We're all just animals. That's all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That's where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels.
Elvis CostelloRead
I've always felt writing a song was a bit like going on location. That's true in an almost literal sense. Where you are seeps in somehow.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing a song is deeply influenced by one's surroundings.
Elvis Costello compares the process of writing a song to the experience of traveling to a location, suggesting that the environment in which a song is created has a significant impact on its content and emotional resonance. This metaphor highlights the way that personal experiences and surroundings shape creativity, as the essence of a place can seep into the artistic expression of the songwriter.
Themes
WritingSongLocationEnvironmentCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
At a songwriting workshop to inspire creativity in different environments.
More from Elvis Costello
All quotes βThere are five things to write songs about: I'm leaving you. You're leaving me. I want you. You don't want me. I believe in something. Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we musicians do pretty well.
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It's the damage that we do and never know. It's the words that we don't say that scare me so.
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And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it.
Elvis CostelloRead
Happiness isn't a fortune in a cookie. It's deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that.
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I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years.And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.
Elvis CostelloRead
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