“The first four and a half years was me in the studio every day, writing songs for other people. I had jobs, too - eleven jobs. I worked at Kinko's, Fatburger, Subway - I was a sandwich artist - and I was a claims processor at Allstate Insurance.” PeopleWritingYearsFirstsJobsArtistSongHalfFourClaimsStudiosSandwichesElevenWriting SongsSubwayHalf A YearProcessors Author:Frank Ocean
“I write a tiny fraction of what I used to write. My only job used to be to just write songs, and that was a really nice job to have, but only a tiny amount of people heard those songs, and I didn't make a living from it, and eventually I begged my parents to let me move back into my room.” PeopleWritingJobsMovingUsedSongParentRoomsNiceHeardAmountLet MeTinyUsed To BeFractionsReally Nice Author:Regina Spektor
“I watch artists say they wrote all these songs and don't mention anybody else who was involved, and that's fine. I don't expect an artist to give me credit. I know that they're gonna take the credit for everything. But, it's my job to give myself that exposure and not make excuses, not grow bitter.” KnowsGivingJobsArtistSongGrowsWatchesFineInvolvedGive MeExcuseCreditBitterExposure Author:Rico Love
“The Bowery was a place that would let us do original songs - not just covers - but we would have to work for tips, so we learned how to work an audience. In order to keep our jobs, we had to keep people happy, so that meant playing the latest Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top or Merle Haggard.” PeopleJobsSongOrderAudienceOriginalsHaggard Author:Randy Owen
“You have to love writing a song and architecture. You have to give it a form. It is my job to create a sonic landscape. I like to create ambiance and atmosphere. The writing is the intimate part of it. It is a sketch. The production is the whole painting.” GivingWritingWholeJobsFormSongPaintingProductionsArchitectureLandscapeAtmosphereIntimateAmbiance Author:Keren Ann
“I figure I wrote 37 songs in 20 years, and that's not exactly a full-time job. It wasn't that I was writing and writing and writing and quit.” WritingYearsJobsSongFiguresQuittingFull Time Jobs Author:Tom Lehrer
“Еach song is like starting over. Because somehow, no song's formula works for another. And that's the beauty of it all. Each song's destiny is embedded in its DNA. And our job is to reveal it.” JobsSongDestinyStartingFormulasDnaStarting OverEmbedded Author:David First
“When someone tells me what he or she was doing the first time they heard a song of mine, then I've done a good job. If my song becomes about your life, then I'm successful.” IfsFirstsDoneJobsSongSuccessfulHeardMinesFirst TimeGood Job Author:Lyle Lovett
“As a songwriter, you're never off - for me, anyway. There's a certain mentality of people that decide, "Oh, we're going to try to write songs from this time of the day to this time of the day." Almost treat it like a real job. I can't do that. I've never been able to write songs like that. You never know when something creative is going to hit you, or emotion or whatever. You can take it, and turn it into something that makes somebody feel something. I love that about my job.” PeopleKnowsFeelsWritingTryingI CanRealAbleJobsCertainSongTurnsEmotionCreativeTreatsMentalitySongwritersReal Jobs Author:Kenny Chesney
“I just sing and write songs and wear what I want. It's quite a good job really. If I wanted to I suppose I could become more of a fashion icon, but singing is my thing.” IfsWantWritingWantedJobsSongFashionSingingGood JobIconsFashion Icon Author:Ellie Goulding
“I learned by transcribing songs out of the Library of Congress collection in Washington where I was working. I got a job when I just turned twenty in 1939 and Alan [Lomax] needed some help. I listened to hundreds of records every week.” HelpingJobsSongRecordsWeekNeededTwentiesLibraryCongressCollectionsTranscribing Author:Pete Seeger
“The music takes on all different jobs and hopefully is part of telling the story. Each song has to be a story unto itself. It's a very different set of muscles.” DifferentStoriesJobsSongHopefullyMusclesDifferent Jobs Author:Frank Wildhorn
“Is it me or is President Bush's life starting to sound like a country song. He's from Texas, his dog just died, and it looks like he might lose his job. Next thing, his truck is going to break down.” LooksCountryMightJobsSongNextSoundPresidentLosesBreakDogDiedStartingTexasBreaking DownTruckPresident Bush Author:Jay Leno
“I'd be hanging out in my bathrobe all day, stinky, just writing, and my mom allowed me to do this-as long as I was writing songs. She said, 'As long as you're seriously working on music, I'll support you. Don't get a job, because if you work, it will crush you.” IfsWritingLongSaidJobsSongSupportMomMy MomCrushWorking ItHanging OutWriting SongsSupport YouStinky Author:Rufus Wainwright
“As soon as you start to think of that thing that you want to convey or say, you can always just say it much better than you can actually rhyme it or stuff it into a song. It's very, very difficult to just kind of get your point across without going the back way. And you have to be good at that, to not think about things so hard. Let the pen take over, so that it's somebody else's job to dissect the lyrics and tell you what you're all about.” ThinkingWayWantKindHardJobsSongStuffDifficultBe GoodPensRhymeBetter Than You Author:Ariel Pink