Songwriting Quotes

At first it was my brother's songwriting and I was just doing what everyone told me.

I'm a fairly tormented artist, and I'm less willing to indulge myself in self-pity, outside of songwriting.

And I look forward to the time when I can become more indulgent with my songwriting. But this band is a family, and it's a process that we have to grow with together.

Location is a very important aspect to songwriting.

I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.

The music is in the lead here, and a large part of this, I have no idea what I'm doing. I feel a closer bond with the craft of songwriting, stronger than I ever have.

I think probably the only thing that is around in these songs is that I was really lonely when I wrote a lot of them. But it was really by my own choosing because I was devoting myself to songwriting and dancing and I wasn't really going out and seeing people.

Songwriting is different from music, although I don't deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory.

Well, our songwriting process is pretty collective.

But this is pretty new for me, both songwriting and singing.

Raymond Chandler managed to write about L.A. his whole career. Should I keep going writing about New York? Is that what I should be doing? Songwriting doesn't work that way.

Probably most successful songwriters have an innate songwriting ability.

Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest.

For me, songwriting is something like breathing: I just do it. But that doesn't mean you're fantastic.

I think that songwriting changed when groups started spending more time in the studio.

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.

We have this really retro vibe and style of songwriting and, personally, I wasn't embracing the current state of music until I fell in love with hip-hop. It felt good to suddenly embrace where music was headed, and I think hip-hop is the best at that, because it feels so progressive and everybody wants to be the best.

What I took back, because of my exposure to the Jewish music of the 30s and the 40s in my upbringing with my father, was that kind of theatrical songwriting. It was always a part of my character. This desire to make people laugh.

But if you want to be a songwriter-based musician, whether you play punk or rock or country or jazz, whatever, you have to work on your songwriting and you have to work on being able to play in front of people, I think. That performance is how you create the groundwork for a lasting career.

When you tune your guitar in a different way, it lends itself to a new way of looking at your songwriting.

I have a weird life because I live on songwriting royalties, which are a strange income. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn't.

Songwriting is kind of like a craft. It's not something that just comes in a dream. You've got to work at it.

All is fair in love and songwriting.

I respect country music because I feel like it's more about the talent and the songwriting and I put on a big show and we have a lot of stuff, but I feel confident in myself enough as an artist and a singer that I can have all of those fun toys and know that we don't need all the bells and whistles either.

For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take them apart and see what they're made of, and wonder if you can make one, too.

The songwriting of Hall & Oates is deceptively complex. There are a number of key changes that pass you by as you're listening to the song because they're so seamless and clever.

The songwriting has never really stepped forward from the '50's.

Songwriting is too mysterious and uncontrolled a process for me to direct it towards any one thing.

Songwriting is the other weight on the opposite side of the scale from touring. They balance me out creatively.

Songwriting is my gift from God.