Jerry Garcia Quotes

I would write poems and think up melodies to them later.

The thing is, in English I'm able to write the lyrics as I'm making the song, once I'm done with the melody.

I write lyrics based on music, on a musical flow, and what sounds good at the time.

Just knowing how to rap doesn't necessarily mean that you're a good songwriter.

One of the hardest things about writing lyrics is to make the lyrics sit on the music in such a way that you're not aware there was a writer there.

There are people who can sit down and write a song about any given subject, and they can do it really, really well.

I don't write poetry and then strum some chords and then fit the words on top of the chords.

I think there are some songwriters who are just brilliant who can write and then I think there are some songwriters who can like me I have a problem writing chorus lyrics but I can write a song in a story like that.

I always write lyrics first and the rhythm and the melody come from the lyrics. It always comes from the lyrics: words have rhythm and words have melody.

Song Sung Blue took a lot of compressing and refining, and it has one of my favorite lyrics.

Being able to say something lyrically, to say something that will do more than just be words, is really hard. It's easy to do when you're writing a chapter of a book or writing poetry, but it's really hard to do when you're confined to a melody line.

I always wrote poetry and stuff like that, so putting songs together wasn't that spectacular.

I think to be a good songwriter, you have to be able to play an instrument.

I generally, you know, I don't - I don't really scat. I'm - I'm basically a songwriter so you need a little lyrics that rhyme and stuff.

You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies.

I write lyrics. putting words and melodies to my songs. That's a real challenge, I take it on vigorously.

I'm usually just writing lyrics alone in my room, but I'm happy to be producing and writing chords anywhere.

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 more songs I've written, the more I've grown interested in telling a story. When I first began, I had this list of opaque phrases where you can make of it what you want.

I guess I started writing poetry and stuff and then decided to set it to music.

I was writing tons of music in my spare time. I might be on location somewhere, and I'd go home and I'd have my guitar and my little keyboard or something and write music. Or if I was at home, on my piano. I've always been a late bloomer with a lot of things, just in general, so I think this was something that needed to come to fruition in this particular way.

I fell into lyric writing because of music. I backed into it.

I've been writing and composing songs since I was 5 years old.

Every song has a bouquet, which is the music. If you can put words with something that is really apt, then you've done it.

I've actually had a melody on my guitar since the day I learned how to play it, back when I was 7. And for some reason I can't add lyrics to it.