Song Quotes
-
With the Rhythm Kings, I can involve myself in arranging and producing the music as well as the choice of songs.
-
To me, a lot people really get wrapped up in the technical side of metal and what's metal and what's not and more double-kick and more blast beats and more technicality, but for me, I'm a song person. So I think you can write good songs in any type of style of rock and any type of style of metal, and that's kind of what I'm a fan of.
-
I think it is your job as an artist to be able to hear a song.
-
The very first song I wrote was about a boy that I was obsessed with.
-
My brother had written 'Ocean Eyes,' and we recorded it, basing all of the production around contemporary and lyrical dance. I think of most songs that way - if you can't dance to a song, it's not a song.
-
I have a song about being in love. I have a song about being supportive. There's inspiring ones, and there's some that show a little bit more fun and daring. It really is a range of who I am.
-
If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.
-
I can go to a country song, go right into it and make it sound authentic. And I think that's because of my ear as an impressionist.
-
I'd just recorded it in Mariah Carey's studio. THey thought the song was perfect for Nina, because she's so shy, so it was nice to have that connection with Nina in the song. It was special.
-
I just feel such freedom to do whatever. If a song's seven minutes or ten minutes long, then so be it - it's that long.
-
I tried to stick with what I knew best, which is writing rock n' roll songs and melodies. I am as passionate as I was when I was 20.
-
One of my favorite things is when people will ask for a song that I hadn't planned to play. It is really fun to see if you can remember something, and you don't always. I mean, sometimes it's just crash and burn.
-
'Reign' is probably the oldest one on the record. I wrote that when I was 19. 'The Dead They Don't Come Back,' which is the last song on the album, I wrote when I was 20, and 'Harlem River' I just wrote last year. It spans from 2007 to 2012.
-
The one hit song that I have tremendous gratitude for is Boots, because it has a life of its own. It's like being identified with a brand name.
-
Through my years as a writer, I've learnt how to simplify the message and pen songs that have a more specific quality - it's not just about my ego and trying to meet girls.
-
So, once I've written a song, you know, I'm pretty happy with what the song is on its own terms.
-
'God Made Girls' was such a success for me. I'm so blessed to have over half a million downloads on that song. I was the highest-charting new female in 2014, and I couldn't have done that without Big Machine and their support.
-
I know that song writing is probably the most mystical of the things that I do, in a sense that I'm not sure where it came from or how it started. It's something that I just knew how to do. It's something that just happens.
-
I try to tell a story musically in a song.
-
I never feel like I need to make a song that sells 5 million copies; that's not the point of why I make music. It's great if that happens, like it did with 'Clarity,' but my goal is to always make a better track than the last one.
-
All of our saddest songs have somewhere in them at least a glimmer of resolve - Street Spirit has no resolve. It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end.
-
I'm very motivated by the occasional creative payoff that comes when something goes really well, be it a song, a recording or performance. The payoff is enormous - when you get it. Most of the time, though, I'm filled with self-loathing and general frustration at the limitations I have as a musician.
-
If it's a good song, it's a good song. I'll take it.
-
Back when I was growing up, if I loved a song, I would record it off of the radio so I could hear them as many times as I wanted.
