Like with ‘Say Yes,’ I wrote that song in five minutes. And I wrote ‘Between the Bars’ right after that. Both of those I made up during an episode of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ with the sound off, which is a great way to write songs. Your eyes are busy, so they don’t get bored and they don’t watch what your hands are doing, so then you can surprise yourself. Your hands can surprise you with what they know and that you don’t.
Elliott Smith Talks Songwriting with Mary Lou Lord in a 1998 issue of Spin
(via worldsfair)
