--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can't write from the subconscious…" description: "\"I can't write from the subconscious actually, because a lot of the time when I co-write with other people, I'm writing for them as opposed to for mysel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fd/gary-louris-39755_between-the-lines_i-can-t-write-from-the-subconscious-actu_2452879.jpg" --- # I can't write from the subconscious actually, because a… ![“I can't write from the subconscious actually, because a lot of the time when I co-write with other people, I'm writing for them as opposed to for myself. When it comes to lyrics, I tend to want to give them their voice, since it's most likely going to be on their record, or somebody else's record…” quote by Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fd/gary-louris-39755_between-the-lines_i-can-t-write-from-the-subconscious-actu_2452879.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fd/gary-louris-39755_between-the-lines_i-can-t-write-from-the-subconscious-actu_2452879.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fd/gary-louris-39755_between-the-lines_i-can-t-write-from-the-subconscious-actu_2452879.jpg) > “I can't write from the subconscious actually, because a lot of the time when I co-write with other people, I'm writing for them as opposed to for myself. When it comes to lyrics, I tend to want to give them their voice, since it's most likely going to be on their record, or somebody else's record. And I find for more commerial-style music, people want simplicity, less vagueness, and less space to fill between the lines, so to speak. So I can't be quite as ethereal and mystical.” [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He writes for collaborators, adapting his style to suit commercial expectations, limiting personal ethereal expression. **In simple terms:** Writes for others, not self. Key Takeaway Balance personal voice with audience needs. Themes collaboration commercial music artistic compromise Mood reflective pragmatic Type advice creative When to use this quote - record label meetings - co‑writing sessions - creative workshops - music production Key Concepts songwriting authorship genre expectations Questions to Reflect On - How can you retain authenticity? - When is compromise acceptable? A Different Perspective Commercial pressure may dilute originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Between the lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/between-the-lines/) [Ethereal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethereal/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Mystical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystical/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Simplicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simplicity/) [Songwriting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/songwriting/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Subconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subconscious/) [Subconscious Actually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subconscious-actually-584921/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Vagueness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagueness/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Write People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-people/) [Write Subconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-subconscious-584920/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Opposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-opposed-584922/) ## Related quotes > [It's weird. I find it more vulnerable and scarier to show people your writing as opposed to your acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-o-donnell/it-s-weird-i-find-it-more-vulnerable-and-scarier-to-show-people-your/) [Jamie-Lee O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-o-donnell/) > [The mission of the law is not to oppress persons and plunder them of their property, even though the law may be acting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-mission-of-the-law-is-not-to-oppress-persons-and-plunder-them-of/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [No blur of inexactness, no cloud of vagueness, is allowable in good writing; from the first seeing to the last putting down, there must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/no-blur-of-inexactness-no-cloud-of-vagueness-is-allowable-in-good/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role playing, sidestep, shilly-shally and engage in all manner of vagueness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-people-talk-they-lay-lines-on-each-other-do-a-lot-of-role/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Conventions of generality and mathematical elegance may be just as much barriers to the attainment and diffusion of knowledge as may contentment with particularity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/conventions-of-generality-and-mathematical-elegance-may-be-just-as/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [The future gets no say in who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/the-future-gets-no-say-in-who-we-are/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [Unhappy women are given to protecting their sensitiveness by cynical gossip, by whining, by high-church and new-thought religions, or by a fog of vagueness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/unhappy-women-are-given-to-protecting-their-sensitiveness-by-cynical/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of consciousness, and maybe when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vagueness-was-a-loftier-kind-of/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“And much like yours, its vagueness left to different interpretations, which led to war after war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-higgins/and-much-like-yours-its-vagueness-left-to-different-interpretations/) [Wendy Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-higgins/) > [“I love the vagueness of words that involve time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-love-the-vagueness-of-words-that-involve-time/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Yellow is vagueness and luminousness, both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-theroux/yellow-is-vagueness-and-luminousness-both/) [Alexander Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-theroux/) > [“Fredo’s vagueness was born of ignorance, not discretion. Roth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-winegardner/fredo-s-vagueness-was-born-of-ignorance-not-discretion-roth/) [Mark Winegardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-winegardner/) > [Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/science-fiction-rarely-is-about-scientists-doing-real-science-in-its/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [To write or even speak English is not a science but an art. 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Even if my personality is the same, it's reflected off different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/when-you-re-not-working-with-the-same-people-you-tend-to-sound/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [The lyrics seem to follow the music, and that's usually how I write. I write more about what comes out of my mouth while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/the-lyrics-seem-to-follow-the-music-and-that-s-usually-how-i-write-i/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [I'm trying to honestly do what I want to do, in the most honest way, and not worry about the consequences, because what's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/i-m-trying-to-honestly-do-what-i-want-to-do-in-the-most-honest-way/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [When you have a lot of time, when you're not working a full-time job, you have a lot of time to question things and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/when-you-have-a-lot-of-time-when-you-re-not-working-a-full-time-job/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [As I say to people, never say never.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/as-i-say-to-people-never-say-never/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [I just think I just noticed that when I was working on other people's music I found myself missing a bit of the total…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/i-just-think-i-just-noticed-that-when-i-was-working-on-other-people-s/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [If anything, my problem is, I'm not a genius, it's just that I can write songs very quick. I have a lot of ideas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/if-anything-my-problem-is-i-m-not-a-genius-it-s-just-that-i-can-write/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [If I try to figure out what people want and give it to them, it's a failure. If I try to please people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/if-i-try-to-figure-out-what-people-want-and-give-it-to-them-it-s-a/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [I think my music is a reflection of what I think life is. Which is beautiful and sad, you know. I'm a bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/i-think-my-music-is-a-reflection-of-what-i-think-life-is-which-is/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) > [I think my strength is in shaping a song - you know, making it feel like it reaches its peaks and valleys, and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-louris/i-think-my-strength-is-in-shaping-a-song-you-know-making-it-feel-like/) [Gary Louris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) [Explore all 11 Gary Louris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-louris/) ## More Between the lines quotes > [I ain't the captain of the yacht, but I'm on the boat; I ain't acting what I'm not, knowing that I don't. You niggaz…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beanie-sigel/i-ain-t-the-captain-of-the-yacht-but-i-m-on-the-boat-i-ain-t-acting/) [Beanie Sigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beanie-sigel/) > [Brother Kendrick Lamar: he's not a rapper, he's a writer, he's an author. 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