Andrew Peterson (who just played a concert in Hawaii) was recently interviewed by CCM Magazine.  At one point, he is asked about the assertion that the more specific a song’s content, the more accessible it can be to listeners (which, of course, sounds counter-intuitive).  His response:

There’s this assumption that you have to broaden your focus if you really want to reach a lot of people, but there’s a long list of huge songs that are actually very specific and vulnerable. A few months back I was a part of an adoption fundraising concert my church put on, and they asked a bunch of songwriters to do cover songs. I chose “The Heart of the Matter” by Don Henley. Chances are, if you’re anywhere near my age or have ever listened to the radio, you have heard that song.

When I started learning the lyrics I was astonished by how vulnerable and confessional it was. I mean, I knew the song was deep, with a chorus like, “I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter … and I think it’s about forgiveness … even if you don’t love me anymore.” But Henley lets us into his selfishness, his regret, the fact that he let work come between him and the one he loves. It’s what I love about Rich Mullins’ best songs.

On the other hand, writing from a sharp focus might limit the breadth of your reach when it comes to radio or whatever, but it also might deepen the reach into the heart of that one person who was really ambushed by the song. If I had to choose between reaching a ton of people with a shallow song, or reaching deep into the heart of just a few people with a song that’s about a very specific kind of heartache, there’s no doubt which I would choose. I’m one of those people whose life was literally changed because of a song.

I like the idea of there being two kinds of “reach,” with one being radio and the other being the heart of the listener.  It’s also nice to see a nod to Rich Mullins.  It was a cool moment when Peterson segued into Mullins’s “I See You” during last week’s concert.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

(image from andrew-peterson.com)