“I got a new 4-track cassette recorder a year or so after high school. For a while I would just stare at it thinking, how am I going to do this if I don't play guitar or keyboards? How am I going to write and record a song if I don't know how to play any instruments? I mean, I played the violin, but I didn't know anything about how to work a 4-track.” IfsThinkingKnowsWritingYearsMeanPlaySchoolSongKnow HowRecordsHigh SchoolInstrumentsGuitarTrackStaringViolinKeyboardsRecordersCassettesAfter High School Author:Petra Haden
“The first song I wrote was "Look Both Ways Before You Cross" from Imaginaryland. I started the song by singing a bass line, "hoo hoo hoo hoo."” WayFirstsLooksSongLinesSingingCrossesBass Author:Petra Haden
“Eventually I had so many little melodies and ideas that, you know, that they were all songs to me and I threw in a few cover songs like Enya's "Watermark," Bach, and my dad's song, "Song for the Whales."” KnowsLittlesIdeasSongDadMy DadMelodyWhalesCover Songs Author:Petra Haden
“I didn't know how write a song, (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, bridge, verse), etc., and I didn't know how to write lyrics, so that's when I thought, well, I don't have to write a song with all those verses and choruses or lyrics. I can just sing everything the way I want to. So I sang all the instruments with my voice and just went with it.” KnowsWayWantWritingWellsI CanSongVoiceKnow HowInstrumentsBridgesEtcVersesChorus Author:Petra Haden
“People are born with the knack to write poems and songs. I'm not a poet at all.” PeopleWritingSongBornPoetKnack Author:Petra Haden
“You have to be a poet to know how to write a song with lyrics.” KnowsWritingSongKnow HowPoet Author:Petra Haden
“I put out Imaginaryland, I heard a lot of, "Oh she's copying Laurie Anderson," and I was like, wait... but I don't know her music! Maybe - didn't she have a song called "Superman"?” KnowsSongWaitingHeardCopying Author:Petra Haden
“Everyone knows about The Who, but I didn't. I knew the popular songs like "I Can See For Miles." So that was the first song I worked on because it was the catchiest and easiest.” KnowsFirstsI CanSongMilesPopular Song Author:Petra Haden
“I've already done two cover albums. I don't know, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to do another, but I just did the Led Zeppelin song for fun, and I thought I could do it kind of quick since songs that I love a lot I can do fast.” KnowsKindI CanTwoIdeasDoneSongFunCan DoAlbumsGood IdeasZeppelins Author:Petra Haden
“Our dad played us a lot of old country songs by The Carter Family and he would sing along to it. I loved listening to him sing.” CountrySongListeningDadCarter Author:Petra Haden
