"I try to tell a story musically in a song"
About this Quote
The intent is craft-forward, a rebuttal to the idea that sensual music is merely vibe. White is saying: this is composition, not mood lighting. The subtext is a defense of emotional clarity in an era that often pigeonholed him as a “love-man” caricature - the baritone, the orchestras, the bedroom branding. By framing his songs as stories, he claims authorship and structure: there’s an arc, a tension-and-release, a beginning where you’re not sure, and an ending where the body finally agrees with the heart.
Context matters. In the 1970s, Black pop was negotiating respectability, crossover pressure, and the politics of pleasure. White’s lush, cinematic production made intimacy sound expensive, deliberate, grown. His line hints that the real narrative isn’t in the lyrics alone; it’s in the choices: how long he holds a note, when the drums enter, how the orchestra swells like a door closing behind you. That’s storytelling without exposition - pure implication, engineered to be felt.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
White, Barry. (2026, January 16). I try to tell a story musically in a song. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-tell-a-story-musically-in-a-song-109316/
Chicago Style
White, Barry. "I try to tell a story musically in a song." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-tell-a-story-musically-in-a-song-109316/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I try to tell a story musically in a song." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-tell-a-story-musically-in-a-song-109316/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.





