An Interview with Randall Goodgame
~ by Travis Stewart

~ Randall Goodgame is a singer, songwriter, husband, father, friend and follower of Jesus. He was written 17 songs recorded by Caedmon’s Call, as well as songs for Jason Gray and Ginny Owens. Additionally, he has recorded four solo albums, including his most recent, Bluebird. He has graciously agreed to share his thoughts about his music and his faith journey with the readers of viaRenovo.

Travis Stewart: I’ve recently been listening to your 2004 album War and Peace a lot. The songs Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 all deal with the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz. This seems to be a lot of content about one subject. What prompted you to write so much about this?

Randall Goodgame: I was moved to write after Schulz passed away. I didn’t plan on writing 3 songs, and I had no idea what the song was going to be about. Whatever I wrote, I just wanted to be deeply meaningful, since the strip was always saying so much more than what was on the page.

TS: In many ways these songs are as much about mourning as they are about a comic strip. How has loss colored your relationship with God?

RG: Well, usually, loss hurts. And the longer I live, the more I have to reconcile my hurting with my trust in a powerful, loving God. Eventually, I start to learn that Jesus didn’t come to take away the pain, but to be our comfort during the pain. So then instead of seeking answers as to why things are the way they are, I seek Him, and he comforts me.

TS: The chorus of Part 1, speaking of the Peanuts character Schroeder playing the piano, reads :

“And he played like Harry Truman
Without those coke bottles
That only Marcie wore

Like Harry Truman
Without the atom bomb
Without the burden of a Third World War”

These must be one of the oddest choruses ever written. How do you come up with lyrics like these?

RG: Great question – I liked the idea of tying a significant touchstone from American history to the song, to help lift it out of the realm of “a song about a cartoon.” Harry Truman was a pianist as a kid, and presided over the US when there was a real threat of WW3. And the Peanuts cartoon was born during that same time.

Listen to Part 1 from War and Peace available here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

TS: Many of your songs such as Shoeshine from the Arkadelphia album have meaning that are not immediately clear to the listener. This is counter-cultural to most of what plays on Christian radio today. When writing songs like this what are you hoping will happen in your listeners hearts and minds.

RG: All songs require faith. Faith they will be heard and enjoyed, and faith that they will be meaningful in some way. When the meaning isn’t immediately obvious, I must have faith that God is doing something that I don’t know about.

TS: One of my favorite songs you’ve written is Hands of the Potter which appeared on the Caedmon’s Call CD Back Home. I specifically like the lyrics:

Lord if I’m the clay
Then I’ve been left out in the sun
Cracked and dry, like the mud from the sty
Still clinging to the prodigal son

But I’m on my way back home
Yes I’m on my way back home

Listen to Hands of the Potter from the Caedmon’s Call CD Back Home available here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

What I appreciate is how you articulate the ambivalence that I’ve often felt in my following of Jesus; I want to follow and I don’t want to follow at the same time. Has this been part of your experience?

RG: Oh, yeah.

TS: When you recognize that ambivalence in yourself what do you do with it? In other words, is there any conscious effort on your part to engage God from that ambivalent part of your heart?

RG: If I realize I’m being distant with Jesus, I’ll confess it (eventually). Usually, that sense is tied to some level of unbelief – whether through fear, or pride, or some sort of idolatry. Thankfully, he knows all this about me and is patient while I come to my senses.

TS: I know you do a lot of co-writing with friends like Andrew Osenga and Jason Gray. How does writing with a friend affect your creative process?

RG: When I’m writing with a trusted friend like Andy or Jason, it’s super fun, because there is no inhibition – only added goodness. When I write by myself, I can let my mind go anywhere without rhyme or reason. That’s harder to do with a co-write because it’s easy to look foolish. But when the co-writer is a trusted friend, you get the benefit of 2 minds willing to be foolish… that’s scary awesome.

TS: I’m going to give you a series of 6 words. Write whatever comes to mind for each one:

Bluebird – My son Ben loves this song.

TS: Bluebird is one of our family favorites as well. Tell me more about how this song was written and what it means to you. Was a bluebird actually keeping you up at night when you wrote it?

RG: This song is purposefully a little light on the details, though I can say there was a real bluebird involved. I began writing it way out in the country at Amy’s mom’s in Ralph, AL.

Listen to Bluebird from Randall Goodgame available here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sylvester – I wonder what he’s up to these days.

Jubilee – Good times

Caedmon’s Call – I love those people more than they know.

Community – Living without it is like living without sunlight.

Beauty – Sara Groves – I’m so thankful for her songs and her commitment to artistry, and even more so now that my daughter wants to learn her songs on the piano.

TS: Thanks Randall!

Find out more about Randall Goodgame at his website or read some of his blogs at www.rabbitroom.com.