Iron & Wine famous quotes

05-30-2025

Do I start with the lyrics? No. Quite honestly, it's the opposite. I generally get the melody first - I kinda fiddle around on the guitar and work out a melody. The lyrics are there to flesh out the tone of the music. I've tried before to do things the other way around, but it never seems to work. Obviously, I spend a lot of time on my lyrics, I take them very seriously, but they're kinda secondary. Well, equal, maybe. I think sometimes that if you write a poem, it should remain as just a poem, just... words.
-- Iron & Wine

#Writing #Thinking #Guitar
There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days
-- Iron & Wine

#Endless #Numbered Days
We all assume the worst the best we can.
-- Iron & Wine

#Assuming #Worst
I put my energy into writing songs. I have to carve out a living somehow doing this, and licensing is one way. It's hard to register what's "too much" for other people. I don't watch TV, so it's tough for me to gauge. I just take it as it comes, and don't put a whole lot of thought into it.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Writing #People
I'm one of those people who sort of feeds on music.
-- Iron & Wine

#People
I like writing in an illustrative, descriptive way. I prefer describing to rather than explaining.
-- Iron & Wine

#Writing #Way #Explaining
I just try to use my own life to build a human song: something that people can relate to in some way. It's not like the psychiatrist's couch or anything.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #People #Trying
We play some smaller songs larger than they are the record, and vice versa. It took me a while to get used to playing live.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Play #Vices
The song succeeds or fails just based on whether you argue your point successfully. I like throwing images together, which create meaning if you listen to it one time, but if you listen to it another time you might get a different meaning.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Together #Different
I'm kind of interested in visual communication. For me it's more about suggesting than arguing a point.
-- Iron & Wine

#Communication #Arguing #Kind
It's fun to be able to revisit a song and do something that doesn't really illustrate the song but works tangentially or runs parallel to the song in some way.
-- Iron & Wine

#Running #Song #Fun
I had all these songs lying around. They had all these woman characters, and I thought the idea of the Woman King would be a good way to tie them all together.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Kings #Lying
It sort of depends on the song. Some of them are pretty easy to write, and others take a while. I do a lot of writing in the morning.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Morning #Writing
There are good places to play and bad places.
-- Iron & Wine
Pop culture, commercials. You only come across a commercial if you're watching a TV all the time. I've never been all that upset. I like hearing the songs. I guess I've never been all that caught up in it.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Upset #Culture
In some songs, like propaganda songs-and don't get me wrong, I love some propaganda songs. They're some of my favorite songs in the world. It's just that I don't enjoy writing it.
-- Iron & Wine

#Song #Writing #World

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