"One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music."
- Stephen Sondheim
"Music straightjackets a poem and prevents it from breathing on its own, whereas it liberates a lyric. Poetry doesn't need music; lyrics do."
"The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you'll do yourself..."
"I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface."
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos. "
"If I cannot fly, let me sing."
"Music blows lyrics up very quickly, and suddenly they become more than art. They become pompous and they become self-conscious ... I firmly believe that lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ..."
"There's a hole in the world like a big black pit who are filled with people who are filled with shit."
"The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them. "
"I chose and my world was shaken, so what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not."