Rodney Crowell Quotes

No matter what, I will always hope for that day when I look around and can say, 'Oh yeah, I wrote a song that touched me emotionally the way that a song like 'She's Got A Way,' by Billy Joel did.'

I've been a huge fan of Adele, Sam Smith, and Ed Sheeran, and those amazing artists draw inspiration from their present and past experiences; they write songs from their heart.

When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.

I write songs all the time in my room. I play them for my friends and family.

'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.

I've always written songs since I was a kid - always.

Some people take pictures; I write songs.

I am a big Beatles fan. And, you know, unbeknownst to anyone, I used to be one. But I have no problems of putting titles and lines from other songs in my songs, because they're great lines and great titles.

I draw inspiration from anything and everybody and that's what country music is to me... real life stories and real life emotions.

Listen to the Bee Gees and you can learn to be a great writer.

When the suggestion was made that I might consider doing music of Joni Mitchell, I thought it was a fantastic idea. Joni, I admire not only for her music but for her person, because she's a person that really stands out for what she believes in.

In my imagination yes, I remember, when I was six years old, I was conducting all this concert in my house. But now it's real.

I just like to entertain myself by sitting down and writing songs.

Tori Amos had a major influence on how I craft words in a song.

Just like any songwriter, I love it when people sing my songs.

For me, the music dictates the melody. Give me a riff to sing over, you know?

Ed Sheeran wrote his songs, so I wanted to write my own songs.

Everything that I do on stage comes from seeing the Black Crowes in '95 in Charlotte. For 'Let Her Cry,' I was just trying to write 'She Talks to Angels.'

My 'Slide Some Oil' ain't gon' be Nipsey Russell's 'Slide Some Oil.' Elijah Kelley's 'You Can't Win' ain't gon' be Michael Jackson's 'You Can't Win.'

I always like to write the songs, and they get turned loose into the world, and who knows what happens to them. That's the joy of being a songwriter. You get to hear what other people do, interpretation-wise.

I learned so much watching my dad write songs and perform in front of thousands of people, and people were singing along to songs that I watched him write; it stuck with me.

Beats are really inspiring. They always make me want to write something over them.

The first song I ever wrote was in grade eight.

There are a few Irish writers who have a very strong influence on me, especially on the 'Take Me to Church' EP.

We just try to write about things that are close to our hearts. We don't sit around trying to write another 'Free Bird' or 'Sweet Home Alabama.'