If you're sitting in a place like Martha's Vineyard, I don't think you're going to write a song about a ski resort.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There's many, many ways to write a song. But generally, sitting down at a table and writing is not one of them.
Sometimes a song indicates that it wants to be about a certain thing. And then if you write it, you find that it is about something that you've done.
If I write the song, I get to name it.
As a songwriter, I do kind of look at 'Santa Monica' as a thing outside of itself, because it isn't just my song. This is a song a lot of people tell me is a part of their high school or college years. That means a lot to me.
If you're dealing with a musical in which you're trying to tell a story, it's got to sound like speech. At the same time it's got to be a song.
But then I hit my 20s and only made two albums, and now I live in a ski resort as a ski bum basically.
I don't sit down to write a song, per se.
The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation. I can't contrive a song.
I'm not buying a boat because of writing skits.
A song is like a saddle: you ride it for a while, and if it's the right kind of song you can sing it for the rest of your life.