Jessye Norman Quotes

It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling when you wrote the song. They're the same thing, in a way; it's expressing your emotions through words.

For me, lyrics are the most important thing in a song. And if they don't have meaning, I would never sing them - unless and until someone who loves your work asks me to do so.

I like to sing very much.

You know, when I did 'American Idol' the three times, I tried to tell these kids you have to tell the story of the lyric.

Nobody sang better than my mom. That's why I've never even thought of singing for singing sake. I've always thought of a song as an acting piece, as a way to say something.

I would spend hours absorbing every intonation, every inflection - how the singer would convey a sentiment and how it would sound coming out of their head. All of those things I very carefully watched and absorbed, and so I guess I was studying my whole life, although not in any sort of conventional way.

As a singer, you have to bring the soul to the song.

I never wanted to write really cheesy pop lyrics - like, 'baby, baby, the sun is shining' - that's not something that interests me personally. I'm always wanting to write something that has some kind of meaning.

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

When I sit down to write a song, it's a kind of improvisation, but I formalize it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I'm about to do.

I've always loved to sing.

I enjoy all aspects of singing and I'm luckily given the choice to be part of different styles of music.

I really love singing.

Singers, like Frank Sinatra and myself, we interpret the songs that we like. Not unlike a Shakespearean actor that goes back to the greatest words ever written, we go back to the greatest songs and bring about my interpretation of them.

I try to transmit emotion and soul in my voice, but my true passion has always been writing. I feel more like a writer than anything else.

Singing allowed me to express myself in ways that I wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

In music, you feel a connection to the voice and think about the person behind it. In art that's secondary.

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.

When you write a song, it may come from a personal space, but it very seldom actually represents you. It comes out of a sort of mood of melancholy, somehow. It's almost theatrical.

It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most. Singers, like Frank Sinatra and myself, we interpret the songs that we like. Not unlike a Shakespearean actor that goes back to the greatest words ever written, we go back to the greatest songs.

I listen to a lot of singers, because I find phrasing to be one of the most essential elements of playing.

I've never considered myself a lyricist, but I have stuff to say.

Singing is my life. It has always been my life. It will always be my life.

I wish myself to be a prop, if anything, for my songs. I want to be the vehicle for my songs. I would like to colour the material with as much visual expression as is necessary for that song.

The way I choose to show my feelings is through my songs.