Matt Smith Quotes

Lyric writing is an interesting process in Sonic Youth. There's three people writing now, and we've all had a lot of interest and involvement with expression through words.

I don't dream songs. I'm more apt to write dreams down and then to be able to interpret them into a song. I also tend to get up and write prose in the morning from which will come songs.

Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.

As long as I can say what it is that I need to say, then I'll fit whatever I'm trying to say around a melody.

I'm just thinking about the vision for how I want my music to go and what I want it to say. I'm always creating in a way, even if it's just thinking about it.

I have never composed a song keeping in mind that I should touch any social issues.

Lyrics are so important, but they're really underrated.

For me, music always leads. Lyrics are only about how they sing. It is wonderful if they read well, too. In the very best scenario, sometimes a lyric will pop out with a melody, simultaneously. That's a lovely thing, but you can't rely on that.

If you wanna write a song, ask a guitar

I was a songwriter; that was the torch I carried. This is an honorable profession. This is what I do.

For me the music is a vehicle for my lyrics. It's a chance to get some really good words across.

I think the difference between a good song and a great song is... honestly, I think the lyrics, because if you have a really solid melody and solid track and everything is there but then the lyric is just okay, then you've got a good song.

When I'm playing guitar, I just try and put those words into lyrics and just try a few things. It's all over the place.

Writing songs has always been hard and easy. It's not always easy when you want it to be, and then sometimes it's just like turning on the faucet. That's just the nature of it.

Sometimes when you're writing a song and that song comes into your head, it definitely comes from somewhere, like a real experience.

For me it's also - the music is equally as important. I mean I think as somebody who writes music, there just has to sort of be the marriage between both.

For me, how I feel about what I wrote down turns into a song.

No, no, the songs write themselves, almost.

When you write songs, you can't really point out the exact thing you're inspired by. It's more a state or a mood or an atmosphere that you're trying to put into words.

I write the vocals last, because I wanted to invent the music first and push the music to the level that I had to compete against it.

If I'm not crying while writing a song, I'm not doing it right.

I tend to write at the piano, but usually the melody and lyrics come first. Like, I'll be in the shower, and I'll start singing, and the melody and the lyric will just come out. Then I'll quickly try to finish the shower, try to remember it, record it on my phone and save it for the studio.

You never know what's going to play into what's worthy of getting encapsulated into a song.

For example, after developing a sound similar to an elephant trumpeting, I wrote the song Elephant Talk which gave my elephant sound an appropriate place to live.

I find it harder to write the lyrics afterwards because then you're just trying to fit them into something that's already there.