"We all love to sing, and when we sit down to write a song I think it kind of shows itself to us"
About this Quote
There is a disarming humility baked into Dave Haywood's line: the songwriter as less auteur, more attentive witness. In a pop landscape that loves the mythology of control (the genius who "crafts" the hit), Haywood pitches the opposite posture. "We all love to sing" flattens the hierarchy right away, grounding songwriting in a shared impulse rather than elite skill. It frames music as something communal and bodily before it's strategic or branded.
The interesting tell is the phrasing "sit down to write a song" paired with "it kind of shows itself to us". Sitting down implies discipline, routine, the workmanlike part of the job. But the song "showing itself" suggests revelation, as if the best material arrives when you create the conditions for it rather than force it. That tension is the subtext: craft matters, but ego is the enemy. You can chase a chorus; you can't bully it into being true.
Context matters here because Haywood comes from a band environment (Lady A) where writing is often collaborative and tuned to mainstream radio. In that setting, claiming the song reveals itself isn't airy mysticism; it's a way of defending authenticity inside a commercial machine. It's also a subtle nod to co-writing culture: "to us" quietly credits the room, the chemistry, the conversation. The intent isn't to romanticize inspiration so much as to normalize listening for it - treating songwriting as a practice of noticing what the song wants, not just what the market demands.
The interesting tell is the phrasing "sit down to write a song" paired with "it kind of shows itself to us". Sitting down implies discipline, routine, the workmanlike part of the job. But the song "showing itself" suggests revelation, as if the best material arrives when you create the conditions for it rather than force it. That tension is the subtext: craft matters, but ego is the enemy. You can chase a chorus; you can't bully it into being true.
Context matters here because Haywood comes from a band environment (Lady A) where writing is often collaborative and tuned to mainstream radio. In that setting, claiming the song reveals itself isn't airy mysticism; it's a way of defending authenticity inside a commercial machine. It's also a subtle nod to co-writing culture: "to us" quietly credits the room, the chemistry, the conversation. The intent isn't to romanticize inspiration so much as to normalize listening for it - treating songwriting as a practice of noticing what the song wants, not just what the market demands.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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