Song Quotes
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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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When I write, I don't have any expectation of what kind of song it will become or who it might reach.
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My goal is to get my music out to as many people as possible. That a song of mine is being played on the radio so far away from home really, really pushes me. It's everything I've dreamed of.
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There's no separation between electronic music and acoustic music. It's all one thing. Each song has its own heartbeat. Each song has its own soul.
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I think my all time favourite song would be between 'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room' and 'Dreaming with a Broken Heart' by John Mayer.
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I make a lot of money off featuring, doing songs with up-and-coming artists. I can charge someone $10,000 to $15,000 to do one song.
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I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' when I was a kid and say 'Yeah!' or 'Boo!' at every single song. So there was nothing in the middle. You brutally put it on one side or another.
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I'd always put on little shows at home, but when I was 11, I did a community event in Woodford, where anyone could go. You had three days of vocal training and performed your song at the end.
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People say, 'How does having kids change your writing? Do you see the world through their eyes?' No - you just become a faster songwriter... In the old days, you'd be like, 'Oh I'm gonna work on this song for a few days.'
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I remember the first single I ever bought. I think it was a terrible song called 'D.I.S.C.O.' by a band called Ottawan. It's a really fearless disco track from the '70s or early '80s.
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There was a chance for me to write one song for the section where Elvis sat in his black leather outfit and sang the old hits. At eight oclock the next morning I had written Memories.
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'Gifts' was just a short little one-verse song that I used to close shows in the '60s.
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Sometimes when you're writing a song and that song comes into your head, it definitely comes from somewhere, like a real experience.
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I guess that I'm primarily thought of as a rocker, largely because of 'Frankenstein' being such a heavy song - you know, it was really hard rock, almost a precursor of heavy metal and just the image of the synthesizer. I happened to be the first guy to get the idea of putting a strap on the keyboard.
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Say what you want about Maroon 5 not making music like the kind found on 'Songs About Jane,' the fact remains that they know how to write a really good pop song that highlights lead singer Adam Levine's falsetto.
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Everyone from the pope to some hobo thinks, "I'm a human being. What am I doing here?" You can't get carried away with fame and fortune and all that. It's all nonsense. The whole pop-star side of it is all fun and good, but you don't get anywhere without putting in the hours. I get so fulfilled when we play a song live that we spent hours working on. It's all cool. Fame is something to have fun with, but you shouldn't take it too seriously because it is bollocks.
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There was this song I was working on called 'Swing.' It was almost finished, but there was something missing, and I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. And then this little piece of information - this little tweet - came to the forefront of my mind.
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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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Usually I start with a beat, I start making a beat, and my producer side is making the beat. And on a good day, my rapper side will jump in and start the writing process - maybe come up with a hook or start a verse. Sometimes it just happens like that. A song like 'Lights Please' happens like that.
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You can't try and make something you think someone else will like. You can only make what you like. How can you make a song that Yo-Landi Visser likes? You don't know me. You'll never understand me.
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Every song you write you think is the last one you're going to manage. You put everything you've got into the song, and you've twisted it and pulled at it and dug in and found a way to complete it. To get another one is the trick.
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When I wrote the song, I had the sea near Bombay in mind. We stayed at a hotel by the sea, and the fishermen come up at five in the morning and they were all chanting. And we went on the beach and we got chased by a mad dog - big as a donkey.
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There is no formula to it. Writing every song is a little journey. The first note has to lift you.
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Morrissey wrote a really gorgeous song for me. I'm crazy for that man. And he thinks I'm hip!
