Songwriting Quotes - Page 8

• Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.

  Paul Simon

  Writing, Mystery

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• I can't draw. But I can draw with sound. That's the most useful thing I learned in terms of what my craft is... The arrangements were mine. They were little lines and stuff that I had written myself... And I was locked into this idea that vocals didn't count, melodies didn't count, songwriting craftsmanship didn't count. The only thing that counted was high arching guitar solos...

  Linda Ronstadt

  Guitar, Ideas, Sound

  "Ronstadt Proves She Can Go `Home' Again / New album returns singer to her roots". Interview with Joel Selvin, www.sfgate.com. March 19, 1995.

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• Sometimes my boyfriend would write the lyrics and I would write the melody, and other times I would start from scratch. Or sometimes I would take a local poem and put that to music...I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren't as easy to sing.

  Carly Simon

  Song, Writing, My Boyfriend

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• You don't think it was because a white man wrote it, a black man wrote it, a green man wrote it. What-doesn't make a difference!

  Cab Calloway

  Men, Thinking, White Man

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• 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...Songwriting is best. It's the hardest-finest-tightest. It also requires the most discipline.

  Pete Townshend

  Father, Character, Discipline

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• Songwriting is my gift from God

  Smokey Robinson

  Gift From God

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• 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.

  Carole King

  Thinking, Careers, Albums

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• I think the more the listener can contribute to the song, the better; the more they become part of the song, and they fill in the blanks. Rather than tell them everything, you save your details for things that exist. Like what color the ashtray is. How far away the doorway was. So when you're talking about intangible things like emotions, the listener can fill in the blanks and you just draw the foundation.

  John Prine

  Song, Thinking, Color

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• 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.

  Neil Young

  Song, Writing, Ideas

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• My songwriting and my style became more complex as I listened, learned, borrowed and stole and put my music together.

  Boz Scaggs

  Style, Together, Rock N Roll

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• Sometimes an unexpected chord change can be the difference between a good song and a great song.

  Gary Talley

  Song, Differences, Unexpected

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

  Tommy Shaw

  Opposites, Balance, Weight

  Interview with A-J Charron, www.guitarnoise.com. November 22, 2000.

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• Songwriting never feels like it's me doing anything consciously except for becoming aware somehow that it's time to let something out, or let something in, depending on how you look at it.

  Scout Niblett

  Looks, Becoming, Feels

  Source: therumpus.net

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• I don't think people care about the mechanics of songwriting.

  Mick Jagger

  Thinking, People, Care

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• I often say songwriting is like trying to climb down a ladder at night. You put your foot on the next rung and test it out and make sure it holds and then you reach for the next one.

  Crowder

  Night, Feet, Trying

  "David Crowder, Neon Steeple". Interview with Nate Fancher, www.natefancher.com. August 22, 2014.

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• Songwriting is an art unto itself, not to be confused with performing.

  Jo Stafford

  Art, Confused, Performing

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• I don't write songs, songs write me.

  Sammy Cahn

  Song, Writing, Writing Songs

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• I write songs. Then I record them. And later, maybe I perform them on stage. That's what I do. That's my job. Simple. I don't feel comfortable doing interviews. My profession is music, and writing songs. I like to do it, but I hate to talk about it...Music is spiritual. The music business is not. Being famous was extremely disappointing for me. When I became famous it was a complete drag and it is still a complete drag.

  Van Morrison

  Spiritual, Song, Jobs

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• Songwriting is a very mysterious process. It feels like creating something from nothing. It's something I don't feel like I really control.

  Tracy Chapman

  Creating, Writing Songs, Mysterious

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• People are always asking me what my lyrics mean. Does it mean this, does it mean that, that's all anybody wants to know. F**k them, darling. I say what any decent poet would say if you dared ask him to analyze his work: If you see it, dear, then it's there. ... I think my melodies are superior to my lyrics. ... I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.

  Freddie Mercury

  Song, Writing, Mean

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

  Michael Bolton

  Second Chance, Singing

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• 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.

  James Taylor

  Writing, Musician, Elements

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• When I'm writing I've been playing something for a couple of hours and I'm almost in a trance. At two or three in the morning you can actually see bits inspiration floating about and grab them.

  Kate Bush

  Song, Lonely, Morning

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• It was my 16th birthday - my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song, and I just knew that that was the only thing I could ever really do - write songs and sing them to people.

  Stevie Nicks

  Birthday, Mom, Song

  "A Three-Way with Stevies Williams, Nicks, and Wonder". Interview with Brayden Olson, www.vice.com. August 15, 2012.

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• There's an element to songwriting that I can't explain, that comes from somewhere else. I can't explain that dividing line between nothing and something that happens within a song, where you have absolutely nothing, and then suddenly you have something. It's like the origin of the universe.

  Nick Cave

  Song, Somewhere Else, Elements

  "Nick Cave is not in the business of telling people what to do". Interview with Christopher Kompanek, www.avclub.com. April 8, 2013.

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