John Darnielle Quotes

It doesn't matter what age you are, an effective song will move you.

Yet, it ought to be obvious that good music generally occupies a higher plane that mere politics. Great writers can express moods through melody and capture experiences we share most powerfully - love, lust, longing; joy, rage, fear; triumph, yearning and confusion.

If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit.

I can see the music. I know what it looks like. I know what color it is. The words come easy, the tears come easy, and the joy comes easy. The music tells you what to do.

Most people who ask me what's my favorite song, expect that it's 'Midnight Train' or 'Neither One of Us.' But actually, it's always kinda been 'The Need to Be' because of what it says. I love the way that song was written, I love the melody, I love everything about it.

When you're listening to the radio, you're hearing dance beats, all the bells and whistles, and 'Say Something' makes you quiet and forces you to listen.

Ultimately, words are only words, and its only the music that stands by itself.

There's just a natural human element to a great song that feels immediately satisfying. I like the song to create a mood.

A song has to take on character, shape, body and influence people to an extent that they use it for their own devices. It must affect them not just as a song, but as a lifestyle.

Music is how you feel.

I project love, music and love, and I pray for peace. A good song cuts straight to the heart; sometimes it doesn't need to be too many lines - of course, I do love a good story.

Music is only love looking for words.

Music seems hard-wired into our very being. It moves us, stirs us to action, sets us in motion, sticks in our memories and minds.

Songs are more powerful than books.

Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it.

I always tell people, the first time I heard 'She Talks To Angels,' those lyrics did something to me.

Songs, for me, are notes from the heart.

'Pop' is not a bad word. What's more interesting than changing the chemistry in a room in three minutes with a song?

All I can hope for is songs that feel special and songs that make people feel.

So much of grandeur and richness in songs unnerve me.

I like to write songs that people can identify with and sing along to.

Music is a great catalyst for emotion because it gets to your core.

How many millions of times have I sung 'Love Changes Everything?' But when I see how it matters to people, it gives me the impetus to rediscover it and remember how lucky I am to have a song like that.

Songs I do have to strike an emotional chord the first time I sing them.

Every song has a heart, and I just go for that.