Song Quotes
  
  
  
	
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		I want people to listen to the lyrics of each song and absorb the music fully before they look at me and make a judgment about what they think my music will or should sound like.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Darren Fletcher
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Generally, I think of myself as a guitar player, but when I do find the right song to sing lead on, I try to do my best.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Nancy Wilson
			
			
				Heart
			
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I started making hip-hop music when I was 11, and pretty much since then I've just been honing that craft, the craft of arranging a song and producing a beat. It's a task-heavy role, but at this point I really enjoy it and it allows me to convey exactly what I'm trying to get across in a song.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Alexander Spit
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Jeff always had a huge part in making a song a record. You felt like you were capturing lightning in the studio. It was never boring. He always was there to serve the song.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Steve Porcaro
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		To outsiders it probably seems like splitting hairs, but to me, Bright Eyes is a simply the collaboration between myself and Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. What you hear is definitely the sum of all our ideas and represents all three of us. But I still write the songs myself.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Conor Oberst
			
			
				Bright Eyes
			
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Now shall my inward joys arise,
And burst into a song;
Almighty love inspires my heart,
And pleasure tunes my tongue.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Isaac Watts
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
		
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		All great song, from the first day when human lips contrived syllables, has been sincere song.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				John Ruskin
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		A lot of love records or breakup records, a lot of the songs can tend to be on the blame side and the bitter side. And this was good for me, writing, because it made me feel like I was forcing myself to be more mature and grow up a little bit. It's not putting the blame on anybody, it's accepting responsibility just as much as the other person.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Nicole Atkins
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		All our songs are about real people, true events. We do write about DC Comics and things like The Replacements. It's pretty much good conversations that happen at Art Brut shows. It's like making friends - like a Wanted ad: "Man that likes the Replacements and DC Comics wants friends to drink with at venue tonight. Who's coming?" It's like that.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Eddie Argos
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		It takes me a lot of time, and it's almost frustrating for the guys sometimes because they're waiting for a new song. And I - it's just so important for me to get the perfect, exact, right song.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Cecile McLorin Salvant
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I like listening to the whole song. Like my father says, "If you can't pick the whole song, then why are you playing it?"
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Alexandra Richards
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		There's something inimical about the camera and song.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Stephen Sondheim
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
		
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		When I can see someone that's posting the way that they're thinking about what's happening in the world right now or even art that they've created, it inspires me to do the same. It makes me turn off my phone and go paint a painting or go hike a mountain or go record a song. Those are the kind of things that social media helps me do. But it also can make me sit in my room and not do anything.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Willow Smith
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		SONG You bound strong sandals on my feet, You gave me bread and wine, And sent me under sun and stars, For all the world was mine. Oh, take the sandals off my feet, You know not what you do, For all my world is in your arms, My sun and stars are you.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Sara Teasdale
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I could go play some songs for two hours every week - play whatever I wanted to - and then also spend that time putting more music on my computer and getting into more things. It definitely informs the way that I think about music and I think in general, made me a more open-minded consumer of music.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Chris Baio
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		The emotions in a song - the anger, aggression - have got to be legitimate.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Marshall Bruce Mathers III
			
			
				Bad Meets Evil'
			
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		Every song has a different genesis, or feeling. Usually the lyrics, I don't really know what it's all about, I just kinda do it. I mean, there's a combination of, like you're saying, that kind of lyrics about commitment or vaguely relationship lyrics mixed with jokey 90s Beck-style non-sequiturs and stuff.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Stephen Malkmus
			
			
				Pavement
			
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		I'd much rather be playing songs than talking to people.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Ray LaMontagne
			
		
	
	
  
	 
	
		
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		You really have to love the song you’re working on so this carries through if it takes a few weeks to get every last detail right. So the key is, write what you like and don’t worry about getting your hands dirty.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Nasri
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		A lot of my heartbreak songs are inspired by things my sisters are going through, or friends.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Dolly Parton
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Francis Chan
			
		
	
	
  
	 
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		If you told me to write a love song tonight, I'd have a lot of trouble. But if you tell me to write a love song about a girl with a red dress who goes into a bar and is on her fifth martini and is falling off her chair, that's a lot easier, and it makes me free to say anything I want.
	
	
	
		
			
				
					
						
					
				
				Stephen Sondheim