--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write songs by sitting around in bars…" description: "\"I write songs by sitting around in bars, so drinking songs are a little obvious. It's surprising that I don't write entirely drinking songs, since I am..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/stephin-merritt-18370_art_i-write-songs-by-sitting-around-in-bars_639874.jpg" --- # I write songs by sitting around in bars, so drinking songs… ![“I write songs by sitting around in bars, so drinking songs are a little obvious. It's surprising that I don't write entirely drinking songs, since I am, in fact, drinking while writing the song. Drinking and love are the two principal sources of pleasure outside of music. There's only so many…” quote by Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/stephin-merritt-18370_art_i-write-songs-by-sitting-around-in-bars_639874.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/stephin-merritt-18370_art_i-write-songs-by-sitting-around-in-bars_639874.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/stephin-merritt-18370_art_i-write-songs-by-sitting-around-in-bars_639874.jpg) > “I write songs by sitting around in bars, so drinking songs are a little obvious. It's surprising that I don't write entirely drinking songs, since I am, in fact, drinking while writing the song. Drinking and love are the two principal sources of pleasure outside of music. There's only so many sources of pleasure, really. That's about it. Well, there are other arts as well. But none of them are as pleasurable as music, on a physical level.” [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative work often draws from personal experiences, even when the subject seems obvious. **In simple terms:** Music reflects personal life. Key Takeaway Embrace authenticity in art. Themes creativity authenticity pleasure Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - songwriting - performance - creative block - artistic inspiration Key Concepts artistic expression personal influence Questions to Reflect On - How can you diversify your sources of inspiration? - What new experiences could enrich your music? A Different Perspective Relying too much on familiar themes can limit artistic growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Drinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinking/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There's an obvious romance to being the drinking writer. But if I'm drinking, I'm not writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-brixius/there-s-an-obvious-romance-to-being-the-drinking-writer-but-if-i-m/) Liz Brixius > [Why are bands like Black Flag allowed to write a song about drinking beer, and they're cult and amazing, and then you write this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie-rowsell/why-are-bands-like-black-flag-allowed-to-write-a-song-about-drinking/) [Ellie Rowsell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellie-rowsell/) > [When people ask me why are you singing a drinking song if you don't drink anymore, because when I did drink I drank enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brantley-gilbert/when-people-ask-me-why-are-you-singing-a-drinking-song-if-you-don-t/) [Brantley Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brantley-gilbert/) > [I'm very open about the fact that I'm a big fan of day drinking. I also love cooking. I cook all day, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissy-teigen/i-m-very-open-about-the-fact-that-i-m-a-big-fan-of-day-drinking-i/) [Chrissy Teigen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissy-teigen/) > [That's a rather flippant quote "drinking and writing bad poetry" from me. I mean, I said it, but I was doing other stuff too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/that-s-a-rather-flippant-quote-drinking-and-writing-bad-poetry-from/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [I don't think it's something that people would ask a man. Some people make a huge deal out of the fact that I sing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-loveless/i-don-t-think-it-s-something-that-people-would-ask-a-man-some-people/) [Lydia Loveless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-loveless/) > [She got me up all night constant drinking and love songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole/she-got-me-up-all-night-constant-drinking-and-love-songs/) [J Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole/) > [Since I stopped drinking my love life has taken a really serious hit. Romantic encounters that seemed like a really good idea at three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/since-i-stopped-drinking-my-love-life-has-taken-a-really-serious-hit/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [We, drinking love at the furthest springs, Covered with love as a covering tree, We had grown as gods, as the gods above, Filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/we-drinking-love-at-the-furthest-springs-covered-with-love-as-a/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [“I KNOW THE WAY YOU CAN GET I know the way you can get When you have not had a drink of Love: Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/i-know-the-way-you-can-get-i-know-the-way-you-can-get-when-you-have/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) > [Got me up all night, all I'm singing is love songs. She got me up all night, constant drinking and love songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole/got-me-up-all-night-all-i-m-singing-is-love-songs-she-got-me-up-all/) [J Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole/) > [I gave up music criticism because of the increasingly obvious conflict of interest. I couldn't say anything bad about the records when I might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/i-gave-up-music-criticism-because-of-the-increasingly-obvious/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [The obvious issue is providing clean drinking water and sanitation to every single human being on earth at the cost of little more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/the-obvious-issue-is-providing-clean-drinking-water-and-sanitation-to/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [I know the importance of highly trained awareness of the “moment” and the immediate and intuitive response of the photographer. It should be obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-know-the-importance-of-highly-trained-awareness-of-the-moment-and/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## More by Stephin Merritt > [The adventure is when people don't know what they're doing at all. Like, I think that the first pop band to use synthesizers as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/the-adventure-is-when-people-don-t-know-what-they-re-doing-at-all/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [I gave up music criticism because of the increasingly obvious conflict of interest. I couldn't say anything bad about the records when I might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/i-gave-up-music-criticism-because-of-the-increasingly-obvious/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Well, things hold up even if they sound dated. It can be very difficult to listen to 80s pop songs with really, really gigantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/well-things-hold-up-even-if-they-sound-dated-it-can-be-very-difficult/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [There are only so many instruments you can layer on top of each other that aren't perfectly electronically programmed. "Long Vermont Roads" just cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/there-are-only-so-many-instruments-you-can-layer-on-top-of-each-other/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Popular music of the last 50 years has failed to keep in step with advances in musical theater, namely Stephen Sondheim. But the two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/popular-music-of-the-last-50-years-has-failed-to-keep-in-step-with/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Well, hardcore is so much about the body, in that you have to play as fast as possible. I'm not sure it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/well-hardcore-is-so-much-about-the-body-in-that-you-have-to-play-as/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [There's a whole kind of melancholy that you can only attain with reverb. That's an example of a technology introducing a whole new meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/there-s-a-whole-kind-of-melancholy-that-you-can-only-attain-with/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [You know, most love songs are not cheesy and corny. Most love songs are complaints, I think. Or about unrequited love, coming at it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/you-know-most-love-songs-are-not-cheesy-and-corny-most-love-songs-are/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [I don't think there are any clichés I try to avoid. As soon as I spot a cliché, I go for it. I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/i-don-t-think-there-are-any-clich-s-i-try-to-avoid-as-soon-as-i-spot/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Okay, a truly great song is a song that makes its own aesthetic intentions clear and then lives up to them and exceeds them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/okay-a-truly-great-song-is-a-song-that-makes-its-own-aesthetic/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [If you want to write a love song, you need to not try to write it for a particular person in a particular situation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/if-you-want-to-write-a-love-song-you-need-to-not-try-to-write-it-for/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [My mother says I have boring percussion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/my-mother-says-i-have-boring-percussion/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [I can imagine lyrics becoming better written by smart machines rather than stupid musicians. Songwriters generally have nothing to say. They may as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/i-can-imagine-lyrics-becoming-better-written-by-smart-machines-rather/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Serious music isn't listened to in a casual setting. You don't want to listen to that in headphones on the subway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/serious-music-isn-t-listened-to-in-a-casual-setting-you-don-t-want-to/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) > [Well, there are certainly original things to say. But I'm not sure that a pop song is the appropriate format to say them in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephin-merritt/well-there-are-certainly-original-things-to-say-but-i-m-not-sure-that/) [Stephin Merritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) [Explore all 35 Stephin Merritt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephin-merritt/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write songs by sitting around in bars, so drinking songs are a little obvious. It's surprising that I don't write entirely drinking songs, since I am, in fact, drinking while writing the song. Drinking and love are the two principal sources of pleasure outside of music. There's only so many sources of pleasure, really. That's about it. Well, there are other arts as well. 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