Quotes by Barry Mann

About Barry Mann:

Barry Mann is an American songwriter, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. The couple married in August 1961. They have one daughter, Dr. Jenn Berman.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

It's amazing how a competitive nature can turn a negative into something positive.

Barry Mann

I quit college. I was studying architecture for about a year.

Barry Mann

I looked through our catalog year by year, and I saw that there were pockets of time when we wrote some terrific songs. Then all of a sudden, we'd go for another two or three months and there weren't great songs.

Barry Mann

The real danger of writing a great song when you're on something is that it might get you thinking that the only way to repeat that is by only writing when you're high.

Barry Mann

If we were the team that won out, then life was good and we felt that we were worth something.

Barry Mann

I think that most writers who wait until they're inspired to write are just waiting for the fear to subside.

Barry Mann

There's so much fear involved in trying to do something you don't know how to do that drugs and alcohol can become a big part of your life if you have an addictive personality or are very unsure, which most songwriters are.

Barry Mann

I know at the beginning of our careers, my wife and I were gut wrenchingly competitive.

Barry Mann

We lived, ate, and breathed pop songs.

Barry Mann

If we didn't get the record, we didn't exist.

Barry Mann

We became the songs we wrote.

Barry Mann

You have certain writing tools but generally creating something from nothing makes one quite mad and Cynthia and I are quite mad you know.

Barry Mann

A guitar riff played on a piano doesn't come close to the purity of it being played on a guitar but I faked it enough to get by.

Barry Mann

Probably most successful songwriters have an innate songwriting ability.

Barry Mann

It's very hard to teach someone how to write a song if to begin with there's no creative crop to harvest.

Barry Mann

I get a different kind of lyric from someone else that might make me go in a different musical direction.

Barry Mann

I think if one wants to be in a continual state of insanity one should stay married to that writing partner.

Barry Mann

Cynthia's lyrics always expressed the feelings people felt but they couldn't express themselves.

Barry Mann

I've written songs sober and I've written songs high.

Barry Mann

We've written something like 900 songs in all.

Barry Mann

Author Bio

  • NameBarry Mann
  • DescriptionAmerican songwriter and musician
  • BornFebruary 9, 1939
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionSinger; Composer; Songwriter