Nneka Quotes

My songs are self-explanatory... somebody pointed out to me that... my songs pretty much speak for themselves.

If I can't get a mental image from the song, I won't sing it.

I'm not really a songwriter - I'm an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.

I don't get in there and create a character. It's more of a voice that I hear living inside the music.

It's a different process for me, but it's really cool to hear someone else singing the song that you wrote.

As a singer, you have to bring the soul to the song.

I always try, when I'm singing songs, to interpret them the way that I would've arranged them. I think about the melody first, and then I pull out my guitar and start singing it.

Normally the meaning of the songs, if there is any, occurs to me after I've written the song.

In some ways, I've always approached singing as acting, and the voice is just like a way of carrying the song.

It's entertaining to watch somebody break my music down or explain what he thinks I was thinking during the process of making these records. Because... he has no idea.

I just try to get inside the song and imagine what comes next.

I usually write my music on a piano, and I really enjoy performing that way, because that actually shows how the music was in my mind before it actually became an electronic song.

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

Write your own songs. It helps you to mean what you're singing, which will then make it mean something to listeners.

People take songs so literally.

It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most. Singers, like Frank Sinatra and myself, we interpret the songs that we like. Not unlike a Shakespearean actor that goes back to the greatest words ever written, we go back to the greatest songs.

Some people try and tell you what the songs are about and it bores me to death.

A lot of people don't listen to the lyrics, really.

By no means, I can't sing any rock and roll.

I put myself into character for my songs.

I feel like I'm a secondary artist, a kind of a conduit for the writer, and if it's a good writer, then I have a great road map.

My favorite song is called 'Reachout.' There are so many different stories told in that song. I think anyone who listens to it will gather a different meaning, but each answer is true. I also like the sound of it, period - there are a lot of classical influences.

I'm a method actress in my songs, which is why it's hard to sing them.

Music tells you about the artist and what they were thinking about at the time, because the person has to think about it to sing it.

I believe in working with songs that have personal value for me.