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or three different subjects in a song, and the title can mean absolutely nothing at all. (1989)
I think of my new songs as pop songs, as they're arranged with the standard pop format: verse, chorus, verse, chorus,
solo, bad solo. (1990)
Jimi Hendrix
On 'The Wind Cries Mary', the words came first, you know, the words came first and then the music was so easy to
put there. The whole thing just fell in... it just melted together. (1968)
Paul McCartney
Sometimes I've got a guitar in my hands; sometimes I'm sitting at a piano. It depends on whatever instrument I'm at
- I'll compose on it.
Every time is different, really. I like to keep it that way, too; I don't get any set formula. So that each time, I'm
pulling it out of the air.
There's not much that takes years and years. If it takes that long, I normally abort it.... The best songs are written in
one go. They're just done – inspiration comes quickly, it falls in place. (1990)
John Lennon
I remember in the early meetings with Dylan, he was always saying to me, "Listen to the words, man!" and I said, "I
can't be bothered. I listen to the sound of it, the sound of the overall thing." Then I reversed that and started being a
words man. I naturally play with words anyway, so I made a conscious effort to be wordy a la Dylan. But now I've
relieved myself of that burden and I'm only interested in pure sound. All music is rehash. There are only a few notes.
Just variations on a theme. (1980)
Keith Richards
If you try and add a melody to a riff rather than it evolving from it, it always sounds completely false, like the
melody's been stuck on the top with a piece of cellotape. You don't create songs. They're not all your creation. You
just sort of pluck them out of the air, if you're around and receptive, and then you say, "I kind of like this" and
something about the songs says, "I'm worth the time and the trouble to keep playing me and find out." And if you
hang on to their tail long enough, suddenly you get, "Ah, there I am, I'm ready." So you have to listen to the
mechanics of the song all the time and be very receptive to what it's trying to tell you while you're making it. (1988)
Brian May
I like to live with the song for a while without touching the guitar at all. Then I can form an idea in my head of what
I'd like to play, and then work it out on the guitar and take it into the studio pretty much complete. (1990)
Frank Zappa
Basically, what people want to hear in a song is: "I love you, you love me, I'm OK, you're OK, the leaves turned
brown, they fell off the trees, the wind was blowing, it got cold, it rained, it stopped raining, you went away, my
heart broke, you came back and my heart was OK." I think basically that is deep down what everybody wants to
hear. (1974)
Damon Albarn (Blur)
I did all my grades on piano, but I write all my songs on acoustic guitar, which I can just about play 10 chords on. I
do them all on an E shape, and put a finger