Rickie Lee Jones Quotes

I think all of my songs are either based on personal experience or will be based on personal experience, because I do write a lot of songs prophetically.

When I'm writing [songs], some days the pen just goes. I'm not in charge and I'm almost listening outside of it. That's when I realize that we all have to start looking at life as a gift. It's like listening to a color and believing that these colors have soul mates and once you get them all together the painting is complete.

I'm not sure if the next song I write is going to be about love or a song about a tree.

Writing songs always trumps whatever else was on the schedule, it really is the most important and can be so fickle, you have to grab it when it's there.

I have a few songs that I'm figuring out and writing. I'm still figuring out the whole concept and how it's gonna connect to Cry Baby, but I have some ideas, yes.

Often the simplest song is the hardest to write.

I try to think of the songs as little movies. They're always pretty visual to me. I can always sort of see them. I don't always know what the end result is going to be, and I don't know exactly what it's going to sound like, but I can kinda see them.

With writing music and writing songs and recording music and coming up with stuff, you need to kind of reengage that kind of inner child to come up with interesting perceptions.

Sometimes I dream song ideas. I write a song in my dream, the melody and everything. But then sometimes I can't remember them. I think later on, I probably do.

I would always write lyrics and songs on the piano.

It's rather mystifying when you think about writing songs - where they come from, and how they're born.

I don't write songs, songs write me.

Writing every song is a little journey. The first note has to lift you.

I have this really beautiful Martin guitar, and it just kind of writes songs for me.

Morrissey writes wonderful song titles, but sadly he often forgets to write the song.

I used to try to write a song a day. I've been so busy lately.

As for me, I rarely write a song. But when I do write a song, like "Ain't No Chimneys in the Projects," which came to me at three a.m. one morning, on a whim - I get a percentage.

It's easiest to write songs when I'm either really in love or really mad at a guy. It's just always best when I'm feeling superemotional.

When I get an idea for a song it would gel in my mind for weeks or months, and then one day just like that, Ill write it.

What happens is, especially when I was writing for my band, Creedence, and it's the way I write now, I go into "guitar lick" mode. When I do, it sort of leads into a real song. I'd say to myself, your songwriting is coming up with a guitar lick, and the rest is easy!

It would be fun to write with Adele, actually. She seems like a fun girl to write with.

Often I have to move my body in a certain way, like exercising, to begin to get into the right rhythm for writing a song.

It's so important and easy to be a kid at heart.

For some artists the live performance is the chicken before the egg of writing or recording of repertoire. For other artists the writing or recording of repertoire is the chicken before the egg of live performance.

There was a chance for me to write one song for the section where Elvis sat in his black leather outfit and sang the old hits. At eight oclock the next morning I had written Memories.