Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.
Music is a powerful tool in galvanizing people around an issue. There's no better way to get your point across than to put it in a beautiful song.
I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.
My favorite music is never the music that anyone else likes, and other people's favorite songs are always my least favorite.
When you look at anyone's iPod or iPhone and their music collection on there, it's not the same 10 songs. People like diversity.
I wanted to write songs which I think is a different thing. I wanted to write music that is informed by folk music. The chord progressions are obvious references.
There's nothing I like better than talking to kids, just sharing the music with them. To relate to them, you need to play songs they're familiar with.
With sad music, or music that's perceived as sad, there's a sense of solidarity that can be really powerful. My songs are all joyful to me.
I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first.
We have to make sure the music and the message and the words and all the elements come through in our songs and every time we appear in public.
People listen to music with cavemen ears: Is it a bird song or the call of a lion? The audience at a musical is dancing in their hearts.
As would-be songwriters, our interest was in black music and black music only. We wanted to write songs for black voices.
Music is a very powerful thing. If I'm angry, I can write a song about it, and it seems to make everything okay.
Let's have the music that will open the door to millions of people... the kind of music that will not make people think only of the song or even of the singer... not music that is confined to the merely personal.
I do believe that when I'm writing music, I get addicted to the music of the concept of what the outcome of the song is, or the passion behind the lyrics.
A song is a short composition for voice and instruments. It is a piece of sung poetry set to music. It is usually only a few minutes long.
I don't know if a song is going to be a hit or it's going to flop. I never know. I just do the music and if people like it, they like it.
I can't just sit down and make a song in a day. It's only possible if you focus on the music and not the sound.
I'm singing these songs to inspire you, to keep you going, to lift you up and give you a reason to get up in the morning.
I would rather be remembered by a song than by a victory.
I am happy that women can relate to my songs, and hopefully men can too.
