I used to play for 200 people and now I'm selling out places that hold 16,000 people. It's a big change, and it's so cool to see people out there screaming the words to songs that I wrote. It just really reassures me that what I'm doing is working, and it really boosts my confidence, as far as on stage as a performer and a writer.
The universe is in the habit of making beauty. There are flowers and songs, snowflakes and smiles, acts of great courage, laughter between friends, a job well done, the smell of fresh baked bread. Beauty is everywhere.
I go through a thousand songs to find ten for a new record.
I don't know where my songs come from. . . If I knew, I'd know too much, more than we are allowed on this plane.
I think I've always approached making albums pretty much the same way. I'm just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren't the same thing over and over.
I've never stopped working on songs and practising singing and guitar.
Miles Davis is one who writes songs when he plays.
Different people have different ways of doing things. For me, becoming a songwriter first and falling in love with the Nashville songwriting community and the process of songs and getting better and putting more in what I wanted to say, was absolutely vital in me even wanting to be an artist.
I started recording because I was always complaining about the records that I was getting of my songs. At least if I did them and messed them up, I wouldn't have anyone else to blame.
I changed my hopes to being a singer [when I was a child] and sat around with my hair in my face droning Mac Davis songs. Writing was sort of a last stand. Come to think of it, it was the only "talent" I had that anyone asked for more of.
We're all going to hell for the songs we sing.
This album [Stroll] and all my songs that break barriers are more reflective of my personality.
English has always been my musical language. When I started writing songs when I was 13 or 14, I started writing in English because it's the language in between. I speak Finnish, I speak French, so I'll write songs in English because that's the music I listen to. I learned so much poetry and the poetic way of expressing myself is in English.
I've written songs about things that nobody else has ever written about.
After that I didn't listen to music as much because '70s music just wasn't. . . I remember all the songs, but it wasn't because I was into them, you know what I mean?
I thought there were too many songs about people's personal lives.
Most people like the sad songs. Some of the oldest songs known to man are sad. Listening to a voice singing something sad is a really great way to help you to feel sad when you need to.
As I was not a good singer - I have started to sing. And because no one could write an appropriate song for me - I started to write songs by myself.
I had made all these rules for myself: I'm not writing social commentary, I'm not writing love songs.
The unit of every country is the family and the strength of the country is based on the smiles of the children and songs of the adults.