If heartaches was commercials, we'd all be on TV.
John PrineRead
I found it easier to make up songs than to learn other people's songs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating original music can feel more intuitive than interpreting existing works.
This quote by John Prine highlights the creative process of songwriting, suggesting that the act of expressing oneself through original songs may come more naturally to some than the challenge of reproducing the songs crafted by others. It emphasizes individual creativity and the personal connection to the act of creation, portraying it as a more fulfilling endeavor.
Themes
CreativityMusicSongwritingOriginalityArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on songwriting, I shared this quote to inspire participants to embrace their creativity.
More from John Prine
All quotes →One time, I went to school, and they asked us all to find out where our roots were. It's goin' around the class, and the kids were going, 'I'm Swedish-German' or 'I'm English-Irish.' They got to me and I said, 'Pure Kentuckian.'
John PrineRead
I just tried to come up with some honest songs. What I was writing about was real plain stuff that I wasn't sure was going to be interesting to other people. But I guess it was...I've never had any discipline whatsoever. I just wait on a song like I was waiting for lightning to strike. And eventually-usually sometime around 3 in the morning-I'll have a good idea. By the time the sun comes up, hopefully, I'll have a decent song.
John PrineRead
I feel basically good about my career because it's remained constant. What I do has never been especially in vogue or gotten high on the charts. At the same time, I haven't had to stop performing any of my music because it aged in style.
John PrineRead
You know that first love that leaves you? You never forget that, especially if you're a songwriter. I must have gotten nine songs out of that girl.
John PrineRead
You get to thinking that because you've written 50 or 100 songs, you think maybe you know how to do it. But when they're not coming along, you're just as in the dark as you ever were. When they're coming along, there's nothing to it. Sometimes it's so easy, it's like you're a court stenographer.
John PrineRead
Similar quotes
It occurred to me that every work of art is a synecdoche, there's no way around it. Every creative work that someone does can only represent an aspect of the whole of something. I can't think of an exception to that.
Charlie KaufmanRead
It is the writer’s job to make the play interesting. It is the actor’s job to make the performance truthful.
David MametRead
I don't try to sanction other people's joy in monsters. I mean, I think the fact is, humor, fantasy - you know, like fear, desire or laughter - create genres of their own: comedy, melodrama, or erotic films or horror films... The boundaries cannot be defined. It's to each his own.
Guillermo Del ToroRead
Everybody comes to film differently; everybody has different backgrounds. Just find whatever your lane is naturally. Don't try to force yourself into someone else's vision or try to tell a story that you're not passionate about.
F. Gary GrayRead
Artists are the monks of the bourgeois state.
Cesare PaveseRead
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
Oscar WildeRead