Paul Weller Quotes

I never really focus on writing for other people, to be honest. Every song I've ever written was for me to sing. Maybe if I'm writing for a rapper, but I'd still write it as though it was for myself and then sometimes I'm actually asked to do the part.

I learned that the songs that mean the most to me are the songs that I write by myself. While there were people I wrote really well with, particularly Gary Nicholson and Delbert McClinton, and I really enjoyed the experience, I came away from it feeling like I need to write by myself.

My main goal as a songwriter is to make something that inspires people. To write things about my life that people can relate to. Whether it's a whole record or just one song for someone, I hope it can do that for them. Knowing that I have the ability to do that is inspiring to 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.

For me, music is sort of my passion, more so than being an actor. I just never tried to make a career as a musician. It was just something that I did on my own time, just for me. I had written a lot of songs, but I don't really record a lot of music because, for me, it's the same way as a poet: I write to get things out. It's sort of cathartic.

When I got into music, I wanted to learn guitar just enough to be able to write songs. I wanted to be able to express myself.

For a while, I felt a little self-impelled to write Lou Reed Kind of songs. I should have understood that a Lou Reed song was anything I wanted to write about.

You want to sell records, but if you want to call yourself an artist, your job is how you express yourself.

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.

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'd say, at the end of the day, you know, from a songwriting practice standpoint, you write songs to make yourself feel something true and validating, and cathartic, maybe, and then whoever responds to it is, like, out of your control.

In any piece of art, the artist pours themselves into it. It becomes a reflection of who they are and what they believe. That's what it has to be. Otherwise it's just a product.

It's not just music. To me, it's songwriting more than anything. A lot of people say it's expression, but to me, it's more than that.

While I write for myself, I also write for other artists too.

I don't know, I've always written songs that are mainly about attitude, not me personally.

That's important for artists to remember: some people would like to be spokespeople, but others would like their art to speak.

I think every song I do is specifically tailored to what I would say and how I approach situations.

[Songwriting is] something that I own - it's my property, it's my music, it's my voice.

Everyone has their own sound, and if you're heard enough, folks will come to recognize it. Style however, is a different thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off.

When I write songs, I try to remove myself a little bit. Obviously, they're very personal to me, but it feels easier if I feel like I'm writing characters.

I see myself as a songwriter and a poet.

I feel like Prince's artistry inspired me as far as staying true to myself and my artistry and what is important to me in my life and applying, you know, all the things that I ever been through into my music, the same way he kinda did in 'Purple Rain.'

You spend so much time in a studio writing for other people, you forget you sing, you know?

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.

Singing is the form I've chosen to express myself. It's the way I emote best.