M. Ward Quotes About Songs

Quotes about: Songs

• It might be a meaningless moment, but those sparks that ignite the song.... It's mystical maybe, those magic moments. And to make music for a living, to perform these songs over and over, you have to safeguard those sparks. If you can do that, they'll last a lot longer.

  M. Ward

  Song, Writing, Magic Moments

• If I'm writing... even a piece of a song... I write it down. If it still resonates six months down the line, a year, even five, those are the ones you put in your bag and you take to the studio. You come to realize, the ones that don't make it, they were only meant to live for that moment in your notebook or on the 4-track-and plenty of songs never get any farther than the 4-track.

  M. Ward

  Notebook, Song, Writing

• I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about.

  M. Ward

  Song, People, Records

• I've never used the word jamming. It's a matter of finding a great song and learning the chords, then slightly altering the vocal melody, and matching a classic chord progression with another chord progression.

  M. Ward

  Song, Matter, Matching

  Source: www.avclub.com

• I believe in working with songs that have personal value for me.

  M. Ward

  Song, Believe, Personal Values

• My philosophy for producing a record is for everyone involved, including myself, to get out of the way of the song, and at the same time, listen to it as closely as you can, and listen to where the song wants to go.

  M. Ward

  Song, Philosophy, Records

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• I don't like the way recording to digital sounds. Most of the time when I'm recording to 2-inch tape, I still have a romantic vision of how songs sounded coming out of the radio when I was younger, and how they sounded coming out of my little four-track cassette player.

  M. Ward

  Song, Player, Two

  "M. Ward's Metallica phase". Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. May 3, 2007.

• Try to take your vision and ego as far away from the song as possible. Give as much respect as you can to the song and the initial inspiration.

  M. Ward

  Song, Inspiration, Giving

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• It's no fun for me to cover a song and produce it the exact same way as it already exists. When I hear that happening, I have to say, 'What's the point?

  M. Ward

  Song, Fun, Way

• If you think of the way Howlin' Wolf made records, you get the feeling there wasn't a production manager onsite, or a publicist having his say on how he should sing the songs. When you listen to his records, you feel like you're tapping into his voice.

  M. Ward

  Song, Thinking, Voice

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• The songwriting style, to me, is superior. There was a certain amount of joy in it, no matter how sad the song is. You get joy in listening to these Buddy Holly or Roy Orbison sad lyrics. I'm attracted to songs that have balance between the darks and the lights and giving them all equal opportunity.

  M. Ward

  Song, Opportunity, Light

  Interview with Bob Boilen, www.npr.org. November 17, 2006.

• I just want the songs to have the staying power as my favorite songs. If you listen to any Hank Williams song, when you're in a good mood, it's going to put you in a better mood. If you happen to be bummed-out, you're going to feel maybe a little more bummed-out and better at the same time. At any time in my life, his music has had meaning and value to me. If a song can shape-shift in that way, that's a sign of success.

  M. Ward

  Song, Shapes, Want

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• When I first started making music, it was learning other peoples songs and putting them onto four-track. Like Beatles songs and stuff. When I started writing, I used the singing side of the production as a vehicle for melody and lyrical ideas.

  M. Ward

  Song, Writing, Ideas

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• In order to make a normal-sized record, a singer songwriter should have a couple dozen finished songs. Once they go through the process of production, the ones that scream out at you that they're finished are the ones that make the record.

  M. Ward

  Song, Couple, Order

• From a very early age, I started to get really interested in how songs were put to tape. Not just listening to the songs, but the way the songs were recorded.

  M. Ward

  Song, Listening, Age

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• The production process has a great way of bringing songs to light and that's a big part of it.

  M. Ward

  Song, Light, Way

• I find that the time that goes by is actually your best friend when you are making a record. The passing of time gives you perspective on what you recorded and what you wrote. If something sounds good to you 12 months after you recorded it then chances are pretty good that there's something valuable about the part or the song.

  M. Ward

  Song, Giving, Perspective

• I remember when I was 5 or 6 years old, gospel music felt familiar, like I had heard it in the womb or something. A lot of those old gospel songs still give me that feeling, that it's older than time and there's actually music that can tap into a universal subconscious, or whatever word you want to put on it.

  M. Ward

  Song, Years, Giving

  Interview with Steven Hyden, music.avclub.com. May 10, 2007.

• I get annoyed with movies or books, songs or records that deliberately try to make you feel a certain way.

  M. Ward

  Song, Book, Annoyed

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