Todd Rundgren Quotes

When I write songs, I like to write lyrics first, and I think that's different from a lot of singer-songwriters. But I heard Sammy Cahn was asked what comes first, the lyrics or the music, and he said, 'The paycheck.'

A lot of my vocals were the first time I ever sang the song.

The music comes first. Final lyrics are usually written very close to recording the vocals.

If I hear a conversation and somebody says something intriguing, my first thought is, 'Is that a song?' I write all year long, and at the end of the year I pull these forty or fifty things out and say which of these things do I want to record.

If you're working with a producer like Rick Rubin or whatever, you sing each line probably 30 different ways. Each time, they're like, 'Can you try it this way? Can you try it that way?' That's each line in the song, for each song.

I always start with writing vocal melodies before writing lyrics.

I have my own studio that I sing in.

With songwriters like me who are prolific, you just write the song and then put it on tape.

Yeah, I've always sung, and I always try to find a way for music to be in my life.

Singing and playing have always gone hand-in-hand with me. I love 'em both equally.

As a songwriter, you try your best to write a good song, and you like nothing better than hearing a good song. It's easy to admire a great song, and you want to share out of enthusiasm.

I've been gearing up for this future of writing a lot of new music by digging into my favorite old stuff, and twisting it around and highlighting the things I really love.

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

I write my lyrics into the computer and I hum my music into the dictaphone.

I have to have a guitar sitting around. I sing in the shower. I sing around the house. The music comes secondary. The lyrics come first.

I normally work like a vampire. Around 8 to 9 P.M., what I call 'the spirits' actually show up, and then I just go in the booth and scream on top of a track. I only sing on the mic. I don't sit down and write anything.

When I write a song, I always start on acoustic guitar, because that's a good test of a song, when it's really open and bare. You can often mislead yourself if you start with computers and samples and programming because you can disguise a bad song.

We recorded several of Kenny's songs in the living room of my home.

But this is pretty new for me, both songwriting and singing.

I never write from concept. The beat is the beginning, and then I fill in the rest of the song into what it should be.

My main thing is just to keep writing. I've been doing some songwriting that's for my own record, I suppose.

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.

I was about 11 when my mother brought me this karaoke machine and I was really into it back then, but about 4 or 5 years ago is when I started printing up my own music, going to the studio and doing my own thing.

The lyrics are always the last thing I do. I always have a recording of basic tracks and maybe some of the lead work. I'll sit back and listen to it, and I'll just concentrate on what kind of feeling it gives me. My goal writing the lyrics is to not disrupt that feeling.

Music is a big part of my life. I listen to different genres, and I choose the music that will inspire the next part of my story.