Gil Scott-Heron Quotes

I love writing for dancers. You don't have to worry about the lyrics. I think to write words without music must be so frustrating. It must be always be so good, so perfect.

I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.

I'm much more of a musician than a poet. I just feel much more confident about my musical abilities.

I learned to play guitar at a young age and converted poems and stuff that I had written to songs.

I started playing guitar when I was 13. I'd written a few songs on the guitar over some time. I'd written a book of poetry, and I got a book of lyrics that I had when I was a kid.

I mean, if you decided to go out today and get you an instrument and do whatever it is that you do, no one can tell you how you're going to do it but when you do it.

I guess as a kid, I was always creative, and I was involved in music, like piano and violin and choir, so I always knew - I always knew that I wanted to do something that would allow me to be who I am. Generally, that was creatively, imaginatively.

I'm definitely a writer. I don't even know how to freestyle.

Making music and writing kind of come from the same creative place.

I can perform easily; I don't mind getting up in front of people at all. I've always sung and felt confident about that, and guitar playing isn't a stretch, but songwriting is. We all have our challenges in what we do, and that's mine.

I didn't sing, but I did play the drums.

Careers don't interest me. The only thing that interests me is continuing to be a poet on one level or another, whether acting or writing or directing.

My only claim to music is a good sense of rhythm, and I have been in musicals and done some singing.

Just because someone may or may not have someone that writes some words for them doesn't mean that, A, they don't have to kill it on the performance, and, B, they don't have to have the ear for what's tight and what's not, which is something a lot of people don't have.

I looked at myself, and I just said, 'Well, you know, I can sing, but I'm not the greatest singer in the world. I can play guitar very well, but I'm not the greatest guitar player in the world.' So I said, 'Well, if I'm going to project an individuality, it's going to have to be in my writing.'

My son plays guitar, and he's been at the Kennedy Center.

I used to play around and sing Randy Travis for my dad. I'd always be able to just mimic things.

Music is more Ray J. When you act, you're playing a different person. I like the music end, basically because it's me.

I love telling a story through song. It helps me take it to a deeper place.

If I weren't musical, then I would have just published a book, you know? But I'm lucky enough to play piano, and so I use piano to convert my poems.

Rap lyrics are really the only thing I've ever written.

I think, with music, I'm a lyricist who talks about real life things.

If you suck, you're gonna suck real bad, and if you play well, it's going to sound really good.

That's what I wanted to do was play music.

I had a nice talk with my parents and told them I was going to give singing a go. I will go back to studying, but I'd love to get a degree in writing.