Creativity Quote by Michael W. Smith

Instrumentals are often treated like interludes: pretty, pious, and safely backgrounded. Michael W. Smith flips that assumption. When he talks about "the instrumental thing", he’s not romanticizing virtuosity or studio polish; he’s naming a high-stakes gamble. Strip away lyrics and you lose the easiest path to meaning. What’s left has to stand on its own spine: melody.

The phrasing matters. "Power of the melody" frames melody as a force, not an ornament. In a pop landscape that regularly prizes beat, texture, and production tricks, Smith is arguing for the oldest currency in songwriting: the part you can hum when the speakers are off. "Carry the record" is even sharper. The melody isn’t just a nice theme; it’s the load-bearing wall. If it collapses, no amount of reverb, orchestration, or tasteful guitar work saves the project.

There’s also an unspoken theological and cultural context here, fitting Smith’s Christian music lineage. Lyrics in that world often do heavy lifting: testimony, doctrine, uplift. An instrumental risks sounding like a retreat from message. Smith’s intent suggests the opposite: melody can communicate conviction without spelling it out, moving listeners at the level beneath argument. It’s a craftsman’s statement, but also a marketing one: if the tune is strong enough, it crosses radio formats, worship settings, and living rooms. Wordless music becomes a broader invitation, carried not by explanation, but by recognition.