If I waited for inspiration every time I sat down to write a song I probably would be a plumber today.
- Barry Mann
Song, Inspiration, Sat, Plumber
I've written songs sober and I've written songs high.
- Barry Mann
High, Songs, Written, Sober
There's so much fear involved in trying to do something you don't know how to do that drugs and alcohol can become a big part of your life if you have an addictive personality or are very unsure, which most songwriters are.
- Barry Mann
Big, Very, Big Part, Addictive
Cynthia's lyrics always expressed the feelings people felt but they couldn't express themselves.
- Barry Mann
Always, Themselves, Felt, Lyrics
I quit college. I was studying architecture for about a year.
- Barry Mann
College, Year, About A Year, I Quit
One other thing, if it's possible, as songwriters, you should also develop yourself as record producers.
- Barry Mann
Other, Songwriters, Also, Producers
You can get stale writing with each other for a while.
- Barry Mann
Writing, Other, Get, Stale
I get a different kind of lyric from someone else that might make me go in a different musical direction.
- Barry Mann
Kind, Might, Musical, Lyric
You have to be very brave in that first writing session.
- Barry Mann
Writing, Very, Session, Brave
Probably most successful songwriters have an innate songwriting ability.
- Barry Mann
Songwriting, Most, Innate, Songwriters
We lived, ate, and breathed pop songs.
- Barry Mann
Songs, Pop, Pop Songs, Ate
It's very hard to teach someone how to write a song if to begin with there's no creative crop to harvest.
- Barry Mann
Song, Harvest, Very, Crop
You're going to have more rejection than acceptance.
- Barry Mann
Acceptance, More, Going, Rejection
You've got to really be able to accept the rejection.
- Barry Mann
You, Able, Got, Rejection
I also used to work in the Catskill Mountains as a bus boy, and I performed in talent shows.
- Barry Mann
Mountains, Bus, Shows, Performed
It's very important, at least for me and for Cynthia, to get outside input.
- Barry Mann
Important, Outside, Very, Input
I looked through our catalog year by year, and I saw that there were pockets of time when we wrote some terrific songs. Then all of a sudden, we'd go for another two or three months and there weren't great songs.
- Barry Mann
Year, Through, Some, Sudden
The real danger of writing a great song when you're on something is that it might get you thinking that the only way to repeat that is by only writing when you're high.
- Barry Mann
Song, Real, Might, Repeat
I think if one wants to be in a continual state of insanity one should stay married to that writing partner.
- Barry Mann
Think, Insanity, I Think, Partner
A guitar riff played on a piano doesn't come close to the purity of it being played on a guitar but I faked it enough to get by.
- Barry Mann
Purity, Come, Riff, Piano
I think that most writers who wait until they're inspired to write are just waiting for the fear to subside.
- Barry Mann
Think, Wait, I Think, Writers
It's amazing how a competitive nature can turn a negative into something positive.
- Barry Mann
Nature, Amazing, How, Negative
I know at the beginning of our careers, my wife and I were gut wrenchingly competitive.
- Barry Mann
Wife, Beginning, Careers, Competitive
If we were the team that won out, then life was good and we felt that we were worth something.
- Barry Mann
Team, Were, Felt, Won
You have certain writing tools but generally creating something from nothing makes one quite mad and Cynthia and I are quite mad you know.
- Barry Mann
Tools, Nothing, Makes, Mad
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