Neil Peart Quotes

I find it harder to write the lyrics afterwards because then you're just trying to fit them into something that's already there.

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

I try to write catchy hooks but, at the same time, things that mean something that will provoke thought.

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

Usually, I'll just be walking from my house to somewhere else, and melodies and words will start coming up, and I'll have to run home to write it all down.

I never wanted to write really cheesy pop lyrics - like, 'baby, baby, the sun is shining' - that's not something that interests me personally. I'm always wanting to write something that has some kind of meaning.

Every song is a long process. First I have to write a story for it, and then to make it into a song, I have to make it short and then shorter - so it's not easy!

I've been writing songs since I was like six or seven. I've been writing poetry and short stories and stuff, but my first serious, serious song, I wrote when I was fourteen.

I'd say almost that words come first, melody second.

My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work rather than just a 16-bar verse.

I really want people to know I'm a songwriter.

The melody will tell me what the song should be about, the tone of the song. That's when the intellect comes in. Because I have a list of possible titles and concepts, and I expand on that.

You know when you hear a lyric and you can tell that the person means it? That is really hard; that is so much harder than it seems: to find the topics that you're passionate about and have it come across as like, 'Yeah, that guy needed to sing that song.'

It takes me, like, half an hour to write the lyrics for a song. They just come out.

There's two things that are tough when you're trying to be a songwriter: Number one is, how do I write a great song? The second thing is, how do I write a great song that's right for me?

I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter. I found out that was a job, that someone would pay you to sit in a room with a guitar and make up songs! It is the greatest job in the world. I wrote three or four songs a day. That's what I lived for.

I always try to write the best song I can in the moment, and those songs are often going to end up on Death Cab for Cutie records. I don't set out to write a solo song or write a band song. I just write, and where that songs ends up is kind of TBD.

I have a thing about inane lyrics - the world doesn't need them.

I wouldn't sit down and work at writing a song like a novelist or something.

I know when I've written a good song when I can imagine the video. If I can't imagine the video straight away, I'm not gonna put it on my album.

I'm such an emotional person that when it comes to songwriting, I can click into whatever zone I need.

I'm far more interested in putting a little more meat into the lyrics than some people are.

As a songwriter, I've always loved to tell stories. But in my band, it was always about what would make sense for a band to put out.

As a songwriter, we're looking for a good story, and we're always looking to push the limits.

I write songs every day, but I don't necessarily get to record them.