Thinking Quotes by Stephin Merritt

Stephin Merritt

I don’t remember things initially when listening to music. Like, I don’t remember where I first heard a song, I don’t have nostalgic attachment to a song in that it reminds me of such and such a time or place. I think I probably did experience that somewhat when I was not a full-time, professional musician, but I don’t think music works that way for people who are in it constantly.

Attachment

Song

Thinking

Stephin Merritt

I don’t think there are any clichés I try to avoid. As soon as I spot a cliché, I go for it. I feel like clichés are the most useful thing in songwriting. They’re the tool on which you build all the rest of the song.

Song

Thinking

Trying

Stephin Merritt

I think there is such a valid concept as “serious music,” meaning that if you don’t take it seriously, you don’t get it all.

Serious

Thinking

Stephin Merritt

My mother was into folk-rock when I was little, so I think of folk-rock as the norm from which everything else deviates. Of course, that’s completely preposterous, but that’s how I grew up. What is the norm by which to judge wordiness? I think I’m less wordy than Madonna.

Judging

Mother

Thinking

Stephin Merritt

The adventure is when people don’t know what they’re doing at all. Like, I think that the first pop band to use synthesizers as their main instrument and take it seriously was probably Silver Apples. And they sure didn’t know what they were doing, and they sure don’t sound like anything else.

Adventure

People

Thinking

Stephin Merritt

Well, things hold up even if they sound dated. It can be very difficult to listen to 80s pop songs with really, really gigantic smashed drum sounds. You just want to turn that gated reverb down on the snare. It sounds wrong now. It sounds amateurish. And ugly. But at the time it sounded state-of-the-art. So yeah, I think it’s important not to sound state-of-the-art in a way that anybody else is going to sound. Or you’ll quickly sound like yesterday’s state-of-the-art.

Important

Song

Thinking

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David Baddiel

Israel Zangwill

Joan Severance

Jill Sobule

Dominic Cooper

Adventure

Art

Attachment

Block

Boring

Car

Chinese

Creative

Criticism

Done

Doubt

Drinking

Earth

Engineering

Expectations

Fall

Feelings

Hardcore

Helping

Important

Impression

Intention

Interesting

Judging

Kind

Lone

Long

Love You

Mean

Melancholy

Mother

Music Is

Musical

Musician

Not Sure

People

Percussion

Pop Song

Quality

Records

Rhyme

Say Anything

Serious

Simple

Smart

Song

Stupid

Surf

Technology

Thinking

Together

Trying

Unrequited Love

Variety

Vocal

World

Writing

Thinking Quotes by Stephin Merritt

I don’t think there are any clichés I try to avoid. As soon as I spot a cliché, I go for it. I feel like clichés are the most useful thing in songwriting. They’re the tool on which you build all the rest of the song.

I think there is such a valid concept as “serious music,” meaning that if you don’t take it seriously, you don’t get it all.

My mother was into folk-rock when I was little, so I think of folk-rock as the norm from which everything else deviates. Of course, that’s completely preposterous, but that’s how I grew up. What is the norm by which to judge wordiness? I think I’m less wordy than Madonna.

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