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/_rjbmadz_/?igshid=1nmih6lodx8ab
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h28J3yv6vEQ&feature=youtu.be
We are sure there are many such hidden gems whom you might know. Let us know some of your favorite singer/songwriters in the comment section.
– Input provided is in collaboration with Christian Music India. Article By Adit Abraham
credits – Nithin Raj | Salome Sundilla
