“I think one thing you could probably say for all my albums is that they're all pretty eclectic pop. There's always a little bit of urban influence, some dance, a little bit of country, singer-songwriter, pop-rock. I like everything! On every album you can find that.” ThinkingInspirationalLittlesCountryBitsOne ThingInfluenceRocksLittle BitDanceAlbumsPopsSingersSongwritersUrbanSinger SongwritersEclecticCountry Singer Author:Kelly Clarkson
“I don't deserve a Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. But fifteen years ago, I had a brain operation and I didn't deserve that, either. So I'll keep it.” YearsBrainMusicFameMusicianDeserveYears AgoOperationsHallsAwardsFifteenSongwritersFifteen YearsHall Of Fame Author:Quincy Jones
“As a songwriter, I was influenced by David Bowie - a great writer. A class above everybody in so many ways. Lennon and McCartney, of course. Class stuff. David Cousins was my favorite lyricist.” WayCoursesStuffClassMy FavoriteSongwritersCousinGreat WritersLennonBowieLyricists Author:Rick Wakeman
“My dad said to me the other day, I really am an artistic person. I was shocked as I never saw him as a creative. I think me and my sisters are living out that side of him as my sister is another creative person, she's a songwriter.” ThinkingPersonsSaidSidesFamilyCreativeSawsFriendsDadMy DadArtisticMy SisterSongwritersShockedFamily FriendsCreative Person Author:Robert Pattinson
“It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page.” WritingHas BeensSeemsSongMusicPagesSingingMemorableSongwritingSongwritersSleevesWriting SongsSinging Songs Author:Joan Baez
“Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come.” WantDoeTwoInspirationSongThreeResultsRelySongwritingSongwritersWriting SongsAnnualsOutputGershwin Author:George Gershwin
“Music breeds its own inspiration. You can only do it by doing it. You may not feel like it, but you push yourself. It's a work process. Or just improvise. Something will come.” FeelsMayInspirationProcessSongwritingSongwritersWriting SongsPush Yourself Author:Burt Bacharach
“I tended not to be concerned about whether a song was going to be a hit when I wrote it. Because it became evident that none of us knew what was a hit and what wasn't. So I thought if I just write what I like, why shouldn't people like what I like?” PeopleIfsWritingSongConcernedSongwritingSongwritersEvidentWriting Songs Author:Hal David
“I don't think about commercial concerns when I first come up with something. When I sit down at the piano, I try to come up with something that moves me.” ThinkingTryingFirstsMovingConcernCome UpPianoSongwritingSongwritersWriting Songs Author:Lamont Dozier
“I'd spent five hours that morning trying to write a song that was meaningful and good, and I finally gave up and lay down. Then, "Nowhere Man" came, words and music, the whole damn thing, as I lay down...Song writing is about getting the demon out of me. It's like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you're allowed sleep.” MenWritingTryingWholeSongHoursSleepMorningFiveLaysMeaningfulGet UpDamnDemonSongwritingPossessedSongwritersGave UpGoing To SleepWriting SongsDamn ThingsWords And Music Author:John Lennon
“I write a lot from instinct. But as you're writing out of instinct, once you reach a certain level as a songwriter, the craft is always there talking to you in the back of your head...that tells you when it's time to go to the chorus, when it's time to rhyme. Real basic craft... it's second nature.” WritingRealCertainLevelsTalkingInstinctCraftsSongwritingSongwritersRhymeChorus Author:Janis Ian
“The Bee Gees were always heavily influenced by black music. As a songwriter, it's never been difficult to pick up on the changing styles of music out there, and soul has always been my favourite genre.” SoulDifficultBlackStylePicksGenreSongwritingFavouriteBeesSongwritersBlack MusicBee Gees Author:Robin Gibb
“I am nervous that the craft of songwriting is taking a nose dive...And since I'm a songwriter and I connect with an interpretative, you know, interpretation of a song, I miss it. I just miss it.” KnowsSongMissingNervousCraftsNosesInterpretationSongwritingSongwriters Author:Barry Manilow
“I write a song because I want to. I think the moment you start writing it to make money, you're starting to kill yourself artistically.” ThinkingWantWritingMomentsSongStartingMaking MoneySongwritingSongwritersWriting SongsKilling Yourself Author:Pete Seeger
“I don't write songs, songs write me.” WritingSongSongwritingSongwritersWriting Songs Author:Sammy Cahn
“It's very helpful to start with something that's true. If you start with something that's false, you're always covering your tracks. Something simple and true, that has a lot of possibilities, is a nice way to begin.” IfsWaySimpleNicePossibilityTrackHelpfulSongwritingSongwritersCoveringWriting Songs Author:Paul Simon
“Everybody wants to write a hit song, but in Nashville people want to write the best song, which was my original intention as a singer/songwriter.” PeopleWantWritingSongOriginalsIntentionSingersSongwritingSongwritersSinger SongwritersNashville Author:Melissa Manchester
“I'm a songwriter first...In my career I have never felt that my being a woman was an obstacle or an advantage. I guess I've been oblivious...Sensitive, humbug. Everybody thinks I'm sensitive...There is a downside to having one of the biggest-selling albums ever.” ThinkingFirstsFeltCareersAdvantageAlbumsObstaclesSellingSensitiveSongwritingSongwritersBeing A WomanObliviousHumbug Author:Carole King
“I just tried to come up with some honest songs. What I was writing about was real plain stuff that I wasn't sure was going to be interesting to other people. But I guess it was...I've never had any discipline whatsoever. I just wait on a song like I was waiting for lightning to strike. And eventually-usually sometime around 3 in the morning-I'll have a good idea. By the time the sun comes up, hopefully, I'll have a decent song.” PeopleWritingIdeasRealSongStuffWaitingInterestingMorningSunHonestDisciplineCome UpStrikesHopefullyDecentSongwritingGood IdeasLightningSongwritersWriting Songs Author:John Prine
“I don't force it. If you don't have an idea and you don't hear anything going over and over in your head, don't sit down and try to write a song. You know, go mow the lawn...My songs speak for themselves.” IfsKnowsWritingTryingIdeasSongSpeakForceDown AndSongwritingSongwritersLawnsWriting Songs Author:Neil Young
“I never sit down to write. When I'm moved, I do it. I just wait for it to come. You just hear it. I can't really describe writing. It's in my head. I don't think about the styles. I write whatever comes out and I use whatever kind of instrumentation works for those songs...A lot of people don't listen to the lyrics, really. A lot of people pretty much only listen to the chorus.” PeopleThinkingWritingKindI CanUseSongWaitingStyleMovedSongwritingSongwritersWriting SongsChorusInstrumentation Author:Lenny Kravitz
“I didn't want to be the crippled songwriter or the crippled singer. I wanted to be the singer or the songwriter who was crippled. I wanted to be larger than life and a man among men.” MenWantWantedSingersSongwritingSongwritersCrippledLarger Than Life Author:Doc Pomus
“I'd hate to be a songwriter starting a career today...Al Stanton walked in one day and said, 'Otis, I've got an idea. Why don't you write a song called "All Shook Up"?' Two days later I brought the song in and said, 'Look, man, I did something with it.'” MenWritingLooksSaidTwoIdeasTodayHateSongCareersOne DayStartingSongwritingAlsSongwritersWriting SongsTwo Days Author:Otis Blackwell
“My songwriting and my style became more complex as I listened, learned, borrowed and stole and put my music together.” TogetherStyleComplexesSongwritingRock N RollSongwritersBorrowedWriting Songs Author:Boz Scaggs
“Some of the songs come so fully, it's like they are pre-packaged. There have been a couple that came in the middle of the night. And I thought, jeez, I'll never forget that. And went back to sleep, and it was gone. You'll hear something years later that another songwriter that you respect writes, and you go, jeez, I think that was the remnants of that song that got sent to me.” ThinkingWritingYearsHas BeensNightSongSleepForgetGoneMiddleCoupleSongwritingNever ForgetSongwritersMiddle Of The NightRemnants Author:John Prine
“You can't write a song out of thin air. You have to feel and know what you are writing about. ... Talent is only a starting point. You've got to keep working that talent. Someday I'll reach for it and it won't be there. ... Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it. ... The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success. ... After you get what you want you don't want it. ... Listen kid, take my advice, never hate a song that has sold half a million copies. ... The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote, the melody lingers on.” KnowsWantFeelsWritingKidsLife IsHateSongHalfMillionsAirAdviceTalentPercentStartingWhat You WantSomedayMelodyCopiesSongwritingSongwritersStarting PointAbout SuccessThin Air Author:Irving Berlin
“I always try to write a song, I never just want to write a record. Originally I was not writing songs for myself. ....And I can say this, most of the people who have recorded my songs are songwriters themselves. ... Even if I don't release it myself, somebody else might hear it and want to record it. When you write a song, it gives it that potential. When you write a song, a song has longevity. ... So I wanted to sing inspirational music, and that's exactly how I approached it-only the words have been changed to declare my relationship with God. Songwriting is my gift from God.” PeopleIfsWantGivingWritingTryingHas BeensI CanMightWantedSongRecordsChangedReleaseSongwritingLongevitySongwritersWriting SongsGift From GodRelationship With GodInspirational Music Author:Smokey Robinson
“I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. ... I'm probably writing music now for the same reason as I started writing songs when I was 14-to meet women. ... If you make music for the human needs you have within yourself, then you do it for all humans who need the same things. You enrich humanity with the profound expression of these feelings. ... My songs are like my kids.” IfsNeedsWritingHumansReasonFeelingsKidsSongHumanityExpressionProfoundSingersSongwritingSongwritersNeed YouCompetentWriting SongsPianistHuman NeedsWriting Music Author:Billy Joel
“Everybody wants to write a hit song, but in Nashville people want to write the best song, which was my original intention as a singer/songwriter. ... I left because I could no longer make records that sounded less and less like me. I tried to please people instead of believing in my own strength, until the only thing I could do was walk away.” PeopleWantWritingBelieveSongLeftMy OwnWalksRecordsPleaseOriginalsIntentionSingersLike MeSongwritingSongwritersSinger SongwritersNashville Author:Melissa Manchester
“I like myself better when I'm writing regularly. ... I was influenced a lot by those around me-there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields. ... I'm a country songwriter and we write cry-in-your-beer songs. That's what we do. Something that you can slow dance to...I never gave up on country music because I knew what I was doing was not that bad. ... Most of the stuff I've read about me has been true.” WritingHas BeensCountrySongStuffCryFieldsMusic IsSingingBeerSongwritingSongwritersGave UpCottonCotton Fields Author:Willie Nelson
“Years ago when I was in a cover band and we were playing dances, that was quite a different thing. You were there as part of an event. When you're a songwriter, you are the event. So it's a little bit of a different focus.” WritingYearsLittlesDifferentBitsFocusEventsBandLittle BitYears AgoDifferent ThingsSongwritingSongwriters Author:Andy Wilkinson
“We singer-songwriter people, we're used to getting up and doing our own thing in front of people, and we're it. We're the band, artist, writer, producer, front man. We're the whole thing. You develop, it's not smugness, but this self-reliance, that can limit your creativity. When you're willing and able to invite others into it, you wind up getting a piece of work that's bigger and better than anything you ever imagined it could be.” PeopleMenWritingSelfWholeAbleUsedArtistCreativityPiecesFrontsWillingWindBandLimitsBiggerSingersProducersSongwritingInvitesSongwritersSelf RelianceRelianceSinger SongwritersBigger And BetterSmugness Author:Andy Wilkinson
“As a songwriter, I try not to be sloppy; same with the music. You can be very lean, very efficient, so you're not wasting a lot of time getting' to the point. You're saying it with as pure a word or phrase as you can. That's the part that was craft. You refine and refine and refine. Maybe that's why the songs still hang on, because they're very pure. For one thing, they're very short. "Bad Moon Rising" is like 2 minutes and 12 seconds. I would try to do everything as quickly and with as little extra as possible. It was a challenge.” WritingTryingLittlesStillsSongChallengesOne ThingMinutesPureMoonCraftsPhrasesExtrasRisingSongwritingSecondsEfficientSongwritersSloppy Author:John Fogerty
“Like I say, I'm always writing and if something sticks, it sticks. I get to write with great songwriters in town. Lori McKenna is one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters who's ever walked the planet. I get to write with her. The Warren Brothers are friends of mine and I write with them all the time. Lance Miller is a great songwriter. Tom Douglas - you can't get any better than that. I write a lot of stuff but it's got to stick.” IfsWritingStuffMinesPlanetsBrotherTownsSticksSingersAll TimeSongwritingTomsSongwritersSinger SongwritersAll Time FavoriteFavorite Singer Author:Tim McGraw
“Miranda Lambert is actually mixing the singer-songwriter philosophy with the commercial country [mindset]. And I find it just inspiring. My hat's off completely, because she's pulling it off, and I couldn't figure out a way to do it.” WayWritingCountryPhilosophyFiguresMindsetSingersHatsSongwritingSongwritersPullingSinger SongwritersMixingMiranda Author:Allison Moorer
“Songwriting is like ... being possessed. You try to go to sleep but the song won't let you.” WritingTryingSongSleepSongwritingPossessedSongwritersGoing To SleepSinger SongwritersWriting Songs Author:John Lennon
“Not too many songwriters, when they write songs go for broke. When someone does who's really good, it's astonishing. There's a reason a three-minute song can devastate you, or make you get up and dance, stop what you're doing and go, 'What is that?' It just hits you. And it's a very potent thing you're playing around with.” WritingDoeReasonSongThreeMinutesGet UpBrokeSongwritingSongwritersAstonishingPlaying Around Author:Lou Reed
“Paul Simon once said that a songwriter's supreme challenge was being complex and simple at the same time-writing songs with lasting depth that are also simple enough to be memorable. Jimmy Van Heusen was a master at this kind of song. His music was complex, with deeply rich chord changes any jazzman can embrace, but also possessed catchy, crystalline melodies of exceeding sing-ability. His songs were meant to be sung, not just listened to, and they were sung by the best, with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby at the top of that list.” WritingKindSaidEnoughSongChallengesSimpleAbilityRichMastersEmbraceComplexesDepthListsSupremeMemorableLastingMelodySongwritingMeant To BeFrankPossessedSongwritersVansChordsJimmyWriting SongsJust ListenWere Meant To BeCatchyCrosby Author:Paul Zollo
“As a songwriter, you're allowed to write anything, and as a person, I am all colors in the rainbow. I've been through everything, you know, so I can write a positive song like 'Better Get to Livin'' because that's my attitude. But that doesn't mean I'm happy all the time. You can't be a deep and serious songwriter without feelings. You kinda have to live with your feelings out on your sleeve and get hurt more than most people. The fear I might get hurt means I might not be able to write another song.” PeopleKnowsWritingMeanPersonsI CanFeelingsMightAbleSongHurtAttitudeColorSeriousSongwritingRainbowSongwritersSleevesHurt MeMy Attitude Author:Dolly Parton
“What inspires me is anxiety and the quest to try to change things in my life. ...I got addicted to endings and beginnings and to the idea of always moving around. ...Obviously, whenever you're going through something that's the best time to create, if you're going through something amazing, or horrible, or nothing at all you should be creating. Unfortunately the songwriters of today generally torture themselves to make sure they're writing good songs and take it a little too seriously.” IfsShouldWritingTryingLittlesIdeasTodayMovingSongInspireAnxietyCreatingHorribleTortureSongwritingQuestsSongwritersBest TimesAlways Moving Author:Kevin Drew
“Songwriters I've always been drawn to are people who deal with something of depth in the lyric writing. ...I've always been influenced by the folk song, the storytelling tradition in folk music. And so for years I wrote mostly story songs. I still do that, but as I've gone on, it's gotten a little more personal. I used to write mostly in the third person. I write a little more in the first person now.” PeopleWritingYearsFirstsLittlesPersonsStillsStoriesUsedSongDealsGoneTraditionThirdsDepthFolksStorytellingSongwritingSongwritersFirst PersonFolk MusicThird PersonFolk Songs Author:Bruce Hornsby
“To be a musician, especially a singer-songwriter - well, you don't do that if you have a thriving social life. You do it because there's an element of alienation in your life.” IfsWritingWellsSocialElementsMusicianSingersSongwritingSongwritersAlienationSocial LifeSinger SongwritersWriting Songs Author:James Taylor
“My best songs were written very quickly. Just about as much time as it takes to write it down is about as long as it takes to write it...In writing songs I've learned as much from Cezanne as I have from Woody Guthrie...It's not me, it's the songs. I'm just the postman, I deliver the songs...I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet.” WritingFirstsLongSongDiesWrittenPoetMusicianI've LearnedSongwritingSongwritersWriting SongsWoodyPostmanCezanne Author:Bob Dylan
“As a songwriter, if you can touch people and make them feel a little less alone in the world, then you've done your job.” PeopleIfsWorldFeelsLittlesDoneJobsSongwritingSongwriters Author:Tom Cochrane
“My songs emerge unbidden and unplanned and completely on a schedule of their own...We have, all of us, over the years, written things that responded to the world as it slapped us in the face. Me and Nash, singing "To the Last Whale" and "Find the Cost of Freedom". Stills coming up with "For What It's Worth". These came right out of the news. People have accused us of taking stances and the truth is we don't.” PeopleWorldYearsStillsLastsFacesSongWrittenTruth IsCostNewsSingingSongwritingSongwritersSchedulesAccusedWhalesSinger SongwritersWriting SongsStance Author:David Crosby
“My discussion with Keith Richards about the creative process led me to believe that there's an invisible presence of a stream of ever-flowing creativity that we overhear-all you have to do is pull up the antenna and dial it in. This presence allows you to maintain your sense of origin and move forward.” BelieveMovingProcessMusicCreativityCreativeInvisibleMoving ForwardDiscussionStreamsSongwritingCreative ProcessSongwritersWriting SongsKeithPull UpsAntenna Author:Billy Gibbons
“Being a good songwriter means paying attention and sticking your hand out the window to catch the song on the way to someone else's house!” WayMeanHandsSongHouseAttentionWindowPay AttentionSongwritingSongwriters Author:Nanci Griffith
“A lot of the great songwriters in history have been collaborators, with a separate lyricist.” Has BeensSongwritingSongwritersSinger SongwritersCollaboratorsLyricists Author:Mike Gordon
“I'd advise all you songwriters out there, if you're getting into it for the business, go home and get a job digging ditches or something. Get a life. You'll learn a lot more, and you won't write a lot of rotten poetry.” IfsWritingHomeJobsSongwritingSongwritersAdviseRottenDiggingDigging Ditches Author:Butch Hancock
“Songwriters might write cynical, world-wise lyrics and constantly talk about money, but most of us are downright naive when it comes to business.” WorldWritingMightWiseSongwritingCynicalSongwritersNaive Book:Willie: An Autobiography Source: Willie: An Autobiography