P. J. Harvey Quotes

People don't stress enough that when they're writing lyrics, they are writing.

When I sit at my table to write, I never know what it's going to be until I'm under way. I trust in inspiration, which sometimes comes and sometimes doesn't. But I don't sit back waiting for it. I work every day.

So one can say that I write all the time, that goes for the lyrics as well.

When I first started to get into writing, it was via music. I'd generate ideas for songs that would turn into stories, then they'd turn into novels. I was biased toward music.

The cool thing about writing is that there is really never a typical day. Sometimes I get a rhythm going and head off to work every morning and come home at night. Sometimes I'll write for two days straight and then be utterly blank for the next two.

Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear, misheard words or lyrics, dreams... Motivation? The memory of the rush I get from a really good writing session - even on a bad day, I know I'll find that again if I keep going.

The writing part of my life never changes, because that's just when the inspiration comes.

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

I learned long ago, back with 'Lover Revealed,' that my job is to sit at the computer, shut up and type. Otherwise? The pictures and the voices go away!

If you are a writer you locate yourself behind a wall of silence and no matter what you are doing, driving a car or walking or doing housework you can still be writing, because you have that space.

It's hard to decide how to match words to music. It's not like it's twice the work. It's always difficult for me to explain to the composer what I'm looking for. I'm not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music.

I always start with the music and then try to figure out what I want to write about lyrically.

I write everything. It's my favorite part of what I do. And lyrics are my favorite thing.

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

You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies.

I don't consciously think of any certain direction when I'm writing. I only try not to be repetitive or redundant.

I like to write lyrics when I feel it, and because of that, I like to keep a log of lyrics all the time.

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

I don't write on demand - I wait for inspiration to come.

First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it.

I can't tell you any more than any other writer can tell you why they write, and I don't know what my influences are.

But when you get music and words together, that can be a very powerful thing.

Writing is total grunt work. A lot of people think it's all about sitting and waiting for the muse. I don't buy that. It's a job. There are days when I really want to write, days when I don't. Every day I sit down and write.

Writing is never, ever easy but I wake up every morning grateful for the gift of being able to do this.

We start a lot with melodies and instrumentation and trying to figure out good melodies for verses and choruses. We get to lyrics sometimes second, so we'll start humming a melody, finding something, and see where the music takes you as far as lyrics are and what you want to say and go from there.