The genius of a folk melody or story is not the feeling that it's original but quite the opposite - the feeling that it has existed all along.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
That's one of the things I like best about folk music is the beautiful melodies - and the harmonies - that exist in it. And of course, some of the stories, the story songs.
I've realized that I owe people a look behind the scenes of my own story, because I don't think anyone can have a true understanding of the music without an insight into where it came from.
For a long time, I believed that a great piece of music on its own could do more to stir the soul than any other single art form.
With few exceptions, music has been for some centuries the art which has devoted itself not to the reproduction of natural phenomena, but rather to the expression of the artist's soul, in musical sound.
Melody is a form of remembrance. It must have a quality of inevitability in our ears.
Most people think an artist tries to be original, but originality is the last thing that develops in the artist.
I find inspiration in many places. Sometimes music gives me the kernel of a story. Sometimes it's dissatisfaction with the plot of a movie or a book that gets me thinking. Sometimes it's love of a movie or book.
It's hard - some people get inspired by a feeling, but I'm mostly inspired by melodies.
Sometimes when you're writing a song and that song comes into your head, it definitely comes from somewhere, like a real experience.
There is no intellectual or emotional substitute for the authentic, the original, the unique masterpiece.