Questions to Ask About Songs
Twenty questions to ask a songwriter or musician about a particular song, for an interview, a podcast, a liner note or a conversation after a gig. They aim at the decisions behind the recording rather than at what the song is about.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What came first, the words, the tune, or something else entirely?
Why ask it
A concrete opener that writers can answer without deciding how personal to be. The something else matters (a drum pattern, a bass line, a title, a chord found by accident) and the answer often sets up everything you ask next.
How long was it between the first idea and the finished version?
Why ask it
Answers range from twenty minutes to eleven years, and both extremes come with a story. A long gap usually means the song was abandoned and revived, which is a better subject than the writing itself.
Where were you when you wrote it?
Why ask it
Physical setting produces vivid detail that a question about inspiration does not: a kitchen, a tour bus, a rehearsal room at two in the morning. It also grounds the conversation before anything more searching.
Was there a version of this that you scrapped?
Why ask it
Almost every finished song has an abandoned earlier shape, and writers rarely get asked about it. What was cut (a verse, a key, a whole arrangement) tells you more about their judgement than the surviving version does.
Which line took the longest to get right?
Why ask it
Far more productive than asking what the lyrics mean, because it asks about craft rather than confession. Writers usually know exactly which line it was and can quote both the failed and the final version.
Is there a line you are still not happy with?
Why ask it
This gets an unguarded answer if the rapport is there, and it is one of the few questions that surprises experienced interviewees. Expect either a specific line or an explanation of why they stopped listening to it.
How did you decide the tempo and the key?
Why ask it
These are the two decisions that most change how a song feels and the two least often discussed. Answers frequently involve a vocal range, a producer's suggestion, or a decision made late in the studio that everyone now defends.
Which sound on the record was the hardest to get?
Why ask it
Studio problems produce the best anecdotes: a drum room that did not work, an amp that hummed, a vocal recut twenty times. It is also a question producers and engineers can answer as well as writers.
Is there anything on the recording that nobody notices?
Why ask it
Almost every record has a buried part, a mistake left in, a sound made with the wrong object. Writers enjoy pointing these out and listeners remember them, which makes this the most quotable question in the set.
Who else shaped this, and what did they change?
Why ask it
Co-writers, producers and band members are usually credited and rarely discussed. Asking what specifically changed avoids a polite list of names and often reveals the decision the song turned on.
Did you argue with anyone about it?
Why ask it
Disagreements over an arrangement, a single choice or a lyric are common and usually resolved, so people can talk about them freely once the record is out. The disputed element is often the one that made the song work.
Does it still mean what it meant when you wrote it?
Why ask it
Songs outlive their occasions, and performers often carry a meaning quite different from the original one. This is a better question than what does it mean, because it acknowledges that the answer has changed.
How does it feel to play it now?
Why ask it
The gap between recording and performing is where the most honest answers live: songs that have become a chore, songs that are difficult because of who they were about, songs that only worked live after years.
Has anyone told you what it meant to them in a way that surprised you?
Why ask it
Listeners routinely attach songs to events the writer knew nothing about, and being asked about it produces something specific rather than a general remark about connecting with an audience.
Has an audience misread it, and do you mind?
Why ask it
The second half is the interesting part, since some writers correct the record and others prefer the misreading. Either answer says a good deal about how they think about authorship.
Where does it sit in the set, and why there?
Why ask it
Set position is a practical judgement about energy, key and audience attention, and musicians talk about it precisely. It reveals how they rate the song against their own catalogue without asking them to.
What were you listening to while you made it?
Why ask it
More useful than asking about influences in general, because it dates the answer and produces specific records. Writers often name something audibly unlike the song, which is worth following up.
Which of your other songs is this one closest to?
Why ask it
This asks for a map of their own work, which is a question they will have thought about but not been asked. The pairing is often not the obvious one and opens onto how their writing has changed.
If you recorded it again tomorrow, what would you do differently?
Why ask it
Almost always answered, and answered specifically: a slower tempo, a different vocal take, less production. Careful about tone with a very new release, when the wounds of finishing it are fresh.
What should someone hearing it for the first time listen for?
Why ask it
A good closing question because it hands them the last word and produces something you can quote directly. Answers tend to point at a specific moment rather than at the song as a whole.
Interviewing a musician about a song
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the conversation
Listen to it several times and take notes
Two or three listens with the lyrics in front of you will generate better questions than any list. Note timestamps for anything you want to ask about, so you can refer to a moment rather than describing it vaguely.
Check the credits
Knowing who produced, engineered and co-wrote it prevents the embarrassing question and lets you ask what a specific person contributed. It also tells you whether the artist you are speaking to made the decisions you are asking about.
Read one existing interview
Musicians answer the same three questions on every promotional cycle and can tell within seconds whether you have done any reading. Find what has already been said and start after it.
Ask about craft before meaning
Questions about tempo, structure and what got cut are easy to answer and build trust. Questions about what a song is about are much harder to answer honestly cold, and often produce a rehearsed line.
A working order for twenty minutes
- 1Open with what came first, and where they were when they wrote it.
- 2Move to craft: the line that took longest, the key and tempo, what was scrapped.
- 3Then the studio: the hardest sound to get, the buried detail, who changed what.
- 4Then the afterlife: playing it now, how audiences have taken it, whether it still means the same thing.
- 5Close with what a first-time listener should listen for, which gives you an ending to use.
What goes wrong
Asking what the song is about
Most writers either decline or repeat a line they have used before, and either way the answer is not usable. Ask about a specific line, a specific decision, or how the meaning has shifted since.
Offering your own interpretation first
Explaining what you think the song means puts the artist in the position of agreeing or correcting you. Ask, and give them room to say something you had not thought of.
Pressing on the personal subject
If a song is about a death, an illness or a broken relationship, the writer may have decided how much to say. Take the first short answer as the answer and move to craft.
Treating a bandmate as a bystander
Drummers, bassists and producers made specific decisions and are almost never asked about them. If more than one person is in the room, direct the studio questions to whoever actually did that part.