Creed Bratton Quotes

So many good songs get written fast, because you know exactly what has to work.

Songs are out there - they're waiting to be grabbed. I start with a phrase, musical and lyrical, words like 'I don't think so' and a nice riff. It rolls from there.

There's many, many ways to write a song. But generally, sitting down at a table and writing is not one of them.

I know already the music I will write. But the words? I have not yet decided.

There are no rules to writing a song.

For me, making music just starts with a simple melody, and lyrics will come sometime after that.

Mr. Fantasy was the only song that was scribbling on a piece of paper.

Many times, the way I write my themes or melodies is that I hear it, and then I sing into my phone or something, or I'll scribble down on a piece of paper.

When I'm playing guitar, I just try and put those words into lyrics and just try a few things. It's all over the place.

I've always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I'll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that I want to write and the lyric will come first.

Usually, my rhymes are just in my head. I start off with a theme, and once I start rapping and writing and singing, the chorus and all that, it just starts flowing. Then it's done in about an hour! I write a lot of songs.

No, no, the songs write themselves, almost.

There's such a huge difference between a great arrangement of riffs and a song. Sometimes the two can be the same. But the difference is a song doesn't necessarily need a riff, whereas a riff doesn't necessarily mean you've got a good song on your hands.

The best songwriting comes from being as creative as you can and editing it down to the good bits, essentially.

I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.

Typically I go in the studio and whatever I'm contemplating that day will wind up being a song. I don't come in with lyrics... I just go in and let it happen.

When I'm writing a song, I'm just making stuff up as I go along.

I write a lot of rhymes, but I don't really end up using them a lot of times, and I end up just freestyling. I like to write music, though, more than I like to freestyle, to be honest.

I don't have any particular methodology, to tell you the truth. 'Silver Blue' took exactly the amount of time to write that it takes to sing it, and 'Prisoner in Disguise' took about a year and a half. So you just never know.

Rap is something you can just throw on the skillet and fry up real quick. That's how it comes to me, my train of thought. It's like getting dressed - I don't have to sit down and stare at clothes, I just pick what I like and put it on. But rock, you gotta put it in the oven and let it bake.

I don't write poems and put them to music. Just let things flow.

The first time I learned how to play, my guitar was out of tune. I didn't know it; I just started writing songs.

I never think about rhythm versus melody; I've always just played to what's in my head.

Sometimes I'll come up with a lick that I really love, and I'll try to put the right words to it for years. Suddenly something comes to me that works just right.

I don't read music. I don't write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.