"Hello darkness, my old friend...but what's the story behind that haunting opening line?"
"Five Tools of Songwriting that Change Everything."
"I write songs about what's going on in my head, for a generation that feels quite misunderstood."
"If you relate to a song and it has a double meaning to it or has a story attached to it, that's what sells."
"Songwriting is such a personal, vulnerable thing that if you don't feel weird doing it, then the song can't be good."
"I think joke writing and songwriting is very similar because you're trying to say something universal in a way that hasn't been said."
"The album was darker and more melodic than the previous efforts but also featured some of Peter Steele's greatest moments as a songwriter."
"I write songs because I like writing songs, and I release songs because I'm proud of them."
"Dylan's genius is fascinating because of the quality of the songs in their own right."
"He knew how to make songs that were for people even though he had nothing to do with it."
"It's been very cathartic. Songwriting is my therapy, so it's been very therapeutic to finally let it into the world."
"They wrote really powerful great rock and roll songs and they had great lyrics in there. They said something that related to our lives."
"I'm still writing songs for that woman who's struggling with addiction, struggling financially, pain in her eyes, trying to figure out how to take care of her kids."
"SZA is a phenomenal writer. She's written for so many people. Her songs are great."
"Don't let anyone dissuade you or say, 'Let somebody else write songs for you.'"
"'See You Again' is maybe the best song he's ever written."
"It's loaded with top-notch production, Beatles-esque vocal harmonies, quality songwriting."
"A riff is a short repeated melodic phrase used throughout a song."
"It's like holy [ __ ] this whole song is about this thing that's going on in my life and I don't even realize it until I'm done freestyling it."
"That's the real trick for me. Once I got that in my body... sing something over that, write a melody and words and sing it over that, and be the frontman and play that at the same time."
"I wouldn't write a song about them. Well, not another one."
"Songwriting is so difficult and to have all of these things rolled into one..."
"Not a lot of pop stars write the way that she does."
"I just feel like artists should write their own songs."
"Your songs actually that you're meant to write live in your heart. They're already there. You're not searching for them in an external way."
"Writing the song just felt like flowing, like how I was really feeling."
"If you guys don't know how the music industry works, the song credits is where the real money is at."
"You're never gonna finish writing your best song because there isn't in the universe the best song there is only an amazing expansion."
"It's really hard every time I make a song to make a song and like the song might be like totally milquetoast and it was still really hard and that's like the funny thing about like actually creating anything."
"Dolores felt the need to expand beyond 'I love you' and 'you love me' kind of songwriting."
"When I wrote 'Because I Got High,' I was ready to experiment with the power of simplicity."
"Freddie wrote 10 of the 17 songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album."
"I didn't write that song. God writes songs. I take dictation. It's a download."
"You know, it's always a challenge to have some sort of humor in a song, and to make somebody feel good."
"I write about things that I love, like I'm working on a song about snorkeling."
"I just kind of let the vocals naturally write themselves in a way where I don't think too much."
"John came up to me and said I've got a good song for you."
"I wrote the tune when I was 16. I wrote the tune then, yeah, that was in the days it was actually kind of pre-rock and roll."
"It was almost like magic. It almost wrote itself. I just might have had the first, those same first two bars, and the rest of it just wrote itself."
"Little Red Corvette... the best piece of pop songwriting."
"I think so, like writing a song, like I stress myself out like crazy because literally I will spend like a month changing a word, sure, when no one would notice, but like I need it to be perfect for me at least."
"It's incredible writing because a good song that's an incredible writer."
"The jokes in this song hit at such a rapid-fire rate and get more ridiculous as the song progresses."
"I'm definitely a songwriter, so yeah, that's poetry."
"A magnificent subversion of the typical 'I want' song. This masterclass in writing and composition endures as an artistic triumph."
"When you have real true inspiration, you really don't have to think about a song, it kind of writes itself."
"A line that's drowning and it's not quite sure if it knows how to swim."
"Freddie Mercury is legendary for his vocals and songwriting capabilities and his obvious ability to command a crowd like no other performer has."
"Songwriting is therapy for me... writing songs has been the most empowering experience of my whole life."
"Songs I wrote in my bedroom... means something to them, it's crazy."
"It's his best written album when you're looking at certain highlight tracks."
"I get most of my inspiration from my favorite artists like Tom Waits and Randy Newman. Their songwriting ability really puts them in a category of their own."
"It's perfectly crafted. I think it's one of the great folk songs ever written."
"My dad told me how this song came to be. I remember he would joke with me that Maggie Mae was the Mrs. Robinson of the 70s."
"Exile, I love the song Exile, I think it's really one of her best written songs."
"He wrote really powerful songs that have had a tremendously lasting impact."
"The Sherman Brothers wrote 'The Bare Necessities,' one of the studio's most memorable tunes."
"Even when my songs are happy, it comes from pain."
"I remember when I made 'Because I Love You,' the song, you know, I called my mom, I was crying. I said, 'I think I wrote one of the greatest songs of all time.' They're not gonna know it yet, but one day they'll know."
"Well the best songs that are written right themselves. You don't ask for them. They just drop onto your lap." - Michael Jackson
"You've got those lyrics scribbled down in some kind of it's on an eclectic notepad somewhere."
"Writing what you would want to hear on the radio or on streaming platforms is what you should be writing."
"Great lyrics, very technically founded and powerful vocals, sensational instrumentals, and then add to that super smart songwriting."
"Writing that song, I also found out that I have like the good things that I've done to myself so far and also the bad things."
"Paul McCartney reveled in the challenge of writing to order, and he gladly accepted the commission as a writer who thinks of himself as part craftsman."
"I felt like I was there again with him... I wrote it down perfectly."
"My first hit was a hit that I wrote for somebody else, I wrote for Eazy-E and it was called Boys in the Hood."
"girls it don't matter how you look you can get done dirty and make music about it"
"Starman by David Bowie has one of my favorite choruses."
"This album is an hour and 45 minutes. It's 21 songs and each one is flawless."
"Some of the best songs I've made I'll freestyle then some of the best songs I've made I wrote."
"It's a lot of different weird flavors all coming together on this one track and actually like kind of the sad tone and the wit of the lyrics I guess I would say on the song too."
"From that break came a massive hit that started as a fast song but when it was slowed down and played on a piano instead of a guitar it became one of the most heart-wrenching rock ballads of the late 80s."
"The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo made up of Robert and Richard Sherman."
"This pre-chorus is probably one of the best pre-choruses I've heard."
"I mean, pretty much every movie could use an octopus playing drums."
"The best songs are emotional songs. That's what music is."
"I really do try to be a nice person but if you break my heart or hurt my feelings or are really mean to me I'm gonna write a song about you."
"On one rainy weekend evening in January, none of her friends had called. She picked up the guitar and began to write. 30 minutes later when the chord progression was memorized, she was done and ready to write the lyrics."
"You don't have to date someone to write a song about them. This is a song I wrote about a guy I never dated."
"I wrote this song with Liz and I think the lyrics are some of the best I've ever written. It's about the moment you realize someone isn't who you thought they were."
"I didn't want to be just another girl singer. I wanted there to be something that set me apart, and I knew it had to be my writing."
"Even if you say, 'I can't write songs,' a year down the line you will be releasing beauties like sweetener."
"It's all about love for me, there is nothing really that I like to sing about that doesn't have to do with love or relationships."
"I'm a sucker for a songwriter who can make me visually see the story that they're trying to convey."
"Overall, I feel like I never really wrote anything that I was like, 'I definitely don't believe that, but I'm gonna sing it anyway.' I feel like I always wrestled with stuff."
"When you love each other, you write songs you're proud of."
"That song is probably close to being a masterpiece."
"Just find people that can write their own music."
"Every new song that I write is my next favorite."
"The difference is like you step away from a sound check or you know you go on a long walk or you're in the grocery store or you go to a coffee shop and you just knock them all out."
"A lot of my hit songs I've written in a very short period of time."
"When you're writing for Chris Brown, Wiz Kalifa, Ty Dolla Sign, you are that bitch."
"Just keep sticking to the songs, keep relying on the songwriting because that'll take you there."
"Nick Drake's music is a deep and captivating tapestry of emotion that contains some of the most beautiful songwriting you'll ever hear."
"Playing with Ed, writing songs, presenting those songs, that was better than any love affair I ever had."
"It takes guts to write songs like this, man, to accept that you're not perfect, that even though, you know, time has passed and things may have, should have been forgiven and, you know, reconciled, it's hard, dude."
"It's a deeply moving song. I think it's actually one of his most beautiful songs ever."
"The vast majority of these songs included some words that are just very basic and essential to basic expression."
"The best songs are written out of adversity."
"Every melody is perfect, every chorus is genius."
"Simplicity is the hardest thing, the most information with the fewest amount of words. That is always the goal of a songwriter."
"Every great song that's ever impacted your life started out as blank paper and some guy or gal sitting there with a pen or a pencil and started writing down some words."
"As an artist, you are constantly evolving. You learn so much from every song that you write."
"Bowie was really a master of unexpected superbly melodic changes."
"He was a master of unexpected superbly melodic changes that is so true."
"His songs have unusual twists in them that were part of his genius as a songwriter."
"I really like when artists write their own songs and I feel like I relate to that more."
"The foundation for any hit is you have to have a memorable hook."
"Pop music is so flexible and versatile. There's so much room for songwriting and different songwriting styles."
"When I look into the mirror and my brains are falling out of my head, well, there's nothing wrong, it's just the way I feel. And if you don't like it, write your own song."
"I mean, it works with the style of songwriting we have, you know? They're pretty stripped-down songs, kind of vocal and lyrically driven."
"He proved that with the Marshall Mathers LP because of the level up in songwriting."
"There is just something about having control over my songwriting that makes each one something I can listen to hundreds of times over."
"It's all about stories and it's about melodies, and sometimes the right thing to do is just reinforce the melody."
"Therapy has been significant for me because it represents sort of the breakthrough or the beginning of a breakthrough."
"Of all the songs in my career, that one is the greatest gift...I think it stands among the best songs ever written."
"Real Evergreen classic songs are never written set down as writing hits. You write songs and you write beautiful songs and great songs."
"Don't tell me I'm writing a [ __ ] song right now."
"He had a successful solo career and is one of the most famous songwriters of the past century."
"It's honestly insane how good he is at writing catchy pop songs about ridiculous topics."
"I will never skip this song if it comes on, one of the best songs Taylor has ever written."
"That's how you know it's a good song because even if you can't relate to it you feel it so deeply."
"One of the best songs Taylor has ever written."
"At the end of the day, the strongest song is gonna pull through."
"Putting it into a song makes it very okay cool we definitely just closed that chapter."
"The spotlight is finally on Priscilla after spending over a decade fighting for a chance and writing songs that turned artists into superstars."
"Jim's actual first song that he wrote was Christmas Day."
"Nowadays, things have gone back to being about the song, not the cult of personality."
"Somebody was asking me the other day how I got the idea for the song animal said I hooked up a videotape my bedroom rolled it back made it rhyme."
"Passionate, well-written song with a tasteful instrumental."
"The genius in the song is how it tells the story so effectively and subtly reveals its true message over time."
"Drake's one of the best songwriters that we've seen in hip hop in the last five to ten years."
"It's more important to write a good song instead of just a jerk-off contest."
"Prasoon Joshi's impact goes beyond poetry, with critical acclaim in cinema and songwriting."
"Folklore brought out her deepest wit, compassion, and empathy."
"Evermore travels deeper into the singer's fictitious narratives."
"Song is just another way to tell a story, to communicate meaning."
"Write songs that people can relate to and find solace in."
"The idea of Hank Williams' guitar in the hands of one of the preeminent songwriters of the last 50 years is as fitting a place for that instrument as I can imagine."
"All that sadness, I'll just use it to channel my creativity and compose songs."
"That's a signal that there is no cap to how high this company can grow."
"I love that Money Long aka Priscilla Renee has been working for so long toiling, writing songs for people."
"It's almost like it is possible to take the time to write good songs instead of just making up terrible [__] on the fly."
"Super Unknown lyrically would be seen as some of Cornell's darkest lyrics."
"Sometimes you've got to stir the sludge, in order to make change."
"BTS has made a conscious effort to shine a brighter light on the meaning of their songs."
"I wrote this song for that because of the AIDS epidemic but it works for this one too."
"Magic Man was a love song, one of the first ones that I ever wrote because it was the first time I've been in love, pure and simple."
"It feels so good though to just be able to write and release a song about how I truly feel about something."
"I like writing songs that um loosely based on experiences but songs that will I guess help out whoever needs help you know and and and very much so like people singing these songs and and you know live and at the shows and [__] and um."
"Sunny herself decides to put all of her feelings into song lyrics and it's absolutely beautiful."
"Chords do most of the work of setting the emotion in the song."
"Ed Sheeran is one of the greatest freaking songwriters of all time."
"What people respond to is an emotion that's coming from the writer that they feel deeply and then the person can feel that as well if songwriters are willing to talk about their deeper feelings."
"They made grammar sexy in that song, pow!" - Cory
"Daniel, if you wrote this entire track yourself, man, this is amazing, this is a great, great song."
"Pink wrote the song Recovering for Celine Dion, which became a kind of emotional support after the death of her husband."
"I'm going to talk, I'm going to share, I'm going to continue to write lyrics that pull at the heart."
"They're just funny, you know? They write songs about, like, there's a song called 'Lexor' and it's about a grandma dying and the kitty cat's eating her up."
"I write about my life, like, I couldn't not write about my life. I wish I could write a happy song but that has not been my headspace."
"It's like Drake's in the back of a truck on his way to the hospital and while he's riding, he's writing at the same time."
"Every word that is in that, I've experienced, so even though I didn't write it, it can still come out as if I did."
"It's just I decided to write 'Rape Me' in a way that was just so blunt and obvious that it's like no one could deny it."
"You just got your own freaking cuz he's coming again."
"Drake began dabbling with writing his own music in a notebook."
"It's momentum and the momentum of Chelsea is if you end the season poorly in pre-season and you start poorly."
"You hear stories about like Paul McCartney like know yesterday was scrambled eggs baby I love your legs it wasn't until I really sat down and started flushing it out that it became yesterday."
"My music is battle tested because I write the songs to help me through the same things that they probably helped you get through."
"To make it into a song that feels good... the song is more important than me."
"The joy of writing a song with somebody will always exceed the money you make from it."
"It's one of those exalted songs that the most legendary artists and writers wish that they'd written."
"Back in our era, the guitar was always part of a greater concept. It was part of the song, and that's why this is so good. The guitar solos are some of the best in history because they function. They're part of a great song."
"Everybody write great songs. Bring the guitar in as the companion, you know, as the other voice, the instrumental voice."
"Literally, she was like 19 or 20 and wrote this song."
"I write a lot of love songs to my bandmates."
"I wanted to prove to myself... that I could write these lyrics without help from outside writers or anyone."
"But if you look at what he did to music with his guitar and his songwriting and his singing it's pretty amazing."
"Once you've got that main like down you can move on to the chorus."
"It's a song about the complications of a love relationship."
"The songs on this album are so layered, complex, and dynamic."
"The thing about this album is Tony's not doing a lot of heavy belting but she's more so writing the song and letting her voice almost be the instrument as she carries the melody."
"I think the songwriting is the best thing going for her which explains her popularity."
"Taylor Swift is proud that she wrote 'Lover' all by herself."
"Definitely quite a bit more mature than the debut she came to the table with in terms of instrumentation and songwriting."
"He might just make beautiful lyrics literally."
"The melody comes together on this song is really catchy."
"The emotion of the moment drove Freddie's lyrics."
"Favorite lyric I wrote: 'If I could give you the moon, I would give you the moon.'"
"The storytelling and the way that he's going into so much depth and vivid imagery from verse to verse."
"It makes it easier to construct a song with four people when everybody's there."
"It's just really fun to do, obviously the music and they're all so well written too and really, you know, just catchy."
"Songs are so immediate that if they're done correctly, you can touch in a way quicker than any other art form."
"Consistently on this LP the tracks are well written."
"Dream they're super unappreciated great songwriters yes they have assisted in other people's careers more than like they've given [ __ ] hooks that really made their singles and made their albums."
"I love it when I'm writing a song and I cry during the process."
"Fortunately I found out you don't have to cut off body parts just to write good chord progressions."
"That's the sign of a good song in my opinion is if you can write it for a some universal human experience that isn't just what's happening today but might actually become more relevant in the future."
"Use your aching heart to fill up the lyrics with meaning."
"Dave Murray is a lead guitarist... Adrian is far more of a rhythm player. He's a great lead player as well, but he's also a songwriter."