Barry Mann

I get a different kind of lyric from someone else that might make me go in a different musical direction.

One other thing, if it's possible, as songwriters, you should also develop yourself as record producers.

You've got to really be able to accept the rejection.

Cynthia's lyrics always expressed the feelings people felt but they couldn't express themselves.

Probably most successful songwriters have an innate songwriting ability.

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.

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.

If we were the team that won out, then life was good and we felt that we were worth something.

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.

I know at the beginning of our careers, my wife and I were gut wrenchingly competitive.

It's amazing how a competitive nature can turn a negative into something positive.

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.