Aaron Dessner Quotes

I like to see myself as a composer first and only then as a singer.

Great melody over great riffs is, to me, the secret of it all.

Lyrics are important, but it's hard, because English isn't my first language - although it feels like it is these days! I grew up with amazing melodies, so getting that right on a song has always been the key thing for me, but there's no reason why a great melody doesn't deserve great lyrics.

Melody is king, and don't you ever forget it. Lyrics appear to be out front, but they're not; they're just an accompanying factor. If they're good, you're really in good shape. Lyrics are written to be rewritten.

I never thought of myself as being a good songwriter. There are a ton of other people that are good songwriters, but I don't think I'm in the club. What I do well is perform, sometimes sing pretty good, and accompany myself well and arrange fairly well.

I write bars, for the musicians, because they have to be together.

Making music and writing kind of come from the same creative place.

I love writing music.

I wasn't worried about flash or persona... It's all about writing a good, solid song.

You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies.

The riffs, lyrics, and drums of 'Open Your Omen' will tell you a lot.

Really, music is what I'm interested in, and the lyric part of it came from just having to have something to sing.

I think singing is such an important and incredible art form and it is quite undervalued at times.

I tend to write on an acoustic guitar or the piano. I have kind of a rule: if I can't sit down and play this and get the song over, I don't take it to the band, because most any good song, you can sit down and deliver it with a piano or a guitar.

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

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.

I write music to both the situations and the lyrics in plays.

So writing a song is much harder than doing a classical piece for me, because in a classical piece, I can just let the mood dictate what's going to happen.

There's such a huge difference between a great arrangement of riffs and a song. Sometimes the two can be the same. But the difference is a song doesn't necessarily need a riff, whereas a riff doesn't necessarily mean you've got a good song on your hands.

Songwriting's a weird game.

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

I really believe in melody.

I've been singing and writing songs only a little longer than acting. I really enjoy both.

That's what I like to do, I like to make songs.

There's still a lot of great songwriters out there who hand in songs. And there's a lot of brilliant singers and performers out there who sing other people's words. I enjoy doing both.