Song Quotes
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I wrote 'Lights' a long, long time ago. And I expected it to be on the album, because it was - I wrote it with 'Biff' Stannard. And he wrote every single Spice Girls song and every single pop song of the 90s, basically. So I thought, you know, I was really lucky to work with him, but I didn't think it would be a big song for some reason.
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I aim to write songs in a way that you don't have to have gone to Ghana to relate to it, you really just have to have a heart.
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Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?
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Radio has had my back since 'Missin' You Crazy,' which was a very traditional kind of song.
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A lot of people felt that I was just tying that into the "I Want Your Sex" theme because of the AIDS thing and the prospect of the song's being banned. I thought it was a relevant point to make because of the AIDS thing. I wanted to write a song which sounded dirty but which was applicable to someone that I really cared about. That was my point.
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Really, everything for me comes from "Manifestra." It was an incredible gift of a song; it really describes an important moment in my life.
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Slim Shady is just the evil thoughts that come into my head. Things I shouldn't be thinking about. Not to be gimmicky, but people should be able to determine when I'm serious and when I'm f... around. That's why a lot of my songs are funny. I got a warped sense of humor I guess.
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A Good friend sings your song to you when you forget it...
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I haven't written enough songs to be able to say that I have a system. I've only written a handful.
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There are days when I'm completely obsessed with Kate Bush, and there are days when I'm completely obsessed with the Eurythmics. Then it's Aretha Franklin, then it's Lena Horne, then it's Ella Fitzgerald, then it's John Legend, then it's Michael Jackson. Music, to me, is like food, so I feel like whatever I need that day, I can get from a song.
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Music allows a person to express their deepest thoughts, thoughts that cannot be expressed with just words. I am often asked how I begin a song or develop a melody from nothing. That is the spiritual aspect of creating. Finding something deep within yourself that can only be created by you.
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How do I tell people who I am? Not being a writer, the only way is to sing songs that reflect my opinions.
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Sweet are the pleasures that to verse belong,And doubly sweet a brotherhood in song.
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I can't remember the first song I learned to play on bass, but the first song I learned to play on guitar was 'For Your Love' by the Yardbirds. That kind of was the beginning for me. I thought it was a great song and I loved the open chord progression at the beginning of that song.
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'Freebird' is an anthem, and 'Simple Man' is a very nice song.
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Even if you're specific about the character of the song, it's more exciting to place them, juxtapose them in such a way as to make an adventure out of the sequence of the songs.
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When I start to write a song, I initially fall into patterns and creative habits that are familiar, and because they're familiar, they sound convincing. It's important for me to not pursue those ideas, because I've already done them, but to find ideas that are different and feel strange to write and disconcerting to write.
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Because, in opera, I have to sing for people that are very far from me, instead of, when I sing a song, I try to imagine to sing like in an ear of a child.
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I pinch myself every night when I hear the overture starting. I'm so overwhelmed by the whole process, and humbled and giddy all at the same time because I can't believe it's me that gets to sing these songs every night.
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When I write a song it's always from the point of view: makes the song the best it can be.
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When I began to cover songs for YouTube, they all tended to be in the super pop-genre.. as in, smash-hit songs. My writing process was heavily influenced by this - I went from a more heavy punk rock style to straight up sugary-sweet pop.
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I don't separate writing songs from poetry and short fiction. In the area where I work in my house, there's a word processor and a guitar.
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In writing the autobiography, I can really chuckle when I look at the songs. I was acting out the part. I saw myself as a victim.
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The way 'Coming Home' uses music in general is incredible, but the final song that really kind of crescendos all of the emotion that the whole movie has kind of been building to is this song called 'Once I Was' by Tim Buckley.
