First Place - 2016 Dallas Songwriters Association
Third Place - The Songwriters Association of Washington's 33rd Mid-Atlantic Song Contest 2016
Finalist - 18th Annual Great American Song Contest 2016

This is a demo track I recorded at Nothing But Noise studio, with backup vocals by Lexi Jackson (of Wild the Waters) and Matt Davis (of Thunder Buddies), and some nice guitar licks from Matt.

It's still unmastered, but hopefully is listenable enough to get feedback.

For those of your who are interested in a Biblical connection, here it is:

Matthew 22 New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests." /> Hearts Wide Open by Michael R. J. Roth :: Songwriting Pro :: Helping Songwriters Turn Pro

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Hearts Wide Open

Michael R. J. Roth

June 16, 2017

Genre: Christian

More by Michael R.


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Views: 1692

Responses: 5




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About This Song


"Hearts Wide Open" was a Christian Music Category Winner:
First Place - 2016 Dallas Songwriters Association
Third Place - The Songwriters Association of Washington's 33rd Mid-Atlantic Song Contest 2016
Finalist - 18th Annual Great American Song Contest 2016

This is a demo track I recorded at Nothing But Noise studio, with backup vocals by Lexi Jackson (of Wild the Waters) and Matt Davis (of Thunder Buddies), and some nice guitar licks from Matt.

It's still unmastered, but hopefully is listenable enough to get feedback.

For those of your who are interested in a Biblical connection, here it is:

Matthew 22 New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Feedback Requested


I welcome any and all feedback.


5 Responses


Brent Baxter

Hey, Michael!  Thanks for sharing your song.  Congrats on its success so far.

I like some of the poetry in the lyric.  Sirens that crawl into our beds and wake us.  Sin that we love and love we ignore.  Dogs of addiction that tug and gnaw.

Good stuff.

The verses paint the pain in this fallen world, but there’s some disconnect between that and the chorus, I think.  I’m not sure what it is, but possibly the verses aren’t quite in alignment with the chorus.  Or possibly the chorus isn’t dynamic enough.  I’m honestly not sure on the 1st listen.

But there’s definitely some good stuff in this lyric.  Nice work!

I hope this is helpful.  Please pay it forward by leaving a comment or review on another writer’s song.  Thanks!

June 19, 2017

No members have liked this comment.

Michael R. J. Roth

Thanks, feedback is always helpful. I’ll give that some thought. It’s the first time anyone’s mentioned a disconnect. The dynamic might be due to my shortcomings as a folk singer and my crusty voice. I’d probably have to collaborate with someone with more musical experience in the gospel genre for that, or someone with a soaring voice who has a vision for the dynamic. Anything with more than a six-note range sounds dynamic to me.

June 19, 2017

No members have liked this comment.

barry guy

HI Michael,
Congratulations on a great song, your lyrics speak for themselves as they conjure up imagery for the listener.
I know little about Christian songs so you will have to excuse me but in my mind, I could hear a Bob Dylan song and wanted to hear a folk structure. I think you as a vocalist and no one else in the background with a guitar break in the middle, possibly a bit like the last few chords of your song and (to me) that would be a bit special.

June 23, 2017

No members have liked this comment.

Michael R. J. Roth

Thanks, Barry! A friend of mine told me it was “Dylanesque,” so maybe you’re on to something. I did record it solo originally, but added the vocals and guitar to give it a little more color. I think it pretty clearly defines itself as a Christian song, though I don’t think it lends itself easily to the Christian market. I don’t know if it would fit in the folk market, either, since that tends to favor traditional-style music. There is a bare-bones version (the original) on Soundcloud. If you have a chance to listen to that, let me know what you think. It’s kind of long, so I don’t know if there’s room for a guitar break. But you’ve given me some food for thought, and I’ll have to play around with that idea.

June 23, 2017

No members have liked this comment.

Bob Abner

1) Interesting!!!
2) The disconnect to me (between verses and chorus)—verses are observational (somewhat similar to detached Leonard Cohen songs), whereas the chorus is about we (as a GROUP) in a relatively celebratory mindset
3) I DO think that your wordcraft is really quite good (it particularly shows up in your verses)
4) Best wishes in all your songwriting endeavors!

August 08, 2018

No members have liked this comment.


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(C) 2016 Michael R. J. Roth


From the call of the siren
That crawls into bed
And wakes us at midnight
To pray for the dead
And the cry of the newborn
Who needs to be fed
We have come to you.

From shipwrecks of refugees
Beached on the shore,
The petals of blood
On the dancehalls of war,
The sin that we love
And the love we ignore,
We have come to you,
Yes we come.

Chorus:
And we come
With hearts wide open,
And we come
Laying our pride
At the foot of the cross
And we come
With hearts wide open,
Hearts wide open
To you


Beneath wonders from heaven
That fall from the skies
Our satellite calls
And their urgent replies,
From innocence lost
In the wink of an eye
We have come to you

From the dogs of addiction
That tug at our sleeve
And gnaw at the dreams
That we used to believe,
From the scenes that we fled
Where the victim still bleeds
We have come to you.
Yes we come.

(Chorus)

You answered our cry
In the midst of our dread
And promised your children
Will rise from the dead.
We give thanks to our Savior
Who died in our stead
As we come to you.
Yes we come.

(Chorus)

0

Brent Baxter

Hey, Michael!  Thanks for sharing your song.  Congrats on its success so far.

I like some of the poetry in the lyric.  Sirens that crawl into our beds and wake us.  Sin that we love and love we ignore.  Dogs of addiction that tug and gnaw.

Good stuff.

The verses paint the pain in this fallen world, but there’s some disconnect between that and the chorus, I think.  I’m not sure what it is, but possibly the verses aren’t quite in alignment with the chorus.  Or possibly the chorus isn’t dynamic enough.  I’m honestly not sure on the 1st listen.

But there’s definitely some good stuff in this lyric.  Nice work!

I hope this is helpful.  Please pay it forward by leaving a comment or review on another writer’s song.  Thanks!

June 19, 2017

0

Michael R. J. Roth

Thanks, feedback is always helpful. I’ll give that some thought. It’s the first time anyone’s mentioned a disconnect. The dynamic might be due to my shortcomings as a folk singer and my crusty voice. I’d probably have to collaborate with someone with more musical experience in the gospel genre for that, or someone with a soaring voice who has a vision for the dynamic. Anything with more than a six-note range sounds dynamic to me.

June 19, 2017

0

barry guy

HI Michael,
Congratulations on a great song, your lyrics speak for themselves as they conjure up imagery for the listener.
I know little about Christian songs so you will have to excuse me but in my mind, I could hear a Bob Dylan song and wanted to hear a folk structure. I think you as a vocalist and no one else in the background with a guitar break in the middle, possibly a bit like the last few chords of your song and (to me) that would be a bit special.

June 23, 2017

0

Michael R. J. Roth

Thanks, Barry! A friend of mine told me it was “Dylanesque,” so maybe you’re on to something. I did record it solo originally, but added the vocals and guitar to give it a little more color. I think it pretty clearly defines itself as a Christian song, though I don’t think it lends itself easily to the Christian market. I don’t know if it would fit in the folk market, either, since that tends to favor traditional-style music. There is a bare-bones version (the original) on Soundcloud. If you have a chance to listen to that, let me know what you think. It’s kind of long, so I don’t know if there’s room for a guitar break. But you’ve given me some food for thought, and I’ll have to play around with that idea.

June 23, 2017

0

Bob Abner

1) Interesting!!!
2) The disconnect to me (between verses and chorus)—verses are observational (somewhat similar to detached Leonard Cohen songs), whereas the chorus is about we (as a GROUP) in a relatively celebratory mindset
3) I DO think that your wordcraft is really quite good (it particularly shows up in your verses)
4) Best wishes in all your songwriting endeavors!

August 08, 2018


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