Guitarists

"Pop music is probably the only art form that is totally dependent for its success on the general public. The more people buy a record, the more successful it is - not only commercially but artistically."

"A piece of art is not a loaf of bread. When someone steals a loaf of bread from the store, that's it. The loaf of bread is gone. When someone downloads a piece of music, it's just data until the listener puts that music back together with their own ears, their mind, their subjective experience. How they perceive your work changes your work."

"For me," he explains his mammoth project, "it is an obligation to know and learn to understand the various styles living within the guitar, to work with them and pursue them up to a certain point and, when I feel I have learned enough about them, to let them go again. These CDs are a form of pool, a rucksack with everything I have at the moment and what I have focused on."

"The more you accept herb, the more you accept Rastafari."

"All dese governments and dis this and that, these people that say they're here to help, why them say you cannot smoke the herb? Herb... herb is a plant, you know? And when me check it, me can't find no reason. All them say is, 'it make you rebel'. Against what?"

"Alcohol make you drunk, man. It don't make you meditate, it just make you drunk. Herb is more a consciousness."

"We don't have education, we have inspiration; if I was educated I would be a damn fool."

"Today, people struggle to find what's real. Everything has become so synthetic that a lot of people, all they want is to grasp onto hope."

"Possession make you rich? I don't have that type of richness. My richness is Life, forever."

"One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain."

"Some people say great God come from the sky take away everything and make everybody feel high, but if you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on earth."

"Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!"

"Every day the bucket a-go a well, one day the bottom a-go drop out."

"If you are the big tree We are the small axe Sharpened to cut you down Ready to cut you down"

"A hungry mob is an angry mob."

"Never make a politician grant you a favour They will always want to control you forever."

"If you get down and you quarrel everyday You're saying prayers to the devils, I say."

"Truth is the light So you never give up the fight."

"When the rain falls, it won't fall on one man's housetop."

"Your life is worth much more than gold."

"Don't worry about a thing, 'Cos every little thing is gonna be alright."

"One love, one heart, Let's get together and feel alright."

"Excuse me while I light my spliff (spliff) Good God I gotta' take a lift (lift) From reality I just can't drift (drift) That's why I am staying with this riff (riff) Take it easy, easy skanking Got to take it easy, easy skanking."

"They say the sun shines for all But in some people world it never shine at all."

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny."

"Life is one big road with lots of signs, So when you riding through the ruts, Don't you complicate your mind Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy Don't bury your thoughts; put your vision to reality"

"In the abundance of water a fool is thirsty."

"When one door is closed, many more is open."

"It is better to live on the house top than to live in a house full of confusion."

"Judge not, before you judge yourself. Judge not, if you're not ready for judgment."

"The Road of life is rocky and you may stumble too, so while you talk about me, someone else is judging you."

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds. Have no fear for atomic energy, 'Cause none of them can stop the time."

"Won't you help to sing, These songs of freedom? 'Cause all I ever had, Redemption songs."

"We JAH people can make it work."

"Don't gain the world and lose your soul Wisdom is better than silver and gold."

"Two thousand years of history Black History could not be wiped away so easily."

"And what has been hidden from the wise and the prudent been revealed in the mouth of the toddlers."

"Who are you to judge the life I live? I know that I'm not perfect and that I don't claim to be, so before you point your fingers make sure your hands are clean."

"They say: only the fittest of the fittest shall survive, stay alive!"

"Say you just can't live that negative way You know what I mean Make way for the positive day Cause it's a new day."

"Good friends we have had, oh good friends we've lost along the way In this bright future you can't forget your past So dry your tears I say No woman, no cry No woman, no cry Little darlin' don't shed no tears No woman, no cry"

"Ev'rything's gonna be alright So, no woman, no cry."

"The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."

"I carried Bob Marley’s Redemption Song to every meeting I had with a politician, prime minister, or president. It was for me a prophetic utterance or as Bob would say "the small ax that could fell the big tree". The song reminded me that freedom always comes with a cost, but for those who would prepare to pay it, maybe "emancipation from mental slavery" would be our reward."

"I am Boutros Boutros-Ghali; put down your gun and listen to Bob Marley."

"I saw Marley a few months before he died in a concert at the Crystal Palace Bowl in South London. He was magisterial on that stage. His dreadlocks were shaken at the London Stock Exchange and at the Houses of Parliament. He stomped on the spot as if to put out the fire of despotism. He crooned some unforgettable lovers' lyrics as if to confirm that even the warrior has to love. His songs are anthems for me. They celebrate Africa, berate politicians, lament slavery, invigorate the spirit. Looking over the century as it closes, I see Marley up there with the best six popular songwriters - Gershwin, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday, the Beatles... I know we all have our own lists."

"You just mentioned Bob Marley — I can remember when I was in college, listening — and not agreeing with his whole philosophy necessarily, but raising my awareness of how people outside of our country were thinking about the struggles for jobs and dignity, and freedom."

"He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why — He said, "The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness.""

"The U.S. empire rests on a grisly foundation: the massacre of millions of indigenous people, the stealing of their lands, and following this, the kidnapping and enslavement of millions of black people from Africa to work that land. Thousands died on the seas while they were being shipped like caged cattle between continents. "Stolen from Africa, brought to America"-Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" contains a whole universe of unspeakable sadness. It tells of the loss of dignity, the loss of wilderness, the loss of freedom, the shattered pride of a people. Genocide and slavery provide the social and economic underpinning of the nation whose fundamental values reject hate, murderers, and evil."

"He's utterly melodic and hopelessly romantic, and when he performs live, he robs the air from your lungs. Oh, and he's devoid of any charisma or star power whatsoever."

"Teitur Lassen speaks for the broken-hearted, who, for the most part, may be too timid to speak for themselves. His first effort is shamelessly honest and hints at very beautiful things to come."

"The trees creak with their arthritic arms / brittle in their powederd bark / this year took ten years to / tell me that I'm alone again"

"If it's sad / you know it's true / God is glad on bluer moons / When your room is all you do / it comes to you"

"We put a monkey up in space / and I know exactly how he felt / looking at a lattice work of stars / missing his brothers back home too much for a postcard"

"Turtle on its back in the desert sea / and you look like a cool drink / just slightly out of reach / Draw myself into the shell / waiting on a sign from God / or a nod from hell"

"Be a believer / Believe everything / You'll be right half the time"

"Everyone tells me they're crazy / Crazy people aren't so fucking boring / Wake me when you're through being cool 'cause I'm snoring"

"You don't know what I'm all about / Like killing cops and reading Kerouac"

"Put my ear to the door / I just heard gunshots and hot rods and sirensPeople kill me these days / There's keys in their eyes but they lock from the inside"

"The records I end up liking I don't like right off the bat. I want to call our next record Tenth Listen. That's the test."

"While we were growing up, the biggest insult for us was when dark emigrant forces called our homeland an unnatural, artificial creation. When we grew up, the biggest insult for us was when we realised that was true."

"From far away, through the sights of a sniper, they would look like Muslims, Serbs or Croats to somebody, but I approached them face to face, I saw them clearly, and trust me... They were just people..."

""I have always been against the war; I placed my family's existence in danger because I was speaking out against primitivism and nationalism and stupidity. I didn't do that so I could perform in Croatia again one day, but so I could talk with my children as a man, when the time comes." \"

"Like Machiavelli would say, little Jovana was five months old, and I was prepared to write even "I saw Feldmarshall Göring three times", just to slip away from the barracks for two days and see my little girl and her beautiful mother."

"I said: 'I'll come [to Sarajevo]' and they asked me if I'm afraid; headlines where I'm from were saying: 'Balašević to be assassinated in Sarajevo'. [...] Let me tell you whether I'm afraid to come to Sarajevo... If I was afraid of something, I would seek refuge in Sarajevo. I told them: 'Okay, I'm going and it will be the way it is, it's alright'. [They said:] 'Aren't you afraid for your life? Afraid of an assassination?' I said: If that's the price, to be in the cross-hairs of some madman for 2 days. They were in the cross-hairs for 5 years. It's a way for me to, for at least 2 days, be a citizen of Sarajevo. At least in that way."

"Well As for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs And sit alone and wonder How you're making out But as for me, I wish that I was anywhere with anyone Making out."

"And the plaster dented from your fist in the hall where you had your first kiss reminds you that the memories will fade."

"Please tell me you're just feeling tired cause if it's more than that I feel that I might break"

"I'll be true, I'll be useful... I'll be cavalier...I'll be yours my dear. and I'll belong to you... if you'll just let me through. this is easy as lovers go, so don't complicate it by hesitating. and this is wonderful as loving goes, this is tailor-made, whats the sense in waiting?"

"Do you, do you like dreaming of things so impossible or only the practical or ever the wild or waiting through all your bad bad days just to end them with someone you care about and do you like making out and long drives and brown eyes and guys that just don't quite fit in"

"And breath, deeply from this envelope, it smells like you, and I, cant be, without that scent, its filling me, with all you mean to me"

"Cause now that I can see you, I don't think you're worth a second glance. So much for all the promises you made, they served you well and now you're gone and they're wasted on me. So much for your endearing sense of charm, it served you well and now it's gone and you're wasted on me."

"How the girls could turn to ghosts before your eyes And the very dreams that led to them are keeping them from dying And how the grace with which she walked into your life Will stay with you in your steps, And pace with you a while So long, so long."

"Walking away, it's not the same as running, is it to you now, that you've run this in the ground?"

"We'll be Libertines until the day we die."

"If you've lost your faith in love and music, oh, the end won't be long."

"I am a liberal of extreme left-wing."

"Well, my mom told me she saw me coming out of an aircraft and..."

"They come to have a party for themselves, and we're kind of a house band for their party."

"[Writing songs] is no different than explaining to somebody what you dreamed last night: No one ever gives you crap for what you dreamed last night. "I was laying in my bed, and all of a sudden a stallion jumped on my bed and the next thing I know I was in Mars but it looked like my kitchen" . . . That's kind of what I do with my songs, write them in a dream-like manner. It's up to people to swallow it however they want."

"I’ve also been on a pretty strict plant-based diet for 4 months now – feeling stronger, fitter, healthier and more productive. I ride longer distances on my bike, can do more pull-ups than ever, and my brain seems to have a larger capacity for new projects, problem solving, songwriting, and fielding random questions. My health and strength make me a better performer and all that combined gives me more confidence to go out in the world and shine my light. It also makes me a lot better in bed. … For those curious or concerned about a plant-based diet, check out the film Forks Over Knives. It’s a life changer. You can get all the protein you need from greens, quinoa, and hemp seed."

"Brazil was, is, and will be in fashion."

"Like most artists and musicians, I considered myself detached from the political life…but I had an insight that maybe we would have a political contribution to make in the future."

"[on the "tropicalization" of intellectual property laws] To make the digital world join in the samba…"

"Brasília is a weird place but I like being here. I can focus on the job here, there's no city madness and I don't need urban stimulation."

"So you're tired of living Feel like you might give in Well don't. It's not your time"

"So tell me: how long do you think you can go before you lose it all? Before they call you bluff and watch you fall? I don't know, but I'd like to think I had control At some point, but I let it go and lost my soul"

"Last two soldiers on the battlefield survivors of the war they aim at one another while their mothers beg the lord "if you're listening, I'm missing him so somehow bring him home" how did it come to this? so the soldiers lift their rifles and they're aiming at the head they think of their first love before they take a final breath and somewhere in the distance they hear something someone said how did it come to this?"

"Years go by, the time it does fly And every single second is a moment in time That passes oh so quick, and it seems like nothing But when you're looking back well it amounts to everything"

"I got no cash I got no girl but I got the world in the palm of my hand and I don't care if you care or if you understand because I'm a little kid and I've got little problems and I don't give a shit if you don't, you don't understand because: I got me. That's all I need. And I live comfortably. And I sleep peacefully."

"Right and wrong"

"I take that back I won't stop singing when I'm dead"

"I'd like to sing a song (please swear you won't be long)"

"Don't you come to me with all your color-coded quotes"

"It hurts too much to stand by"

"And now I know it's hard when you don't know what to think"

"You say you've got the cure"

"Hey there Salinger, what did you do?"

"A moment of silence please for those that never get the chance"

"It doesn't really matter if you lead or follow"

"Why do you cry when you know how the story ends?"

"We'll not be victims there'll be no victims of to speak"

"If I were you, I would take this as a sign"

"Would you be impressed if I said that the dead would help us counting"

"Little miss dismissed can't miss like a detuned radio"

"So mercy, mercy, mercy me"

"Maybe the times we had, they weren't that bad"

"The blonde lead the blind, but now I being to see"

"So Marigold, my love, you've had too much to drink"

"Oh! My dear! My tis of thee! What a tangled web we weave!"

"Please excuse my enemies"

"This is the start, the beginning The prologue to the yarn that you're spinning A million synonyms will never get close to describe the feeling"

"The Lennon-McCartney comparison was frequently made and that was an image that critics could relate to. But it wasn't something people in the street could pick up on the way they'll pick up on someone who's really good-looking."

"The beat must not be like a tyrannical hammer, impeding or urging on, but must be to the music what the pulse-beat is to the life of man. There is no slow tempo in which passages do not occur that demand a quicker motion, so as to obviate the impression of dragging. Conversely there is no presto that does not need a quiet delivery by many places, so as not to throw away the chance of expressiveness by hurrying... Neither the quickening nor the slowing of the tempo should ever give the impression of the spasmodic or the violent. The changes, to have a musical-poetic significance, must come in an orderly way in periods and phrases, conditioned by the varying warmth of the expression. We have in music no signs for all this. They exist only in the sentient soul. If they are not there, then there is no help to be had from the metronome – which obviates only the grosser errors – nor from these extremely imperfect precepts of mine."

"The more red meat and blood we eat, the more bloodthirsty we get, the more violent we get. The more vegetarian food that we eat, the more peace is taken into us."

"But I… don't believe that gender is just binary, and I never have, so that's what pulls me to sometimes politically identify as a lesbian, because I'm a feminist, and I feel like women are still so suppressed. I don't feel like we've come that far. But I also feel like there are people all along the spectrum, so in that sense, I feel like I would be more bisexual or just, you know, open-ended."

"The vegan diet in the western industrial society is important to me because I feel that if you open yourself up to eating dairy and meat then you’re taking part in basically a holocaust for animals. You know it’s very different if you’re in some tribal situation where people are fishing — like how we used to live. Maybe we would have eaten meat sometimes. But this kind of American idea we have of traditional eating is the cause of so much torture and misery. I don’t want to eat that – it’s gross. Animals are my friends and so it feels weird to eat them."

"The meat industry doesn’t want you to think about all the animals they are torturing and killing. And they definitely don’t want you to think about all the diseases related to eating meat. Their only concern is making a profit. A long time ago I made a decision to quit eating meat and dairy products. Animals are not ours to torture and dominate. If I was to eat factory farm meat or dairy products I would be taking part in the torturing and killing of animals. There’s just no way! Animals are my friends, so why would I want to hurt them?"

"I consider animal rights also very linked to human rights and to environmental rights. For me it's just one issue."

"We’re both vegans and living a vegan lifestyle is important to us but we think it’s more important to get the message out there about what that industry creates. We’re not trying to make everyone turn vegan, we’re just trying to raise awareness – we’ve worked with PETA and many other big organisations – it’s more about connecting all the societies in the world and getting that information out there."

"Solo voy con mi pena Sola va mi condena Correr es mi destino Para burlar la ley Perdido en el corazón De la grande Babylon Me dicen el clandestino Por no llevar papel Pa' una ciudad del norte Yo me fui a trabajar Mi vida la dejé Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar Soy una raya en el mar Fantasma en la ciudad Mi vida va prohibida Dice la autoridad"

"Me llaman el desaparecido Que cuando llega ya se ha ido Volando vengo, volando voy Deprisa, deprisa a rumbo perdido Cuando me buscan nunca estoy Cuando me encuentran yo no soy El que está enfrente porque ya Me fui corriendo más allá Me dicen el desaparecido Fantasma que nunca está Me dicen el desagradecido Pero esa no es la verdad Yo llevo en el cuerpo un dolor Que no me deja respirar Llevo en el cuerpo una condena Que siempre me echa a caminar"

"Mentira la que manda Mentira comanda"

"Todo es mentira en este mundo Todo es mentira la verdad Todo es mentira yo me digo Todo es mentira ¿Por qué será?"

"Lapset: The children are dexterous, true, but being unable to do calculations, they need help with matters relating to wages."

"Suolammen vettä (Swamp pond's water): Child, if it's of any consolation, my shoes, too, have in their time become wet and my socks received a strange colour."

"Hurja poika: The grave of the wild one is deep and black. You get chilly waiting for the resurrection."

"Ikävä: If I'm off to see you with a bottle of red wine, shall I find some blue cheese at the petrol station, I wonder."

"Äärelä (Minne muistot matkaa): I wish that in my mind I'll always be able to find my way back to these special moments of ours. A wedding waltz."

"Suvisivakointia: Nordic walk takes quite a bit of spunk."

"Siipeen jos sain: The one ill-used by the world knows that his disgrace will pass in the end."

"Pari pitsaa: A man comes home with some frozen pizzas, but the promise of an amorous moment vanishes when the Formula 1 Race starts on TV."

"Mersu-humppa: The losers shut up seeing me park my Mercedes in front of the bar."

"Every Secret's a blinking light"

"Nothing left to lose Nothing left to fight"

"I always had one goal, and that was to become a musician. I had no other choice."

"LRB is disenchanted in cheap popularity. Whatever the language of the song is or from what country it's from, music is for everyone. That's why we've composed this two cassette's about the world around us. If any of these two cassette touches the heart of a good listener, we will find the satisfaction of all our hard work. LRB makes music for those people who loves to listen to good music and takes the problems around them as their own problem."

"Most of all I like Hendrix. He did not make the guitar playing very critical note after note. He played the guitar as per his feelings. I have been trying that."

"I left Souls because of two different tastes in sounds. They liked one kind of music, I liked another. I was into loud, rocking, powerful sounds, and the rest of the members wanted quiet, melodious sounds. You cannot just compromise day after day. We never really had any big arguments, but it occurred to me that it would be better if I just quit and do something different."

"Rock music makes me alive, it makes me awake, so that tiredness can touch me and make me say – It's enough, I have earned much popularity."

"This song has a background that I'll never reveal. Ever! It is everyone's story, not only mine. Listeners from both East and West Bengal - all love this song. They have the lyrics memorized and they sing it for their partners, their loved ones. Maybe I sang this for someone I loved. Let the rest of the story remain a secret. Why I asked for forgiveness, why I said "Cholo Bodle Jai" (Let's Change) - let's keep these undisclosed. When you marry your loved one, things change a great deal. You sometimes can't help but feel like going back to being lovers again after marriage. Life would've been better if you could just stay lovers."

"Not at all. It is a spiritual song. Some people take it negatively and try to make a different meaning out of it. When we enter the 2nd verse, the song becomes clear. "Bhetorete thakle kalo, upore jol jotoi dhalo" (If you are not clean in your heart, no external force can cleanse your soul). We first have to make our hearts beautiful by surrendering our body and soul to the highest power. We won't get the real meaning of this song if we don't open up our minds"

"I have released a lot of albums. They're all fine. Somewhere down the road, I made a few mistakes. Since music is my profession. I'm not doing music for it's a fashionable thing to do. This is my only living. So maybe I had to sing some songs that I didn't like at all. I sometimes regret it and think that I could've avoided doing those 4-5 songs. Other than those, all my songs are like my children - those that I composed, LRB songs, my solo album songs. All of those are my favorite - all of them. But I don't think I have yet been able to make that song, the song I may have dreamt of all my life, a song that will make the listeners know Bangladesh. The world will know Bangladesh through that song."

"The trend in Bangladeshi music that Azam Khan initiated, was taken to a new height by Ayub Bachchu."

"Please pray for my father so that he can secure a place in heaven. Please forgive my father if you hold a grudge against him. Perhaps my father could not give his best to you, but he gave his inexorable love. He tried his best. My last words to you, please pray for my father's departed soul."

"The fact that people from all walk of life were affected by the departure of Ayub Bachchu is testament to his greatness as an artist. I was fortunate enough to have personally known him since his starting days. He was an immensely passionate person."

"When Ayub Bachchu started his career, the guitar wasn't as prominent as an instrument. He made sure that it was the heart and soul of his music, and the entire country followed. That alone is enough to explain his legacy."

"The great man not only taught us about music, but taught us how to be a great human. I always admired how much he loved his mother, and requested other people to take care of their parents."

"I was 12 when I first realized, there is a Bengali musician who plays the guitar like Jimi Hendrix. He was one of the pioneers of Bengali rock music. My teenage was inspired by his music. He became a family friend when I was in Bangladesh. His simplicity was outstanding. His contributions to music will be remembered by generations to come."

"Countries, borders and flags build walls between all of us. Music can break them down and unite us.""

"You become a slave to the song. It (recording and producing a song) becomes a spiritual experience.""

"You always have what it takes, otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken you!""

"I love people and building bridges between them. There is nothing as fascinating as human nature, except the gloriously vague expression on the face of a cat.""

"It’s always just about the music. I’ve got to be true to who I am. Music is my religion. My way of communicating. When I write a song, I feel like the music is coming through me. It’s a beautiful experience to write a song that becomes something that has an influence on other peoples’ lives.""

"Having performed ... in front of audiences in twenty different countries, I’ve noticed how certain melodies have the ability to connect and uplift both the audience and the musicians. I’m privileged to present these timeless classics with a group of excellent artists who share my attitude of putting the creation of beautiful, entertaining music above all else.""

"Music has always been an “exhilarating exploration of the world and my soul""

"Raised and doped with illusion - Download god. I know I'm in trouble when I'm seeing double. Come on, make me scream!"

"You could thrill me. You could kiss me. You could kill me. You could miss me."

"Like a crushed piece of flesh on the boiling motorway: No beginning like the end, the great, grand end with your face in the sand."

"Fall into the sun. Oh, be one. Oh, be gone."

"Your flaming tongue strikes again like the insect's deadly flight into the light, bright, holy white. I crave your kissing bite. Oh, fool me."

"Sisyphus cracked the rock and built himself a big, big castle. Now he runs up and down the stairs, longing to be blessed with pain again"

"I see you shiver in the wind. Catch your thoughts, seal my mind. Visionary - breaking down walls of ice and stone and time and thought."

"Time rushes by. Some blur memories, then we fly."

"When she walked through me, all I could do was watch and say "Hey, hey-hey, hey"."

"Have you laughed your laughs, my friend? Will you ever fall in love again?"

"Crawling on your knees through the desert sand. Your dress is torn and blood on your hand. The Southern Cross, a giant tower of light. Your silhouette, your laughter - then your bite! I feel real."

"The world's all gone to pieces - Hangin' upside down. You might as well deep-freeze us until the cure is found. And every time the sun - And every time the sun, that blazing, callous gun, will rise again."

"Thinking of your smile makes me crawl for a mile through the rain, you know."

"Nothing we can't buy: rhino-horn with ham"

"Give your heart to the devil - you get a cell phone for free, yah! Bigger, faster and louder - Pretend we cannot see"

"A craving for the haven that is on no maps"

"Oceans of time passing through space, beings and things – come and slip away. Like tears in a stream drift into the sea, no shape, no soul – faint memories of dreams."

"I’m going down in the 7th round of this fight that I thought was just a joke."

"Sunny’s with him on the run - his friend Sunny is a gun."

"To be able to run you gotta learn how to walk with these demons inside."

"Countries, borders, anthems and flags keep us apart those ancient gags. All their speeches, adverts and hymns to feed their greed and keep us dim. Call me insane, call me brave, but I won't slave for the pharaoh's grave. I’d rather dance my life away for this could be our final day."

"Limousines and pearls - she wants to rule the world. Assassins in the brain - the white light leaves no stain. Money in his hand - waiting for the man, who’ll steal his soul away. This is our last dance!"

"Tonight, I saw a star breaking through the clouds, oblivious to its light – just like you."

"His thoughts are flowing like a straightened river into the ocean."

"Every day that you’re gone, I think of you. The colours of your portrait never dry."

"When your eyes are shut, you start seeing in ways that we’ve always known! Living so many ways of shaping these days - and feel those rays warm the skin on our face."

"Holding on to the same old ground, when all inside is screaming ‘out’!"

"Our mirrors are you and me and through them, we learn to see."

"All these days that I strive so hard to calm the waves of the oceans and seas with the palm of my hand. Every day like a lifetime – oh, save me a piece, a piece of the cake. Past, just like a haze – trying all so hard to cling to fake. And still, I haven’t worked it out that there’s nothing to work out. Still, I haven’t worked it out that there’s nothing, there’s nothing"

"As the number plates drift by, my restless scanning eyes search for you."

"Fake-flower-flattery, broken glass, ancient rituals - a farce. I close my eyes and gaze at the stars. Fatal scent engraved on the brain, crumpled words spring to life in the rain, shape a face or just a stain. You come, you go and all this time, I strive, I die, I fall in love. And all that is new, is just another you."

"You’ve taught me to blend in, wearing your fake cobra skin; It fits so tight, I can’t breathe in, but you make me hang in. Oh, every time and time again, you aim to stop my fire with paraffin. And while I play the mandolin, you’re dancing with Rumpelstiltskin; Oh, I can hold my breath for longer than you think."

"Soon, the red of dawn will rise and you and I will close our eyes; Escape together from the light until we meet again tonight. I wanna see you in the night."

"Have you danced in the rain - seen all your money go down the drain? Picked yourself up with nothing to lose? Let someone else sing the blues! Ride this crazy life – day by day!"

"You walk with shoes on fire while you complain about the smoke."

"Smile at strangers on the London tube."

"Oh, the teachers told me he is real. Yeah, the preachers told me he is real. If you buy into, into their fear, oh, the devil is real in your mind."

"This time something’s wrong. This time I hear no song. This time, I feel this could be real, this could be love."

"I finally came to see that all I ever was and all I’ll ever be is always here."

"There’s no such thing as fairness; There must be other plans for us. No existence of justice; Our laws just build walls between us. There’s no such thing as freedom from the results of our deeds. No easy way in or out of this life, no escape from our needs."

"Why, people chasing their tails, day in day out; Stepping on each other’s dreams; Trying to buy something that can’t be bought - until their lights are out."

"Your flair, your style, your élègance: No matter where we are, it feels like France."

"After all to have it all, feel 10ft tall and one with all in this moment."

"Just a flash of a second of the age of the world to live this life we’ve been beckoned for our souls to unfurl. Paint on this canvas with all the colours that we know and then add some more from the magical unknown. Round and round, along the spiral, on this path supreme, spawn the sound of the cycle, called forth by our being. Oh, polish this gemstone from all sides thereof, until it shines oh so brightly in the light of love."

"Beyond the rush of anger, beyond all preconceptions, past the noise of our fears - oh, something connects us all right here!"

"Everyone has a life. That’s how it seems on the screens."

"It ain't the gold in your pockets - with everyone starving in rags. It ain't the size of your rockets - with all your foes in black bags. 'Cause carnival's in town from Sunday to Sunday. And everything's upside down, with rainbows in fun grey."

"Prescribed so many pills and each and everyone just kills. Are we now Jekyll or Hyde?"

"There’re no more dangerous rhymes in these dangerous times, 'cause danger is all we breed."

"Oceans of blue embracing the land: A drop at a time, igniting the sand."

"Overall the roller coaster of emotions games have — you know, fear or the feeling of running from something, or the high-strung tension of being in battle, or even going somewhere in a game that’s less tense and is kind of funny, that’s there in any part of game development. Everyone’s kind of in the same position."

"I don't even want people to say I'm the godfather of Chinese rock music. I would like to say I'm the grandson of Chinese rock music. I want to keep doing something, I don't want to sit there and tell people what you should do. I don't like that."

"I had a lot of friends who worked in foreign embassies so I had the chance to exchange music tapes. That's the way I listened to a lot of rock music at that time"

"I don't really want to talk about the old stuff - I really don't think it's important any more. I have a lot of new songs, which are more important to me"

"Some Chinese are slaves to Western culture, others look East. I say fuck all of them and be yourself. That’s what I like about rock ‘n’ roll. You can talk straight."

"To be the person stand behind the camera observing other people is really interesting, it gives me a great sense of freedom."

"We were constantly testing to see how far we could go, testing the aesthetic limits of society, and those of the old cadres too. We felt that if we couldn’t upset them, we weren’t doing it right. We’d be like, really? You’re upset at such a little thing? On the other hand. Every so often, we didn’t get a reaction and we’d be surprised at our luck."

"I think rock music is more personal for me. I have more freedom. I can show more of my personal emotions in rock and roll music. With classical music, I can only play something that is written already."

"I think that music festivals, clubs, and record companies can really change the Chinese music scene, but I believe there is no festival or record company doing a good job in China. I think the Chinese listening culture is more viewing-like. Everybody takes care of how he/she looks like. They don't care about what they sound like. It could be pretty bad, but there is hope."

"When I'm holding a guitar, I got a little more confident. You know, actually, before that, I would say I was a shy guy. You know, I was trying to looking for some better way. And then finally, I found a guitar and I really can sing. And people give more attention on me and I thought, "OK, this is the thing I will do forever"."

"I want to give a serious message in the pop music. Right now, I think most of the rock and roll music - they just don't want touch this. You know, they think this is not fashion anymore. And that the young people will think this not cool. I think this a part of rock and roll music - good melody, good energy, and good message."

"I think the biggest enemy in this country is the corruption. I think everybody will - now they learn it."

"I like Hip-Hop music. I like electronic music. I like, you know - I can get a lot of energies from the young people."

"For the young people now, the going to the concert or the going to follow some big stars - unfortunately, now, you know, they don't want message anymore. They want be a part of economic developing. They don't care about message now."

"If you’re singing and writing lyrics in Chinese, then you’re making Chinese music. You have your own story and you try to tell your own feelings, which are different from older generations’—different from the revolution. We were the first generation to try and express our own feelings. You can say this is Western, but I would say it’s human. Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I’m playing rock music and I’m singing in Chinese. That’s it."

"My generation was born in the early 60s or a few years earlier. My parents’ generation carried guns and gained control of the country. We’re the first generation under them, so we call ourselves the revolution’s generation."

"Talking about capitalism and communism isn’t really important or relevant anymore. Money isn’t proof that capitalism is right — money is money. Nobody really cares about these concepts, not even the government. They’re all just tools. I do think people of this generation talk more about control, education, the environment. Nobody talks about capitalism or socialism anymore though. It’s all mixed up together."

"Fear is part of the culture of this country and has been for the past 50 years. But in America everyone is fearful too, just for different reasons. Maybe now it’s the same everywhere. Anyways, I may be afraid, but I usually try to answer questions without putting myself in danger. I just don’t want to lie. Journalists always expect me to answer that black is black or white is white, but if you get to know China you’ll understand that no one answer is ever right. It’s all gray."

"I can't think of someone who has ever been more worthy than Cui Jian for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He's Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen, whose songs made people suddenly realize that there are things going on about which we don't know and ought to, and singing with the voice of the people not often represented in popular culture."

"His lyrics evoked alienation, a craving for personal freedom and sexual desire. His voice was a deep bass growl, the likes of which few outside the tiny, nascent Beijing rock scene had ever heard."

"I think we all have handicaps — physical, mental, emotional or from situations into which we are born but of which we have no control. But we have to be careful not to listen to people who tell us that we can’t do this or that. If you are stupid enough to let that really sink in, then it’s true. You won’t be able to do anything. But I was always a rebel."

"Almost everyone can forgive us for honesty: and, say, not enough professional game, and even not enough professional verses. There are many examples of this. But when honesty disappears, they forgive nothing."

"I feel that now I can’t always reach an understanding with someone, especially with people of an older generation. I find it difficult in this situation, because they think differently. Naturally, people cannot think alike, but they must understand each other. That's why they are people."

"Almost everything can be forgiven to those who are honest. Say, for example, if we [Kino] play our music in an unprofessional manner, or sing our songs in an unprofessional way – and we have made countless mistakes of this kind – our fans will overlook this, but, if we do not try our best to be honest our fans will never forgive us."

"The most interesting thing for us is the work of independent record companies. Most often, music "for sale", music for dancing comes to us. The ears get used to the standards. And independent companies have a small circulation of records of groups that are not guided by standards. It's closer to us."

"I want to be myself everywhere - both on the movie screen and at a concert, do you understand? The most important thing for me is to maintain the self-esteem and freedom that I have now. But it is very difficult to save. You have to fight all the time. And if the question becomes that I will have to play music that I don’t want to play, but that people will like, it would be dishonest to play it, right?"

"The main thing is to remain yourself, and this is impossible for a professional actor. Although it is difficult to think ahead. It seems to me that cinema and music, complementing each other, can coexist in my life."

"The most important thing is that we would like people to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social order, finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there are no more desires would not be."

"It is more important for me to preserve some self-respect and some inner freedom, which I now have, but it is very difficult to preserve it, I have to fight all the time with all sorts of temptations. And I fight with them ... If the question is put in such a way that I will have to play music that I do not want to play, but which people like, then it would be unfair to play it, for me it would be a temptation."

"There is not any kind of meaning in the lyrics, in fact it was an attempt at completely deconstructing reality."

"And I don't think that parents can teach anything at all. A child is a person with his own destiny, and it seems to me that we attach too much importance, so to speak, to the formation of personality by the parents. Parents can educate there, whatever they want, and the personality is formed by itself, under the influence the environment... But one and the same environment affects some in this way, others in a different way ..."

"Russia is a popular theme in France right now, in terms of Soviet memorabilia and stuff like that. But there isn't really a serious approach to Russia, we’re like matryoshka dolls to them: 'Hey, look, Russians can play guitars almost like we do'. A lot of bands have taken the opportunity to tour abroad, consciously accepting the fact that they will be touring on bad terms in terms of both pay and concerts. I didn't want to be a matryoshka doll. The problem isn't so much the money, it's the prestige of the country. If you want to go abroad, it's best to go as a tourist."

"I am 47 years right now, the journey had its fair share of ups and downs"

"With the current economic climate, the downs are many"

"They are running in their own lane so they won’t disturb anybody"

"Dancehall has provided employment to a lot of young people who are now entertainers, producers and dancers, so it's a good thing in that regard"

"It’s basically a book of answers. I asked my fans on Facebook to post questions concerning the Zimbabwean music industry, so I responded. But it mainly touches on the struggles that we face as Zimbabwean musicians. We are famous but poor"

"I noticed online that there is not even a single thing such as this on Zim guitar so I decided to be the one to start it"

"Musicians, fans and arts journalists will benefit a lot because it addresses the day-to-day issues of the music industry"

"We must always aim for the top and I see my role as helping recognise our wealth of talent and helping make sure the various DStv channels that feature music have of flow of good Zimbabwean content. This gives me great satisfaction"

"I had a burning passion for music as early as I can remember and I was happy to discover that I was gifted in this area, so I never dreamed of doing anything other than earning a living through music"

"To be where I am, there came about a combination of many things that include hard work, perseverance and adherence to certain life and music business principles"