Best Songwriting Wisdom

652 Songwriting quotes by 379 unique authors

That's another way of writing a song, of course. Just talking to somebody that ain't there. That's the best way. That's the truest way. Then… — Bob Dylan
Miranda Lambert is actually mixing the singer-songwriter philosophy with the commercial country [mindset]. And I find it just inspiring. My hat's off completely, because she's… — Unknown Author
I just feel like it's easier to co-write sometimes, especially if you have chemistry with somebody. It kind of takes all the pressure off of… — Miranda Lambert
People just didn't write songs that were so directly emotional in those days. They still don't. Part of Hank's [Williams] thing was that he was… — Michael McCaul
Songwriting is a really fortunate skill to have to frame living and to find new ways to observe things you're going through. — Feist
Ideas are floating like fish. Desire for an idea is like a bait on a hook. If you desire an idea, it pulls and it… — David Lynch
Most of the really good songs are dead true. ... It had to have happened to have the song be there. Every time I've tried… — Guy Clark
I've gone a year and not written a song just because I couldn't think of anything. But I always come back to it because there's… — Guy Clark
Much of songwriting is simply a mystery. — Paul Simon
I don't really know why an idea comes to me. But all of a sudden, an idea comes and from experience I can intuit what… — Paul Simon
Most of the time, the songs have jokes in them, little sarcastic things, or purposely kitsch or something. So that's going along with a story,… — Paul Simon
I really don't know what exactly all the songs mean. Sometimes other people have meanings and when I hear them I think, 'That's really a… — Paul Simon
I don't really like to write at a desk. I like to write when driving in a car. ... Once you're working on it, you're… — Paul Simon
I sort of recognize it, as opposed to shaping it. Oh, that's a good idea, that's a good line. I wonder where I can use… — Paul Simon
I just said, you know, this is a great track but this lyric, I don't believe it. It sounds like I'm trying to say something,… — Paul Simon
The words come. Usually, it's a long time before they come. And then when they start to come, it doesn't take so long for it… — Paul Simon
Most of the time, when I had hits as a soloist - maybe not so much with Simon & Garfunkel - I was surprised they… — Paul Simon
The secret of a great melody is a secret. — Dave Brubeck
Even if chords are simple, they should rub. They should have dissonances in them. I've always used a lot of alternate bass lines, suspensions, widely… — Jimmy Webb
Any quick analysis of a Beatles tune or a Cole Porter tune will reveal often simple but unexpected chords, chords that chromatically shift between keys,… — Paul Zollo
I could send myself right back to the day that I wrote "Angel Of The Morning," how it felt. I had a buzz through me… — Chip Taylor
Our goal is to write memorable songs. We're not there yet, but we're getting closer. Each time we sit down to write, we have hopes… — Joel Madden
When you write a song it's sometimes in a desperate moment whn you can't really articulate it. What I love about lyrics is what T.S.… — Marcus Mumford
If you try to create a type, you may end with nothing. If you do a good job of creating an individual, you may succeed… — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Songwriting is Hell on Earth. If it isn't, then you're doing it wrong. — Jimmy Webb

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Best Songwriting Wisdom

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