I sleep music. I wake up, and there's a riff in my head. Every step I take, there's a riff, a beat, or something.
Every day you can write a song but some days there is just some magic in the air and something special about the catch; other days you write all day on a song line or idea.
Do you think I'm wandering around all day thinking, 'I must write a song called 'Three Coins In The Fountain'?' Only an idiot would do that.
I don't think I've ever actually written from inspiration, actually had a song just go, 'Bing!' I only recall that happening to me twice - once was with 'Terrapin' and the other was 'Wharf Rat.' I mean, that's twice in a lifetime of writing!
I most enjoy sitting down with the acoustic guitar and just fiddling around and trying to come up with something like a hook or some sort of melodic line. That's something that I do habitually.
Everything I see and hear... I will take ideas from anyplace, anywhere, anytime, and life has become a song to me. I'm always looking for a song.
Sometimes a chord on a guitar will somehow spur some thought in your head, and you will write a song about it.
The way I see it, there's only one melody for any song.
I believe very strongly in having melodic hooks, whether they're short or intricate, that you really remember in a movie.
I've written many extra verses to songs that I learned to sing - an extra verse about a friend, or just add some verse - and that led to writing my own songs.
I try to write catchy hooks but, at the same time, things that mean something that will provoke thought.
For a person as obsessed with music as I am, I always hear a song in the back of my head, all the time, and that usually is my own tune. I've done that all my life.
I always think it's important to choose your initial theme very carefully because you're going to be married to it for a long time. You might have to generate an hour's worth of music from a very short, little piece of theme.
So when I wrote 'Down' - when I sang the melody, I sung the word 'Down' for no reason. I don't know why. That's how I came up with the medley. I was like, 'I don't know why I said down, but we got to write a song around it.'
I always had my guitar; I worked at writing some songs. I always played music - in the house. I sang to my daughters, I scribbled down some ideas. Actually I didn't always play music. I did leave it alone for some time too.
My songs pretty much revolve in my brain most of the time - usually, whatever's coming next.
I used to - my earliest memory of waking up with a melody in my head was, you know, 8, 9, 10. I've always heard kind of melodies in my head.
My head works in music, so there's always music there.
It's a big plethora of music floating around in my head all the time, and I'll sit there and write a song.
A folk melody can exist uniquely but also still be somewhat familiar to you.
My goal as a songwriter now is to simply write some memorable turns of phrase.
But over a period of time It's the melodic things that are in my head all day.
Music my rampart, and my only one.
I often think of random melodies. And I pretty much hear in my head what I want to do with the orchestra as I'm writing on the piano.
Our tunes aren't just sing-along tunes: they're very complex. After a few days of that, you gotta take a break.
