Lou Reed Quotes

I prefer writing originals.

In other words, musicians know that going back to the Spoonful, what we were doing was not copying.

As I've matured as a songwriter, I realize that if it's out there, it's mine.

I like writing and don't confine myself to just the words or just the music. But I don't particularly write songs with myself in mind.

I feel really relevant and creative, and I don't think I would've made an album if I didn't feel relevant. I wouldn't have said a word.

A lot of my songs are about things that concern me personally, not a heightened version of myself or any of the characters that I play.

All of my surroundings influence my songwriting. It's autobiographical, although I leave enough space so it's relatable.

You make up a character, there's always gonna be parts of you that, like it or not, shine through.

He has found his style, when he cannot do otherwise.

I feel, as an artist, I should be able to express who I am and the things I come from, and the places I want to also be.

I never wanted to be that fad type of artist. When I looked up to artists, watching TV, I wanted to see somebody. I wanted to touch that person. I wanted to sound like them. I wanted to move like them. That' s what I want my fans to do. So that's why, everything that I do, the music I make, how I dress, it's all based off my lifestyle.

In songwriting, I needed language. And I always believed in singing about what I do.

There were times in my career when I would try to write songs like Bob Dylan... Artists get hooked up in that. To be a follower, you lose.

What I've learned is that it's okay to take from heroes, such as Debussy, but it has to be filtered through my own personality so that ultimately it's me.

The first set of lyrics for the first songs I ever wrote, which are the ones on 'Pretty Hate Machine,' came from private journal entries that I realized I was writing in lyric form.

If you really want to tell stories, do it and don't be dissuaded.

I never dreamed that the little ditties I wrote about annoying customers or bagel recipes would turn into a full-length musical comedy. But a very wise person told me to 'write what you know'. So I did.

The things I write are combinations of all of the people that have been influences to me.

I don't get my inspiration from a specific source. It's more like if you listen to a good tune, it gives me inspiration to write a better tune.

I'm not afraid to use my personal experiences and put them into a song. I think that's when you get the best stuff anyway, when it's real emotion.

I always was really confident about myself, about my voice, myself as a person, my body, all of those things, but as a songwriter - I just didn't identify as a songwriter at all.

I'm definitely using different parts of myself, but I think when it comes down to words and melodies, I can't really force anything too much.

I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.

I'm not the best person at putting words together. I can't give you the melody. But I might inspire somebody.

I don't feel I have to be Jackson Browne. Still, I like to say something.