I think songwriters are more related to fiction writers. The Odyssey was a story in song. To me, that’s so beautiful, all those painted characters, all those travels and adventures.
I’ve learned as much about writing from songwriters as I have from other writers.
Breaking Benjamin, talk about songwriting, I mean, some of the greatest songwriters of the modern era. And, obviously, it’s a little heavier.
And of course there’s so much music in and around our family. I had a piano during Christmas because it’s obviously useful through the season. There are so many people, songwriters, who are around.
The Internet has changed how young people listen to music. Television programs like ‘American Idol’ changed how people listen to music. It was no longer the songwriters that we celebrated; it was the singers.
Most songwriters who have been lucky enough to have their song on the radio or be heard widely don’t know anything about science. The best songs have a strong dose of metaphor. Most songs about science don’t have that. Like ‘She Blinded Me With Science.’ It’s a stupid song, no offense to Thomas Dolby.
I have written with some amazing singers and songwriters – the moment with Snoop Dogg was amazing – but being able to tell an Aboriginal story is bigger than anything that I have ever known.
When I listen to my favorite songwriters, they have such simple melodies and chords. I occasionally manage to stop at the right time, but all too often I keep on going until I have way too many notes and words. But that’s just what I do.
As songwriters and artists we get a lot of attention and gratification when we write about the moments that have hurt us, and in turn, sometimes we’ll seek out more hurt so we can write more things that people like.
I used to get these reviews in American newspapers saying that they didn’t understand what my lyrics were about. I saw that as a compliment. That’s exactly what English songwriters should be doing!
My family had this dream where we would meet producers and songwriters, and it was not what we thought it would be.
A lot of the great songwriters in history have been collaborators, with a separate lyricist.
I don’t get along with many people, especially in studios. I’m quite blunt and I know what I want – and songwriters are very sensitive people.
There are phrases that are totally cliche that we, as songwriters, owe it to ourselves to not use again.
The ’60s was a magical time in the music business. So much creativity and talent. I think a lot of it came from the fact that we had grown up before rock n’ roll. We listened to all the great songwriters and big bands, songs with great lyrics and melodies. I think that really influenced everybody.
In many ways, Viv and I were the only ones who were really songwriters.
These are some of my awards – an Ivor Novello, a Variety Club Silver Heart, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I also have a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and a street named after me in Brooklyn where I used to live.
I’ve been lucky enough to support some absolute legends and incredible songwriters over the years, including Hozier, Daughter, Willy Mason, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Nick Mulvey, and Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
I don’t take off as many days as most other producers and songwriters, so I’m working every single day, and I do songs every day. So it’s just about finding time, scheduling, getting in and cutting the records. I make it happen and that’s the name of the game. It’s no excuses – you gotta figure it out.
There aren’t more lady songwriters for the same reason that there aren’t more lady doctors or lady accountants or lady lawyers; not enough women have the time for careers.
Man, I live in Nashville. I know how good other songwriters and singers are around here. There’s a wealth of talent in this town, not to mention the people who shoot in for a week or two to try their hand on lower Broad or the other venues around town.
I did enjoy Nashville a lot of the time, because I made really good friends who were really good songwriters, and they would be a joy to hang out with.
I see what other people do and what songwriters don’t. They don’t get out and take care of themselves. Producers turn themselves into a massive brand. Songwriters tend to be under someone else’s umbrella. If you’re building your own legacy, it can’t be under an umbrella.
Nashville is one of the greatest places for the best songwriters in the world. It’s been fantastic to live there and to raise our family there. It’s a great town.
There’s still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there’s a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people’s words. I enjoy doing both.
It’s unfortunate we’ve never been just songwriters.
Bands can become absolutely huge and actually be pretty terrible musicians, and bands can be the most amazing songwriters and musicians in the world and never play for more than 10 people. With that in mind, getting successful doesn’t mean anything.
You need to understand that a skilled professional songwriter can accelerate your success as an already talented musician. These people are writing every single day, so their craft is really sharp, and it’s the best songwriters who consistently get on the radio.
There are a few songwriters in bands I really relate to that write a certain type of joy, because a lot of artists don’t really write joy. It’s a thing only a few people do.
I will say one thing: Mick Mars is one of the greatest songwriters I’ve ever met in my life and had the pleasure to work with.
Roman Polanski is one of my favorite filmmakers, and John Phillips one of my favorite songwriters. I had the honor to meet each of these men and was almost giddy to be blessed with the chance to tell each artist what his work meant has to me.
I never thought of myself as being a good songwriter. There are a ton of other people that are good songwriters, but I don’t think I’m in the club. What I do well is perform, sometimes sing pretty good, and accompany myself well and arrange fairly well.
In the past, being young, I might have been standoffish to working with other songwriters.
I think our storytellers – our songwriters should be great storytellers, and they should be mountain climbers and explorers, because music is something that can cross all different borders.
I think probably songwriters are gonna be the toughest critics… I think of it as a community. And we all sort of feed off of each other.
He is irreplaceable. Even in death I have no doubt that Johnny Cash will continue to live on as an inspiration to musicians and songwriters and all of America.
All we do as songwriters is rewrite the songs that have impressed us till we find our own voice. It’s part of learning the craft.
All songwriters are known as ‘topliners’ because the vocal goes on top of the track.
I feel there must be an enormous amount of really talented songwriters out there who can’t sing.
I think there are some songwriters who are just brilliant who can write and then I think there are some songwriters who can like me I have a problem writing chorus lyrics but I can write a song in a story like that.
There’s a track called ‘Why Not Nothing’ about how the world’s turning so conservative and so religious at the same time. I think it’s up to the songwriters to give another side to the coin, and my music does that.
Some people are songwriters, and some people are just recording artists. I’m both. I write and record.
I’m a binge writer. I work in the music business fulltime, in artist management and developing songwriters and recording artists, and so juggling my job I carve out as much time as I can on the weekends.
There’s just a certain amount of grandeur and total squalor we exist in as songwriters because it’s a crazy job for crazy people.
My favorite songwriters are all solo artists.
When people who are songwriters say ‘That’s my property and if you give it away for free then I’ll lose my incentive,’ then, well, good riddance.
I’m a writer, first and foremost, and I sort of take my cues from the songwriters of the ’70s, who are talking about what’s really important to them.
Anyone who knows the history of the Pete Best Band or the Combo, we were on the verge of breaking in in America. In the mid-’60s, I had great songwriters; we wrote some great stuff.
The team at ASCAP is a genuine family, and I am proud to be part of an organization that is home to so many legendary songwriters and composers.
When I’m writing a song, it’s just me and the songwriters. Then when the song is done, there are publishers that hear it, then people in my management, then my wife and my boys and my friends, and if they’re all lovin’ it, it’s kind of withstanding all the criticism I need.
I’ve just gained so much confidence in the booth since the ‘Sit Still Look Pretty’ era. I’m working with really talented producers and songwriters who bring out the best in me.
I think people who are artists, actors, singers, great songwriters, they tend to have a hyper state of emotion where they feel things very, very deeply, probably more deeply than the average person walking down the street where it may affect them, but not to the same extent.
I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Jimmy Page gave me the MOJO Maverick award. I got an Ivor Novella Award for my very first song.
