Songwriting Quotes

“You've got to have a song, a story, that people can understand.”

“I think it's good if a song has more than one meaning. Maybe that's what I am trying to do.”

“Everything I wrote about wasn't about me, but about the people listening.”

“My brain is like a radio. I can tune it in and get any kind of song I want.”

“One morning, about four o'clock, I was driving my car just about as fast as I could. I thought, 'Why am I out this time of night?' I was miserable, and it came to me: 'I'm falling in love with somebody I have no right to fall in love with.'”

“My lyric is my message, and my message is my lyric.”

“The melodies are the most important thing. Without a good melody, you have nothing.”

“Writing 'Never Can Say Goodbye' was a gift from God. It came to me in about ten minutes.”

“'Heat of the Moment' was one of those songs that just came together very quickly.”

“For me, the toughest thing is to write a song that's simple and direct and is just a great song.”

“I don't write songs about a specific person. I write about a feeling.”

“I think the context is really important. The song is the most important thing.”

“I patterned the song 'The Auctioneer' after my own experiences as an auctioneer.”

“The solo albums gave me a chance to explore different sides of my songwriting.”

“I was just trying to do the heaviest thing I could do with the simplest parts.”

“I co-wrote the music for 'Antichrist Superstar' but my name doesn't appear on it. It’s a sore spot.”

“I am trying to make sense of the world, one song at a time.”

“Don't let the sun go down on me.”

“Songwriting is like a therapy.”

“For me, the song is the most important thing.”