Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I was a hard-workin' little boy. Oh, I worked. Pullin' cotton, shockin' grain, cuttin' wheat, loadin' wheat, choppin' cotton, cleanin' chicken houses, milkin' cows, plowin'.
"Nasty Man" isn't a laughing matter, but you have to laugh anyway. The song, itself, becomes something of a laughing matter because we'd go crazy if we didn't keep laughing.
I didn't go through the routine of singing in small clubs and doing open mics and working so hard the way a lot of people do and did. It was just an overnight kind of thing.
It's thrilling. There's birth and death and frustration and victory in raising horses. It's like a little microcosm of life is built into the short lives of these creatures.
When you're doing bad things, you just don't know whether you can conquer them or not. I found out how strong I could be when I was motivated, and I'm kind of proud of that.
I think surfing and music are both places of release and self expression where there are no rules, and you can find a different form of freedom that you can't anywhere else.
When you are setting yourself up for success, above all put on love, because love never fails and with one-size-fits-all solution to every situation you will ever encounter.
Life is really a blessing to be able to do what you love everyday, to learn about yourself. For me it's been about becoming a woman, and I've really enjoyed that experience.
If you have a pair of shoes that hurt, don't wear them. The ugliest thing that I think I've seen is a woman walk like her feet hurt. It's awful, so make sure your shoes fit.
It's so tiring. Even though I've worn heels and performed the choreography for four years now, I'm still not used to it. When will I be used to it? In 10 years? In 20 years?
I don't mind if people say I was on 'American Idol,' because I was, and that is a part of my past, and I'm super proud of it, but I don't want that to be all there is to me.
I want to be the girl who has a positive influence on people's lifestyle. I don't want to be the girl who has an eating disorder, and that's why she looks the way she looks.
I extract what I consider the best material from different sources. But often the material I perform comes from a very strange location in history, which are minstrel shows.
I think I turned to writing really just to wake up in the morning and be a musician and to have something to do, and feel like a musician every day even if I wasn't working.
I think if you do what's in your heart - Joseph Campbell always says you have to follow your bliss, and if you do, doors open where you didn't even realize there were doors.
I never left jazz. The relationship between structure and improvisation - that constant conversation and tension - I've always wanted in every genre and song that I perform.
We were kind of caught up in the genre trap. We didn't really have a lot of artistic freedom. They wanted us to go into a certain direction, so they could promote us easier.
I love to make songs out of some of those shadows - you know, some of the things you lie awake thinking about, social anxieties and romantic insecurities and all that stuff.
I believe that when you go into a gallery or a museum, the most powerful pieces are the ones that don't have the words in the corner that distract you from the larger piece.
Cry Baby is just a character in this world that I'm trying to create, and the music videos are really important to me, and I've fought to obviously get all of them approved.
I always try to get back to the original source of the song. It's not always there in the sheet music, which is sometimes just a sketchy blueprint of what the song is about.
I didn't really experience any hardship like people tend to think of when they hear the words 'Detroit, Michigan.' I think Big Sean is a much better ambassador for the city.
I was constantly looking for things outside of myself to make me feel good, and I think now that feeling can come from the inside, and that's why I meditate now twice a day.
I struggled with depression when I was in high school, and I remember thinking that if I got a record deal and got a hit song, that it would solve all those problems for me.
My father, my mother, and then my father was always on top of me - 'Keep your nose clean. Do you love what you're doing?' 'Yes.' 'Then be aware, or you're going to lose it.'
My dictum has always been: 'This show is happening just here, just tonight, with these people who are in this hall, and nobody knows what's going to happen until it's done.'
I love women - all types, all colors, petite, plus size. But in particular, I was raised by black women, and I feel like there is just something beautiful about black women.
There's so many things that I've gone through that I want to share because there's other teenagers that are going through the same things or will go through the same things.
There ain't no way I'm going to be droppin' nothing. If I was in my twenties, maybe. But now I try to keep it looking decent. I don't want to expose too much of my bare ass.
A person with friends need never be bored. There is always more to fathom and enjoy in the complexity of others, and always the possibility of finding a way to delight them.
I think probably underneath it all, film [Kino] has its own rhythm and its own dynamic, and we were trying to capture the movement of film and cross-reference it with music.
I hated Chris, my brother. I would pull his hair and kick him, until one day my father gave him permission to fight back. I'll be apologizing to him for the rest of my life.
I had no desire to become a singer until I heard Billie Holiday. The first time I heard her on a record, it was a revelation. She sounded like a woman singing about herself.
In 'Growing Stronger,' I expose my most painful moments and open my heart, thoughts and person, so that my experiences can inspire alleviation, consolation and decisiveness.
The issues that matter to me are the social safety nets for people, health care, middle-class concerns. We need to take care of the middle class and the poor in our country.
It's not unusual to be loved by anyone, it's not unusual to have fun with anyone. But when I see you hanging about with anyone, it's not unusual to see me cry. I wanna' die.
Getting up on stage and being able to make people feel like their lives are slightly more special than they realize is my only talent, so that's what I use. I use my talent.
Garth Fundis is a song guy. He is in it for the right reasons; he's about the music. He doesn't ever try to talk you into recording something that you shouldn't. He gets it.
There's certain songs that you're gonna record that you hope to touch people and change lives, and there's certain songs that you know that are not going to be that serious.
I write lyrics everyday as I go. I'm always taking notes in my phone whenever I am inspired by something. Most of my writing starts out as poetry before I put it into songs.
I'm appalled by the tendency of some rock records to perfect everything to the point where it sounds like Botox and polish it so heavily that there's no humanity left in it.
Growing up, I used to think I'd never get on a plane - I was terrified. But when I joined Mis-Teeq, being on a plane was my job. I used to scream on flights. Full-on screams.
Sloths actually are like furry living ecosystems all by themselves! Algae grows on their fur and they are also home to "sloth moths" who call them home and drink their tears.
How many women have the courage to start properly with a cold, cold bath early in the morning? I jump in, throw the water, cold as ice, and after the first plunge I am happy.
You could say that the Hell's Angels have a bad reputation, then you talk to a biker, and he's trying to join it. It just depends upon who you're talking to about reputation.
A person can perhaps trust his eyes only to the amount of truth his heart does not mind to speak openly to the people to touch their souls in this selfish world full of lies.
I was just 17 years old and had to get some new friends to actually sign up for me to get electricity and utilities because I wasn't even old enough to have things like that.
My outspoken beliefs have been embraced, but I don't consider myself an activist. Maybe people consider me as that, but it's not anything outrageous or bad I can't live with.
When you love food as much as I do, staying healthy is not easy. I mean, moderation, not deprivation. That's my new way of living. I always want more and that's just my life.
I'm not a role model, nor have I ever tried to be a role model. The only thing about me as a role model is I've managed to stay here and be working and survive. For 40 years.