Music, Lyrics, and Life

The songwriting class you always wish you'd taken, taught by the professor you always wish you'd had.

With humour and empathy, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mike Errico unravels the mysteries of songwriting and the practicalities of a musical life in Music, Lyrics, and Life. It gathers the tools, prompts, and ideas that Errico has used to inspire students on campuses from Yale to Berklee to NYU, helping you cultivate creativity that’s intrinsic to who you are and undeniable to whoever is listening.

Alongside his own lessons, Errico interviews the writers, producers, and executives behind today’s biggest hits and investigates larger questions of creativity in conversations with innovative thinkers. Astrophysicist Janna Levin explains the importance of repetition in both music and in the exploration of the universe; renowned painter John Currin praises the constraints of form, whether it's within a right-angled canvas or a three-minute pop song; bestselling author George Saunders unpacks the hidden benefit of writing, and revising, authentically; and much more. The result is that Music, Lyrics, and Life ends up revealing as much about the art of songwriting as it does about who we are, and where we may be going.

This is a book for songwriters, future content creators, music lovers, and anyone who wants to understand how popular art forms are able to touch us so deeply. Mike Errico has honed these lessons over years of writing, performing, teaching, and mentoring, and no matter where you are on your songwriting journey, Music, Lyrics, and Life will help you build a creative world that's both intrinsic to who you are, and undeniable to whoever is listening.