Stephen Sondheim Quotes

I love songs because by nature they are concise; they sum up. I try to use as few words as possible. It's usually funnier that way, anyway.

I feel like I want to write some songs and I don't know how to go about doing it. Usually it's the lyrics that are a problem, and I think I am not really cut out to be a lyricist.

Every song has a bouquet, which is the music. If you can put words with something that is really apt, then you've done it.

A lot of the great songwriters in history have been collaborators, with a separate lyricist.

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

I had written lyrics to a song called The Silent Extreme, which Alex later renamed Humans Being.

I've always felt that some of my best lyrics are less than three minutes long, and it's great when you can do that - be succinct and get the message across in a simple, clear idea.

But then you have to write a song, so at that point, I picked up the reins and started to write lyrics.

One of the hardest things about writing lyrics is to make the lyrics sit on the music in such a way that you're not aware there was a writer there.

Omit needless words.

It's very much a piece of myself when I write a song. I don't mean to say it's very personal, like the lyrics mean something personal to me. When I write a song, that's my taste in music - my taste in chord progressions and melodies.

You know, there's an economy in lyric-writing that doesn't afford you, or at least me - I usually start off with nine or 10 verses and then boil it down to two or three that are half the length of the original verses.

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

The quality of the writing, really. Simple as that. Beautiful words. It's very nice as a singer to do great songs, which have wonderful lyrics and strong feelings underneath the song.

I write music all the time. When I talk about having writer's block, it's more to do with lyrics than anything else.

When you write a song, the goal is not to convey the details of your life. You should write a memoir or something if that's what you're going to do.

I am always getting ideas for song lyrics and keep a notebook handy. Nowadays, I take a laptop with me everywhere, because I have a stock of handwritten lyrics in it.

I love great lyrics, and I love the way it could shape a tune into a very unpredictable one, and I also like taking a great melody and putting lyrics into it.

I started writing songs at age 15.

I'm writing a record of comedy songs. I'm doing all these collaborations with artists. I bring them lyrics and they write the music to it.

It's been an objective of mine since I started writing songs to include both intellect and energy.

I try to focus on the melodies and try to make everything else minimal. The melody and the lyrics are most important to me.

I've been writing music since 4th grade, and I love putting words together and expressing things in a way that you can move your head to and you can really relate to, because I have a lot to say.

The music is the main thing and it's just as easy to write acceptable words.

I dabbled a little bit in the whole music thing but I've always thought about Bernie Taupin, who is Elton John's lyricist; Elton John is the great melody and song writer but Bernie Taupin is the one who writes all the lyrics. I don't write lyrics, and I never wanted to be in the music business if I was just going to be a puppet in it.