When you write a song, a song has longevity
Even if I don't release it myself, somebody else might hear it and want to record it. When you write a song, it gives it that potential.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating art opens up possibilities, as others may appreciate and recognize its value, even if the creator does not showcase it themselves.
Smokey Robinson's quote emphasizes the intrinsic potential of artistic creation, particularly in songwriting. He highlights that the act of writing a song possesses an inherent value that may resonate with others, allowing for the possibility that someone else might want to record and share it, thus giving the creation a life beyond its initial conception. This speaks to the interconnected nature of creativity and the impact it can have on others, regardless of the creator's own actions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the importance of collaboration in music, this quote can highlight how songs can evolve through various interpretations.
More from Smokey Robinson
All quotes βWhen someone picks up one of my songs and records it, I'm a flattered man, it's a blessing to me
Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots
Songwriting is my gift from God
I always try to write a song, I never just want to write a record.
As a kid, this is what I wanted my life to be. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever dare to dream that it would be this.
Similar quotes
Then about 12 years ago it dawned on me that folk music - the music of Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs, early Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger - could be as heavy as anything that comes through a Marshall stack. The combination of three chords and the right lyrical couplet can be as heavy as anything in the Metallica catalogue.
Whatever your life's pursuit -- art, poetry, sculpture, music, whatever your occupation may be -- you can be as spiritual as clergy, always living a life of praise.
No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.
Photographers have to impose order, bring structure to what they photograph. It is inevitable. A photograph without structure is like a sentence without grammar-it is incomprehensible, even inconceivable.
There is no need to create. Genius comes only to those who know how to use their eyes and their intelligence.
The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.