--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I started writing lyrics out of…" description: "\"I started writing lyrics out of desperation. I was broke and wondering where my next job, my next meal was coming from, although I had had several succ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75b/sheldon-harnick-42585_although_i-started-writing-lyrics-out-of-desperat_1576953.jpg" --- # I started writing lyrics out of desperation. I was broke… ![“I started writing lyrics out of desperation. I was broke and wondering where my next job, my next meal was coming from, although I had had several successful revue songs on Broadway.” quote by Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75b/sheldon-harnick-42585_although_i-started-writing-lyrics-out-of-desperat_1576953.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75b/sheldon-harnick-42585_although_i-started-writing-lyrics-out-of-desperat_1576953.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75b/sheldon-harnick-42585_although_i-started-writing-lyrics-out-of-desperat_1576953.jpg) > “I started writing lyrics out of desperation. I was broke and wondering where my next job, my next meal was coming from, although I had had several successful revue songs on Broadway.” [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desperation can spark creativity, turning hardship into artistic expression. **In simple terms:** Hardship can inspire art. Key Takeaway Channel struggle into creative work. Themes creativity hardship artistic expression resilience Mood determined hopeful Type inspirational motivational When to use this quote - songwriting - career pivots - financial stress - personal growth Key Concepts Songwriting storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform personal need into art? - What supports sustain creativity under pressure? A Different Perspective Creative output may not always solve practical problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Broadway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broadway/) [Desperation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperation/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Lyrics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lyrics/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Songs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/songs/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [When I was 14 I was really influenced by artists like Protoje and Chronixx, so I started writing lyrics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koffee/when-i-was-14-i-was-really-influenced-by-artists-like-protoje-and/) [Koffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koffee/) > [I started writing lyrics to clash with other people in the playground. Now I've developed my own voice and my own style. There's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kano/i-started-writing-lyrics-to-clash-with-other-people-in-the-playground/) [Kano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kano/) > [After that, I specifically started writing lyrics. I would like sweat and think and get it all together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-capaldi/after-that-i-specifically-started-writing-lyrics-i-would-like-sweat/) [Jim Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-capaldi/) > [I don't got nobody writing my lyrics and that's why I freestyle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riff-raff/i-don-t-got-nobody-writing-my-lyrics-and-that-s-why-i-freestyle/) [Riff Raff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riff-raff/) > [My guitar player calls the process of writing lyrics based on another story, "filling up the well" when you can get inspiration from other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-loveless/my-guitar-player-calls-the-process-of-writing-lyrics-based-on-another/) [Lydia Loveless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-loveless/) > [I'm good at melody - I'll write the top-line melody and ideal words I want to go with it. But I'm not that good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avicii/i-m-good-at-melody-i-ll-write-the-top-line-melody-and-ideal-words-i/) [Avicii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avicii/) > [I just love doing radio. I've learned to be more vulnerable through radio than even I've been through books and writing lyrics. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sixx/i-just-love-doing-radio-i-ve-learned-to-be-more-vulnerable-through/) [Nikki Sixx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sixx/) > [My forte is playing along and singing along to music I love. 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With many of my songs, I have this strange habit of spending months fumbling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-mckenna/i-wrote-paracetamol-between-the-ages-of-15-and-16-with-many-of-my/) [Declan McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declan-mckenna/) > [I remember writing lyrics for 'Take Me to Church' for a long time before I even had a song in mind for. It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/i-remember-writing-lyrics-for-take-me-to-church-for-a-long-time/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [Writing lyrics is part spontaneous, intuitive and part really thought through and carefully analyzed as you write it. It's a mixture of two approaches,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anderson/writing-lyrics-is-part-spontaneous-intuitive-and-part-really-thought/) [Ian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anderson/) ## More by Sheldon Harnick > [A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/a-fiddler-on-the-roof-sounds-crazy-no-but-here-in-our-little-village/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [Love was not something that people married for generally in those days. They married for security. They married for economic reasons, you know, companionship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/love-was-not-something-that-people-married-for-generally-in-those/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [I like editing. Generally, you work under the assumption that everything can be shorter. I like to see if I can reconstruct a sentence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/i-like-editing-generally-you-work-under-the-assumption-that/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [When you collaborate, you have to be willing to scrap a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/when-you-collaborate-you-have-to-be-willing-to-scrap-a-lot/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [I'd heard that Lenny Bruce used a lot of profanity and obscenities in his act, and I was curious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/i-d-heard-that-lenny-bruce-used-a-lot-of-profanity-and-obscenities-in/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [As far as I remember, there was no actual lyric written to that.At the very beginning of "Fiddler on the Roof," there's a violin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/as-far-as-i-remember-there-was-no-actual-lyric-written-to-that-at-the/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [I have a lot of unknown songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-harnick/i-have-a-lot-of-unknown-songs/) [Sheldon Harnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-harnick/) > [I feel in my own life I've made many mistakes. 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