Arca Quotes

I let the song come to me. Then that thing comes to you, and you just know what that thing is. Music isn't like a 9-to-5 job. You never know. It's just the most unpredictable thing.

I don't really know where the songs are coming from often. Many of the best things I made up were just off the top of my head.

When I start writing songs and it turns into an overly belabored intellectual process, I just throw it out.

The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation. I can't contrive a song.

I don't think we ever really think about it when we're doing it, because if you sort of go in with a plan of attack, it tends to take away the natural rhythm of songwriting.

The ideas come afterwards, when the picture is finished.

I can't legislate a song into being; it just will not happen for me.

I think good artists know when they're on a roll, and they recognize when lightning is striking. It's a very fortunate thing to have that inspiration and not to overanalyze it or mess with it; you just follow it if you love what you do.

We all love to sing, and when we sit down to write a song I think it kind of shows itself to us.

People ask what was the first piece of music I wrote. There was no first piece.

I probably wrote three-quarters of the songs without an instrument in my hands.

I have great difficulty sitting in the middle of the night and writing. Everything I do comes spontaneous. Sometimes it takes a long time; sometimes it comes just like that.

I think it's important to really press on with the song writing and just go with it. There's no code, there's no craft... it's just let yourself shine through your music. If it's meant to be loved and heard, it'll happen.

The songs come along at their own pace when they are ready.

The artist discards all theories, both his own and those of others. He forgets everything when he is in front of his canvas.

When people think of someone being prolific, it's like, 'He's got a vault with 5,000 songs in it,' or something, but I just kind of pick them out of the air when they float by.

Early in my songwriting career, when I was learning a lot about writing songs, I'd force myself to sit down until I came up with something.

You can't rush inspiration.

Melody is pure intuition. I don't use any thinking brain when I do that. That's totally in the zone.

When I put my brush to canvas, I never know what I'm going to paint. It's like when you're walking down the street with your hands in your pockets, humming a tune, you don't know what you'll be humming five minutes from now.

It's funny, man, sometimes you record something that you plan on re-doing later, but then when you listen back to it, you decide to keep it because you realize that it's gonna be real tough to beat!

I'm not the sort of chap who can sit down and write music. When it comes, I'm happy.

Whether it's a poem I'm working on or a picture I've snapped, it all has to do with the curiosity I feel without thinking about it.

Sometimes when you're writing a song, it's work, and you really have to make sure you're kind of pounding out every little piece of it. And then sometimes you write a song, and you turn around and you go, 'How did we do that?'

Songs do write themselves through you; I know people find it hard to believe, but it's true.