The Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Tori Amos had a major influence on how I craft words in a song.
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I get so excited when a song I wrote that's very personal to me goes No. 1 and I look down and see people singing the words back to me.
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There's something different that happens when you're writing a song for your own record that you know you're going to sing.
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I think I've written about family and things in 'Taipei' which could be considered Asian culture.
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I'm a professional songwriter - personal attitudes have nothing to do with writing a song.
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Personal relationships are usually my biggest inspirations for writing my songs. The best way for me to write a song is to visualise the story in my head, and I start humming a melody, and before you know it, a song is born.
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It is such a gift to be able to write songs in general, but when you can share it with somebody, it is just such a pleasure. It is such a happy moment when you finish a song, and you are just like, 'Wow - that was great.'
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The buzz you get when you're playing a song and everyone is screaming and dancing and what have you and singing along is incredible.
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I did a song in eight minutes. I thought everybody could write songs that fast. But working with a lot of them, they don't.
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'Can't Get Closer' I originally recorded in about half an hour, just on my bed with a microphone. I actually re-recorded the song with a cleaner vocal take, but I decided to leave the demo version on there, just because I felt that instant where it was created is what captured the most emotion.
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When I was driving home after registration, I heard this song on the radio, a guy singing about not ever going to class in college and always hanging out and singing for his friends. I laughed and said, I can relate, because it was so much like me. I realized right then I would pull out of school and pursue a music career.
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If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.
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I made a decision when I started writing 'All is Song' to take the compliments I had for 'The Wilderness' and try to be confident and not overwhelmed by it.
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I don't like giving names to generations. It's like trying to read the song title on a record that's spinning.
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Strangely enough, when the Sugababes' 'Freak Like Me' went to number 1, which was built around my 'Are 'Friends' Electric' song, I had another song called 'Rip' go to number 1 in the Kerrang TV chart, so I was pulling new people in from very different areas of musical interest. That was quite an amazing week.
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Everybody loves a good Christmas song if you do it right.
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If I had my choice, I'd pick a song that tells a story every time. There is a great deal of pleasure in doing the vocal on a number that you can put feeling into.
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As a songwriter you have an umbilical cord to the song and it's hard to expand on your understanding of the lyrics. Whereas when you cover a song you can create your own reason why you're attached to it.
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Flower was a good metaphor for growth. The song is obviously about sexual responsibility, so that was the main metaphor. Also, it's like knowing who someone has been and remembering and appreciating that, but really appreciating what they are now even more.
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You're my bread when I'm hungry You're my shelter from troubled winds You're my anchor in life's ocean Most of all You're my best friend
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If I don't think something's worth saying, I don't think it's quite there, I'd rather just not say it, to be honest. In that case, I'd rather wait 'till the thought is ready, 'till I feel like I'm happy with everything.
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Messages hidden in the thickets of a story are the ones that burrow deepest because most of us don't realize that any burrowing is going on at all.
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I wrote a song with Ed Sheeran that was kind of spontaneous.
