"Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song? Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Is a song better when it really happened to you?"
by 
Browndog
ANSWERS: 4
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When did you get so professional?
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No, I don't believe you do. Everyone has had an experience with a wide range of feelings, and is qualified to write about them. Even your favorite cat dying is real love, loss, hurt.
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Speaking from personal experience, I don't feel that I have to have personally experienced everything I write about - you can draw your influences from anywhere - literature, other songs, the experiences of others. However, having said that, I think my best songs come directly from personal experience, but usually written after some time has passed and some perspective has been gained.
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No, I don't believe you have to have that emotion, at that time, but I do feel that having experienced it during your lifetime does help. Shirley McLaine was a big believer in living her roles, before she performed them. She moved to France and lived with prostitutes to gain a better perspective for her role in "Irma la Douce" (1963).
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