OneRepublic chat to I Like Music

RYAN: Yeah, it does (melody first), partly because I've been writing for so long for so many different artists. I write literally seven days a week for eight years now and anything you do that much, you just get quicker and quicker. So lyrically when I sit down for OneRepublic to write a song for this band, melodically whether it's myself playing piano or guitar or one of the other guys in the band, usually the melody is the first thing that jumps out of me. If I don't find a melody that I fall in love with immediately, then we don't write the song, we move on to something else. We'll find different chords or use a different instrument, because the melody is most important because that's what gets your attention, that's what sticks in your head. When you don't remember the lyrics you can still hum the melody.

So, I'll come up with the melody first and if I find a melody that I think is really captivating then I'll flesh out the lyrics. Typically the chorus lyrics just pop out of me. I can't even explain it, it's not something that I think about, it's just something that happens. To me, I've always said music tells the writer what the song wants to say. The music will tell you what the lyrics want to be. It's really weird, it's almost a spiritual thing, the song wants to say what it wants to say and all you have to do is not get in the way and just let it happen. It's a very out of body experience, at least it is for me. It doesn't take any amount of opiates or alcohol or drugs. I just try not to get in the way of what the song wants to say and the lyrics come out really quickly.
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