JIMMY WEBB

As I've grown - dare I say it - older, I had hopes of indulging my dreams of being a sailor.

I think it's prima facie evidence for the existence of God because for me to grow up and actually end up working with Glen Campbell is almost unbelievable.

We are really in a rut with the three-minute song. You know where it's going to go. If you're trying to get your message across sometimes it's wise to say, Why don't we stop here and have a moment of silence, then go in a completely different direction?

Even if chords are simple, they should rub. They should have dissonances in them. I've always used a lot of alternate bass lines, suspensions, widely spaced voicings. Dfferent textures to get very warm chords. Sometimes you're setting up strange chords by placing a chord in front of it that's going to set it off like a diamond in a gold band. It's not just finding interesting chords, it's how you sequence them, like stringing together pearls on a string. ... Interesting chords will compel interesting melodies. It's very hard to write a boring melody to an interesting chord sequence.

I like words. I like the way they clash around together and bang up against each other, especially in songs.

Particularly in my early days, I did very little rewriting.

I believe strongly in inspiration, inspiration literally meaning 'full of the spirit.' I do believe that it comes to you.

I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can Perhaps I may become a highwayman again Or I may simply be a single drop of rain But I will remain And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...

I usually know what kind of song I'm after. I know what I'm trying to do when I start. I don't always get there. But I try to visualize what it's actually going to be.

Songwriting is Hell on Earth. If it isn't, then you're doing it wrong.

As I've grown - dare I say it - older, I had hopes of indulging my dreams of being a sailor.

The people who are making money are the ones who are writing and singing their own songs.

I believe strongly in inspiration, inspiration literally meaning 'full of the spirit.' I do believe that it comes to you.

I think it's prima facie evidence for the existence of God because for me to grow up and actually end up working with Glen Campbell is almost unbelievable.

I've been fortunate that when Frank Sinatra was in concert, he would say, 'Here's a song by a wonderful young songwriter, Jimmy Webb,' and I'd be in the front row and stand up. That gets people talking about you.

When I started out, I was absolutely awful, I had no voice, I didn't have a lot of stage presence and most of the interpretive intensity that I brought to the experience was actually terror.

The creative processes are so mysterious.

You reach a certain point in your life where they things you do and say do make a difference.

I like words. I like the way they clash around together and bang up against each other, especially in songs.

Particularly in my early days, I did very little rewriting.

When we go somewhere in New York, I'm known as Mr. Savini.

It's very hard for me to think about my songs and attribute some significance to them.

I rode all around Hollywood listening to Donna Summer, looking out the window - all by myself - just going, 'I'm number one!' It's a pretty extraordinary feeling.

What has worked before is never as good as something that has never been tried before, even if it doesn't work.

We are really in a rut with the three-minute song. You know where it's going to go. If you're trying to get your message across sometimes it's wise to say, Why don't we stop here and have a moment of silence, then go in a completely different direction?

I usually know what kind of song I'm after. I know what I'm trying to do when I start. I don't always get there. But I try to visualize what it's actually going to be.

Songwriting is Hell on Earth. If it isn't, then you're doing it wrong.

Someone left the cake out in the rain

I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can Perhaps I may become a highwayman again Or I may simply be a single drop of rain But I will remain And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...

We as songwriters are in the same position as a professional fisherman. Our fishing grounds are kind of fished out.

You certainly don't hear any country music on pop radio today. But for a while you did, and it was a lovely thing to have all the different genres of music cohabitating the Top 40 - the folk sound, The Beatles, the British sound, the Motown sounds, that kind of light country - it was a welcome relief after a few hard rock records. Everyone was sharing the airwaves, and I think it was a beautiful time for American music.

Even if chords are simple, they should rub. They should have dissonances in them. I've always used a lot of alternate bass lines, suspensions, widely spaced voicings. Dfferent textures to get very warm chords. Sometimes you're setting up strange chords by placing a chord in front of it that's going to set it off like a diamond in a gold band. It's not just finding interesting chords, it's how you sequence them, like stringing together pearls on a string. ... Interesting chords will compel interesting melodies. It's very hard to write a boring melody to an interesting chord sequence.