Richard Marx on the Songwriting Process and Creation of His Song "Hazard" - video

Songwriters approach their writing in two main ways: some write the lyrics first and then put music to what they have written. Others write the music first and let the melody help drive the lyrics and tell the story. Chart-topping, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Richard Marx has always practiced the latter approach, as do many other well-known songwriters. The music for one of Marx's best known songs, "Hazard,"  came to him in the middle of the night as he slept. He woke up with the complete melody in his head and knew it wasn't a love song or party song. It was dark and cinematic, so Marx decided to try to write the lyrics as a murder mystery. While he sometimes doubted his idea because it didn't fit with anything he was doing or with what was popular on the radio at the time, it became a #1 song in 14 countries and still resonates with people 26 years later.

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  • I was planing to learn to write a book, but after seeing your video it reminded me about my experience. Thank you for this video. But, I don't know how can it help me? Several month ago I had a strange addiction: every night I herd new music in my head. I could not ignore that, so, I wrote down melodies on piece of paper and when I walk up played them on the piano and wrote down the music. I could not stop doing it for 3 month- wrote almost 90 songs. I don't have words to them and I don't know what to do with them, or should I do anything at all ? Please, help me, Luba.