Songwriting Quotes - Page 19

I really like and singing, and songwriting and producing. It depends on the song and the mood and who I'm working with, what the song is about and where it came from, any number of things affect the levels of creativity. I try not to do too much delineating with my art. Really, it's art, so for me I don't have a most, I just really enjoy my entire process.

Lalah Hathaway

Song, Art, Creativity

Source: lasentinel.net

7 Copy quote

Show source
Do I start with the lyrics? No. Quite honestly, it's the opposite. I generally get the melody first - I kinda fiddle around on the guitar and work out a melody. The lyrics are there to flesh out the tone of the music. I've tried before to do things the other way around, but it never seems to work. Obviously, I spend a lot of time on my lyrics, I take them very seriously, but they're kinda secondary. Well, equal, maybe. I think sometimes that if you write a poem, it should remain as just a poem, just... words.

Iron & Wine

Writing, Thinking, Guitar

13 Copy quote
What happens a lot with songwriting is that a melody or rhythm or something stays with you like catching a cold. And during that time what happens is that I can then fit things on to it, it all fits and glues together. Sometimes it's crazy cos it can almost be anything. But if you catch the cold then the nonsense makes sense. It's like you're getting beamed it, like with a ouija board and something's pushing your hand. It's not a pleasant experience necessarily.

Thom Yorke

Crazy, Hands, Together

7 Copy quote
Some people, it [songwriting] comes faster. Some people, it comes slower.

Leonard Cohen

People, Faster

4 Copy quote
I have all these computers and keyboards and synthesizers, and I rattle away. For instance, with The Lion King I wrote over four hours worth of tunes, and they were really pretty -but totally meaningless. So in the end I came up with material I liked. We worked on The Lion King for four years, but I wasn't toying until the last three-and-a-half weeks properly. On Crimson Tide, on the other hand, I just went in and within seconds I knew what I wanted.

Hans Zimmer

Music, Kings, Hands

14 Copy quote
In a basic music way, my sense of melody and my style of songwriting and production carry the same thought process into the new music. I'm thinking about machines and electronics, and how they interact with motion, which I've touched upon in the past. Those key themes are my main interests, and they are really the foundation for my approach to music.

Sophie

Past, Thinking, Style

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

4 Copy quote

Show source
I don’t shake at the site of alcohol anymore. I don’t feel the need for it. If anything I’ll get stoned. I always told myself if it got to the point that it was affecting my songwriting and music that I’d stop. And it did get to the point.

Julian Casablancas

Alcohol, Needs, Site

4 Copy quote
Someone should have a record that doesn't have any singing. It's my favorite Miles Davis record. I love hanging out in the summer, in New York, when it's miserably hot. I love electric Miles Davis in the summer. Jack Johnson, the songwriting especially, is a premier example of that. It always makes me feel hot in the city. It's also nice to have something not yelling in your ear. For me, as a lyricist, it's nice to put on something without any words.

Craig Finn

Summer, New York, Nice

4 Copy quote
Annie Lalley is one of the funniest and most likable personalities you'll ever see on stage --which makes the depth of her songwriting all the more striking

Pierce Pettis

Personality, Depth, Annie

5 Copy quote
I just want to make a beautiful film. I've had it in my head for so long, so I want to try. Every now and again I get scared. And that's not really how I operate in songwriting or as Sia the artist, the singer. I don't operate from a place of fear. But this is such a new area for me. I still have some insecurity. So, like, once a week I get washed from the top of my skull down to my toes with this vomitous feeling of fear. I think, "Just don't do it. You don't have to do it. You're already a singer and a songwriter. Really, you don't have to make a movie.".

Sia Furler

Beautiful, Artist, Thinking

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

9 Copy quote

Show source
George Harrison is perhaps one of the most creative people I ever met, not only in his music and songwriting, but just the way he lived his life, decorated his gardens and homes. He was a dear friend of mine. His entire approach to music was very unique.

Gary Wright

Life, Home, Unique

4 Copy quote
I find on songwriting, I really have to work at making sure I'm not imitating myself. You know? Which happens to all of us. When an artist becomes really famous, you'll start listening to songs and saying "Wait...I've heard that before" and it'll be one of theirs. We all fall into that rut. If you don't have something to force you out of it, then it's kind of a dangerous business.

Andy Wilkinson

Song, Fall, Writing

4 Copy quote
I've been making electronic music since I was 12. I was making music as soon as I knew how to make sounds on a piano. My parents had a baby grand, and the piano is still my favorite instrument. I look at it as a songwriting machine.

Travis Stewart

Baby, Parent, My Favorite

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

4 Copy quote

Show source
Everybody has their own approach to songwriting. When you're an electronic musician, the whole writing process just depends. Some people have a very live way of writing electronic music, very improvisational. They set up a lot of gear and do live takes. I'm concerned with having a specific kind of sound. There's not one second that I haven't put thought into. I put almost as much time into my live shows as I do into writing music, but they're two completely different processes. Some people think the way I perform live is how I write songs, which isn't true at all.

Travis Stewart

Song, Writing, Thinking

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

4 Copy quote

Show source
I think I'm better at producing than I am at being a songwriter, but it doesn't change the fact that I still have a desire to play and write songs. I've never wanted to be a career musician. But I still love to play and write. It's a big part of who I am. Songwriting is not particularly easy for me. I think it would be easy for me if I didn't have such high restrictions and feelings about what I want my music to be. I'm not precious at all when it comes to producing music and I can bring that to an artist and let them expand their horizons.

John Congleton

Song, Writing, Artist

Source: www.wbur.org

4 Copy quote

Show source
So I realized when I was successful in a piece, it was because I didn't abandon a notion early on what it ought to be, and I let it take me along. So I've had songs that started out as being about the environment and ended up being love songs and love songs that ended up being about the environment. I've had things that I thought would be a poem and realized that it was just too big for that. I've got to do something larger and it became a play. I wrote one poem that started a whole play.

Andy Wilkinson

Song, Writing, Successful

4 Copy quote
The more people who come from musical backgrounds and go into promotion, production, songwriting, A&R, plus get their business head together, the better. They'll not only understand the business aspect, they'll also have a true passion and ear for how quality is represented musically. Plus consumers will always have a hunger for R&B music.

Damon Thomas

Passion, People, Musical

Source: www.billboard.com

4 Copy quote

Show source
Finding out that Ray Charles sang country songs but it sounded as soulful as any rhythm and blues record that kind of opened up my horizons for what songwriting was and what singers I could listen to.

Michael Kiwanuka

Country, Song, Kind

"Michael Kiwanuka: For Those Who Think Young". Interview With Scott Simon, www.npr.org. July 28, 2012.

4 Copy quote

Show source
A lot of times I have the song inside of me and I have to fight to get it out. I'm a very visual person, so I can see the song but I can't hear it. But I think that if your music becomes a war for it to happen, in the end there's a certain kind of aggression in the music. And I think that's a lot more interesting.

Zola Jesus

Song, War, Writing

4 Copy quote
Some things need to be a song. Some things need to be a play. Some things need to be a painting. Some things need to be-though I'd never be a choreographer-some things might ought to be a dance [laughs]. I've found that exploring an idea in different ways, it gives you different opportunities.

Andy Wilkinson

Song, Writing, Opportunity

4 Copy quote
It wasn't so much that I had to leave to make it in the music business as I was curious to be out on my own and sort of explore. I never felt that where I was ever influenced my songwriting.

Matthew Sweet

Mind Your Own Business, Curious, Music Business

4 Copy quote
I've always gravitated towards songwriting that happens easily and spontaneously, because those have always been my best songs.

Jane Wiedlin

Song, Happens

4 Copy quote
The funny thing is, because I was doing a lot of theater when I was a kid, and a lot of that was musical theater, as I got older I became more interested in acting as a separate entity and music as a separate entity, like songwriting and production and recording and playing music.

Guy Pearce

Kids, Funny Things, Musical

Source: www.aboutfilm.com

4 Copy quote

Show source
Most songwriting like poetry takes a careful selection of words. Sometimes you're just channeling something and a selection of words come out that you wouldn't normally say, but you come up with an assortment of words that are really special. It just makes sense even if it's normally how you wouldn't express yourself.

Vance Joy

Special, Sometimes, Express Yourself

"Vance Joy’s Imaginary Dreams". Interview with Ilana Kaplan, www.interviewmagazine.com. September 3, 2014.

8 Copy quote

Show source
You're just like, "I like doing this - it's something I have a lot of passion for." You happen to do it, you enjoy songwriting, and eventually if you're writing enough songs, then you fall into it.

Vance Joy

Song, Fall, Passion

"Vance Joy’s Imaginary Dreams". Interview with Ilana Kaplan, www.interviewmagazine.com. September 3, 2014.

8 Copy quote

Show source

You May Also Like Quotes On:

Songwriting