Quotes About Lyrics

I was once making a burger for myself at my boyfriend's house and a lyric started pouring out and I had to catch it, so I ran to another room to write it down, but then the kitchen caught fire. His cabinets were charred, and he was furious. But it was worth it for a song.

I think having artwork, lyrics, credits and such like are things that people really value. It's hard work to come up with something like that, but I think it's worth it.

We all write the music, and then Mark and Tom write the lyrics.

My mom made me read a ton of books, so I got good at words and understood the English language. So when I started rapping, words were something I knew. I learned how to manipulate them so that I could say whatever I wanted to say.

I don't really know what inspires me to write the music I do, but usually, the music will set the tone for the lyrics.

'The Driver' kind of set the tone for what I wanted to say, and lyrically, it especially did.

Not necessarily, a lot of my songs are firmly tongue in cheek.

I kind of have to bite my tongue sometimes with my lyrics.

In a certain way, it's the sound of the words, the inflection and the way the song is sung and the way it fits the melody and the way the syllables are on the tongue that has as much of the meaning as the actual, literal words.

Sixteen Tons was written eight years before I recorded it.

I'm always looking for great songs, and not being much of a songwriter, I depend on great songwriters to send them to me. I go through tons of stuff, and sometimes you just find material that kind of fits and becomes something special.

They always compare my 'Crazy Story' to Meek's 'Tony Story.'

Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' and Carole King's 'It's Too Late' are examples of why I am a singer/songwriter. I practice these songs every day. The melodies are timeless in the rock world, the lyrics are words that I need to say, and they need to be heard again.

As I got a little older, I discovered Lori McKenna and Patty Griffin and found out how many other tools we have as songwriters, that there's storytelling and there's ear candy, and that there is a place where they meet, too, and both of those women are really good at doing that.

The hardest song to write is a protest song, a topical song with meaning.

When I think of folk music, I think of topical songs. And I don't write topical songs.

I personally feel like certain topics and certain issues aren't really being conveyed the right way in music nowadays. It's all very direct and to the point without leaving anything to the imagination.

Music was a great way for me to express myself, there's topics I talk about in my songs, which I wouldn't have a conversation about in real life.

I don't think you could pull one Bob Marley song that didn't have quotes from the Torah or the Old Testament.

I do think the love-gone-wrong songs go over better, only because those melodies and those lyrics have a different feel that you can grasp on if you're a torch singer like myself.

Sometimes I think there ought to be a coat of arms for all of us who listen to Oberst's band Bright Eyes past the age of twenty-six. 'With Love and Shame,' the motto would read. The handwriting would be the cramped and tortured scribble of a high school freshman.

Whenever I sing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' the way people sing along with me still excites me. It's one of the songs that audiences know all the lyrics to, and they sing along with me, and it makes me so happy. People also know my songs 'Holding out for a Hero' and 'Lost in France,' and this gives me so much joy on stage.

It's a total big difference between a person that got lyrics and a person that can make hit singles. I'm a person that can make some hit singles. I'm not in no booth trying to be a lyrical genius. I'm preparing to make me some singles, and as I develop as a man, then they'll respect my emcee skills.

Hearing other peoples' interpretations of your lyrics, to me, is just a total kick in the pants. Half the time, they're better.