Sep 14, 2020 • 1 min read

Sia says some of her songs are "shit", but that's OK

Sia tells Rolling Stone that some of the songs she writes are not very good, but that people still like them, and explains why she holds back her solo album.

Sia has written a lot of songs. We know this. But does she think every single one of them out there is of a consistently high standard? No, she does not. In fact, she thinks some of them are downright "shit". But you still like them, so that's OK. Her lack of quality control and your lack of taste wins the day.

"For me, writing songs and singing comes easily", she tells Rolling Stone. "I mean, it took me 25 years to get to writing this good and quickly. I'm very good at writing songs because I know some of the songs I write are shit but people like them and I know how to please certain demographics and certain artists".

Sia, of course, writes songs for lots of artists as well as herself. Although the ones she writes for herself arrive less frequently. She does have a solo album's worth of new songs - shit or otherwise - ready to go. However, she's not putting it out right now because it would get swamped by all the songs - shit or otherwise - that she's putting out with other acts.

"I have an album ready to go", she goes on. "I'm only competing with myself if I put shit out, so that's why I don't just drop it all right now. I have to be really smart about when I'm releasing things because I am quite prolific". I think when she says "shit" there, she just means "stuff". Not "shit stuff". That would be "shit shit". But who knows?

And, being honest, who cares? This is all basically an excuse to re-read this great 2014 New York Times profile on Sia, which joins her in the studio as she writes new songs with Greg Kurstin.

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