Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
All these biopics and biographies and people gossiping about so-and-so's drug abuse or who's sleeping with who, it's just a bunch of nonsense.
I grew up in the suburbs and was raised on rap radio, so it took me a long time to stumble upon the acoustic guitar as a resource for anything.
That's what I mean by "Western morality," is the lack of morality. There is none. People are out for themselves, and they'll stab you in the back.
Beggars can't be choosers. We don't have all the money in the world. So anyone who wants to be in the band and be broke - that's their own death wish.
I have been singing as long as I can remember. I used to be in choir; I used to do musical theater. I'd prefer not to sing my own songs, but there you have it.
I write for myself, and I write for my friends and people who I have a connection with. I try to give some dignity to peoples' lifestyles that tend to be ignored.
Thank God we don't know a lot about Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautreamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious.
I have no idea what will become of my work in the future, the future folk will not be aware of our influence over them, as we are unaware of how our dead influence us.
When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes. It comes down to people's personalities and individual energies.
It's just a joy to be able to work with a lot of different musicians. When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes.
Sometimes I feel like I finish a song, and there's another song that I have to write in response to that song. Each is like its own separate feeling, its own separate universe.
I project love, music and love, and I pray for peace. A good song cuts straight to the heart; sometimes it doesn't need to be too many lines - of course, I do love a good story.
When you're playing festivals, you only get a half-hour. It's like a meat market. You don't get to be artistic. You don't get to play music. It's called a showcase for a reason.
I don't like going to the studio. It just seems too cold. There's no crowd to react to, or share anything with; it's just talking into a microphone that's going into a computer.
People expect not just songwriters but all personalities to pontificate about their egos - they just wanna see someone talking about themselves constantly. I'm not interested in that.
Everyone wants to be well-loved and appreciated but, at the same time, there are some people that just don't want to be your friend, and there's nothing you can do or say to change that.
I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's no paycheck at the end; it's more of a 'whatever is left over' kind of situation.
I've always thought about myself as somewhat of a folk musician. I just write words. I don't think I'm even a musician. I don't play a lot of instruments, not really a soloist or anything.
Elvis Presley wore a Star of David and a cross around his neck and, when someone asked him about it, he said, "It makes me think." I love that quote. It's simple. It's beautiful. It's true.
As long as there are a few people there, I can lose myself, which is the ultimate goal. And that's happening more and more; the non-musical world is becoming less and less interesting to me.
It's not my way to talk about my feelings. They're impudent to myself, so it wouldn't make any sense if I tried to explain them to anyone else. I've never been to therapy - not interested in it.
It doesn't mean that I'm overly enthusiastic about much music. Except the people that really touch me. It has to touch me, it has to grab a hold of me, I'm not looking for anything in particular.
I've always littered my songs with jokes. You might need to dig a little deeper to find the humor, but I would totally object to being some kind of distraught personality. I've never tried to attach myself to that.
I don't like the word "happy." I wouldn't want to use it that context. I enjoy writing songs, it's a really good challenge, it tickles me. It's a wonderful way to engage with your surroundings, through poetry and songs.
This is a transitory world, we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it, and holding on. Even if it's a moment it's true love, true love doesn't mean that it goes on for eternity. Eternity is a terrible concept.
I miss working. It's real, you know? But I don't know anything but songwriting, and I don't even know that. I didn't go to school; the only thing I know how to do is this. The only thing that I know is that I know nothing.
The writing of the record didn't take long, because I just have a huge stack of papers and I just pluck from the stack. It took a long time because it's very expensive to make records; in fact, I think it's a complete rip-off.
I wouldn't claim to know what another person is thinking. I can imagine it, but it's my interpretation, and I try to make that clear. It's my vision of what I think their life is. I don't think there are empirical truths in that regard.
It's not like that when you're a songwriter - songwriters aren't like pulp writers or journalists, even. You just follow the muse. It's called muse-ic. Whenever the muse decides to bestow her inspiration on the songwriter, then the song is born.
Making music and art is about expressing something that's universally human, maybe even beyond human, at best. To make it about the artist and to dwell upon biographical information can only make it singular, and I am really, really disgusted by that.
I don't know about timeless. I actually think most of what I do is completely modern, but universally modern. Who decides what timeless even means? Are the things that we consider timeless now going to, in fact, be considered timeless in 300 years? Probably not.
To me, craft work is the ultimate. Maybe I got this idea from the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, who was employed as a sculptor to the state and church, making coins and things. While he admired Michelangelo, he also made fun of his spiritual angst with art.
If you've ever sang in falsetto, you know that your throat is between your voice and your mouth. In a standard voice, you sing from your belly. And when you sing in a falsetto, you're blocking that. It gives it a filter. It gives it a character. It's less revealing.
I don't have a problem doing interviews. It's not punishment. There's things about it that I don't like. No one else is really saying these kinds of things, so someone has to. I don't think that it's the most humbled thing to talk about yourself for hours and hours and hours.
That's the thing about inspiration, it just smacks you upside the head, you can't plan for it. It comes like a stranger in the night; you never know when it's going to come or leave, and you just have to deal with the in-between moments because there's nothing you can really do about it.
I took piano lessons when I was a little kid, but even before that, you're singing in the classroom and wherever. Gosh, children are always singing. But I took music lessons, some choir and things like that at school. I learned how to play the guitar when I was about 13... ancient history.
I think a master craftsman is someone who is unpretentious. He has a physical object in front of him and, while he works with a higher aim, he doesn't let his personality get in the way of his art. It's simply about the task at hand and to make it as functional and necessary to the world as he can.
Thank god we don't know a lot about William Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautréamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious. Once biographical information contaminates your consciousness, it's impossible to erase it and look at someone's work the same way again.
I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people; we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life, and I don't have a problem with that. This is a transitory world; we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it and holding on.
Bringing the individual into it music only distracts from the universal and makes it trivial. And then it's easy to wash your hands of it because you might not be from their background, or you might disagree with their personal perspective. So you discount it and go back into your corner instead of coming out and engaging with everything.
I love being lost! I don't need to control anything. Even with romantic partnerships, I don't need to control anyone. I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people, we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life and I don't have a problem with that.
I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's not paycheck at the end; it's more of a "whatever is left over" kind of situation. Also, it keeps me from thinking about my creativity as a business, which it is not. It should remain pure; that's one of the reasons I made music in the first place.