154 quotes found
"I always had a repulsive sort of need to be something more than human. I felt very very puny as a human. I thought, "Fuck that. I want to be a superman.""
"I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir."
"I suppose I’ve been knocking on heaven’s door for about 11 years now, with one sort of high or another. The only kinds of drugs I use, though, are ones that keep me working for longer periods of time. I haven’t gotten involved in anything heavy since ’68. I had a silly flirtation with smack then, but it was only for the mystery and enigma of trying it. I never really enjoyed it at all. I like fast drugs. I’ve said that many times. I hate falling out, where I can’t stand up and stuff. It seems like such a waste of time. I hate downs and slow drugs like grass. I hate sleep. I would much prefer staying up, just working, all the time. It makes me so mad that we can’t do anything about sleep or the common cold."
"I get offered so many bad movies. And they're all raging queens or transvestites or Martians."
"I'm terribly intuitive—I always thought I was intellectual about what I do, but I've come to the realisation that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing half the time, that the majority of the stuff that I do is totally intuitive, totally about where I am physically and mentally at any moment in time and I have a far harder time than anybody else explaining it and analysing it. That's the territory of the artist anyway: to be quite at sea with what he does, and working towards not being intuive about it and being far more methodical and academic about it."
"I think fame itself is not a rewarding thing. The most you can say is that it gets you a seat in restaurants."
"Music has given me over 40 years of extraordinary experiences. I can't say that life's pains or more tragic episodes have been diminished because of it. But it's allowed me so many moments of companionship when I've been lonely and a sublime means of communication when I wanted to touch people. It's been both my doorway of perception and the house that I live in. I only hope that it embraces you with the same lusty life force that it graciously offered me."
"[While filming 'Ashes to Ashes'] So we're on the beach shooting this scene with a giant bulldozer. The camera was on a very long lens. [The camera is along way away, but the artist fills the frame] In this video I'm dressed from head to toe in a clown suit. Why not. I hear playback and the music starts. So off I go, I start singing and walking, but as soon as I do this old geezer with an old dog walk right between me and the camera... Well, knowing this is gonna take a while I walked past the old guy and sat next to camera in my full costume waiting for him to pass. As he is walking by camera the director said, excuse me Mr do you know who this is? The old guy looks at me from bottom to top and looks back to the director and said... "Of course I do!!!! its some cunt in a clown suit." That was a huge moment for me, It put me back in my place and made me realize, yes I'm just a cunt in a clown suit. I think about that old guy all the time."
"Never play to the gallery... Never work for other people in what you do. Always remember that the reason that you initially started working was that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you co-exist with the rest of society... I think it's terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfil other people's expectations."
"Ageing is an extraordinary process... If you are pining for youth I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist … I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person that you always should have been."
"It's odd but even when I was a kid, I would write about "old and other times" as though I had a lot of years behind me. Now I do, so there is a difference in the weight of memory. When you're young, you're still "becoming", now at my age I am more concerned with "being". And not too long from now I'll be driven by "surviving", I'm sure. I kind of miss that "becoming" stage, as most times you really don't know what's around the corner. Now, of course, I've kind of knocked on the door and heard a muffled answer. Nevertheless, I still don't know what the voice is saying, or even what language it's in."
"Strangely, some songs you really don't want to write. I didn't like writing "Heathen". There was something so ominous and final about it. It was early in the morning, the sun was rising and through the windows I could see two deer grazing down below in the field. In the distance a car was driving slowly past the reservoir and these words were just streaming out and there were tears running down my face. But I couldn't stop, they just flew out. It's an odd feeling, like something else is guiding you, although forcing your hand is more like it."
"Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I'm referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods' presence in his life. He is the 21st century man. However, there's no theme or concept behind Heathen, just a number of songs but somehow there is a thread that runs through it that is quite as strong as any of my thematic type albums."
"I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does. There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It's always been my way of expressing what for me is inexpressible by any other means. What is very enlightening for me right now is that I sense that I'm arriving at a place of peace with my writing that I've never experienced before. I think I'm going to be writing some of the most worthwhile things that I've ever written in the coming years. I'm very confident and trusting in my abilities right now. But I've got to think of myself as the luckiest guy. Robert Johnson only had one album's worth of work as his legacy. That's all that life allowed him."
"All the young dudes Carry the news Boogaloo dudes Carry the news."
"If our love song Could fly over mountains, Could laugh at the ocean, Just like the films, There's no reason To feel all the hard times, To lay down the hard lines. It's absolutely true.Nothing much could happen Nothing we can't shake Oh we're absolute beginners With nothing much at stake As long as you're still smiling There's nothing more I need I absolutely love you But we're absolute beginners. But if my love is your love We're certain to succeed."
"Ground Control to Major Tom. Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on."
"This is Major Tom to Ground Control. I'm stepping through the door, And I'm floating in a most peculiar way. And the stars look very different today.For here Am I sitting in a tin can, Far above the world. Planet Earth is blue, And there's nothing I can do."
"I'm the cream Of the great utopia dream. And you're in the gleam In the depths of your banker's spleen."
"In the corner of the morning in the past I would sit and blame the master first and last. All the roads were straight and narrow And the prayers were small and yellow. And the rumour spread that I was aging fast. Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping By a tree. And I looked and frowned and the monster was me."
"Day after day They send my friends away To mansions cold and grey. To the far side of town Where the thin men stalk the streets While the sane stay underground.Day after day, They tell me I can go. They tell me I can blow To the far side of town Where it's pointless to be high, 'Cause it's such a long way down."
"Man is an obstacle, sad as the clown (Oh by jingo) So hold on to nothing, and he won't let you down."
"Live to your rebirth and do what you will (Oh by jingo) Forget all I've said, please bear me no ill."
"We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes I thought you died alone, a long long time ago."
"When all the world was very young And mountain magic heavy hung The supermen would walk in file Guardians of a loveless isle."
"Still don't know what I was waiting for And my time was running wild. A million dead-end streets and Every time I thought I'd got it made It seemed the taste was not so sweet. So I turned myself to face me But I've never caught a glimpse Of how the others must see the faker I'm much too fast to take that test."
"I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence. So the days float through my eyes But still the days seem the same. And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations. They're quite aware of what they're going through."
"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes Turn and face the strange."
"It's a god-awful small affair To the girl with the mousy hair But her mummy is yelling "No" And her daddy has told her to go But her friend is nowhere to be seen Now she walks through her sunken dream To the seat with the clearest view And she's hooked to the silver screen. But the film is a saddening bore 'Cause she's lived it ten times or more."
"Pushing through the market square, so many mothers sighing News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in. News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying Cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying."
"There's a starman waiting in the sky He'd like to come and meet us, But he thinks he'd blow our minds."
"Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked up into his mind Like a leper messiah. When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band."
"Ziggy played guitar."
"(Hey man) oh leave me alone you know (Hey man) oh Henry, get off the phone, I gotta (Hey man) I gotta straighten my face This mellow thighed chick just put my spine out of place."
"Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket Back from Suffragette City Oh don't lean on me man 'Cause you ain't got time to check it You know my Suffragette City Is outta sight...she's all right ...Ah wham, bam, thank you ma'am!"
"Who'll love Aladdin Sane? Battle cries and champagne just in time for sunrise."
"This ain't rock'n'roll. This is genocide!"
"You've got your mother in a whirl She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl. Hey babe, your hair's alright. Hey babe, let's go out tonight. You like me, and I like it all. We like dancing and we look divine. You love bands when they're playing hard. You want more and you want it fast."
"Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress. Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess. Rebel Rebel, how could they know? Hot tramp, I love you so!"
"Do you remember, your President Nixon? Do you remember, the bills you have to pay? Or even yesterday?"
"Fame, (fame) makes a man take things over Fame, (fame) lets him loose, hard to swallow Fame, (fame) puts you there where things are hollow Fame (fame)Fame, it's not your brain, it's just the flame That burns your change to keep you insane (sane)."
"Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel Come get up my baby. Look at that sky, life's begun Nights are warm and the days are young Come get up my baby."
"You're such a wonderful person But you got problems oh-oh-oh-oh I'll never touch you."
"I, I wish you could swim Like the dolphins Like dolphins can swim Though nothing, nothing will keep us together We can beat them, forever and ever Oh, we can be heroes just for one day."
"I, I will be king. And you, you will be queen. Though nothing will drive them away. We can beat them, just for one day. We can be heroes, just for one day."
"It's got nothing to do with you, if one can grasp it More idols than realities, ooh-ooh... Yeah, yeah, yeah, up the hill backwards It'll be alright, ooh-ooh"
"I've never done good things I've never done bad things I never did anything out of the blue, whoa whoa Want an axe to break the ice Wanna come down right now Ashes to ashes, funk to funky We know Major Tom's a junkie Strung out in heaven's high Hitting an all-time low. My mama said to get things done You'd better not mess with Major Tom"
"Well, I've been breaking these rocks And cutting this hay Yes, I've been breaking these rocks What's my price to pay? Well, the river's so muddy, but it may come clear And I know too well what's keeping me here I'm just a slave of a burning ray Oh, give me the night, I can't take another sight"
"Because you're young You'll meet a stranger some night Because you're young What could be nicer for you And it makes me sad So I'll dance my life away A million dreams, a million scars ...Left him nearly out of his mind They're people I know - people I love They seem so unhappy - dead or alive"
"Silhouettes and shadows Watch the revolution No more free steps to heaven Just walkie-talkie Heaven or hearth Just big heads and drums Full speed and pagan And it's no game"
"See these eyes so green… I can stare for a thousand years Colder than the moon It's been so long… And I've been putting out fire… With gasoline!"
"See these eyes so red Red like jungle burning bright Those who feel me near Pull the blinds and change their minds."
"Still this pulsing night A plague I call a heartbeat Just be still with me Ya wouldn't believe what I've been thru."
"Never gonna fall for Modern love — walks beside me. Modern love — walks on by. Modern love — gets me to the church on time. Church on time — terrifies me. Church on time — makes me party. Church on time — puts my trust in God and man. God and man — no confessions. God and man — no religion. God and man — don't believe in modern love."
"My little China Girl You shouldn't mess with me. I'll ruin everything you are. I'll give you television. I'll give you eyes of blue. I'll give you a man who wants to rule the world."
"Let's dance — put on your red shoes and dance the blues. Let's dance — to the song they're playin' on the radio. Let's sway — while colour lights up your face. Let's swa —, sway through the crowd to an empty space."
"And if you say run, I'll run with you And if you say hide, we'll hide. Because my love for you Would break my heart in two. If you should fall Into my arms And tremble like a flower."
"Let's dance for fear your grace should fall Let's dance for fear tonight is all"
"Screaming along in South London Vicious but ready to learn Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer Sometimes but always in vain So I'll wait until we're sane Wait until we're blessed and all the same Full of blood, loving life and all it's got to give Englishmen going insane"
"God is an American. I'm afraid of Americans. I'm afraid of the world. I'm afraid I can't help it. I'm afraid I can't"
"Are you OK? You've been shot in the head And I'm holding your brains The old woman said So I drink in the shadows of an evening sky See nothing at all The stars look so special And the snow looks so old The frail form is drifting Beyond the yoga zone"
"Steel on the skyline Sky made of glass Made for a real world All things must pass Ooo Waiting for something Looking for someone Is there no reason?"
"And there's never gonna be enough money And there's never gonna be enough drugs And I'm never ever gonna get old There's never gonna be enough bullets There's never gonna be enough sex And I'm never ever gonna get old So I'm never ever gonna get high And I'm never ever gonna get low And I'm never ever gonna get old"
"The tragic youth was going down on me (...) I've been right and I've been wrong Now I'm back where I started from Never looked over reality's shoulder"
"Soon there'll be nothing left of me Nothing left to release"
"Where are we now? Where are we now? The moment you know You know, you know As long as there's sun As long as there's sun As long as there's rain As long as there's rain As long as there's fire As long as there's fire As long as there's me As long as there's you"
"First they give you everything that you want Then they take back everything that you have They live upon their feet and they die upon their knees They can work with satan while they dress like the saints They know god exists for the devil told them so They scream my name aloud down into the well below"
"In the villa of Ormen, in the villa of Ormen Stands a solitary candle, ah-ah, ah-ah In the centre of it all, in the centre of it all Your eyes"
"Something happened on the day he died Spirit rose a metre and stepped aside Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried (I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar) How many times does an angel fall? How many people lie instead of talking tall? He trod on sacred ground, he cried loud into the crowd (I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar, I’m not a gangster)"
"Look up here, I’m in heaven I’ve got scars that can’t be seen I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen Everybody knows me now Look up here, man, I’m in danger I’ve got nothing left to lose I’m so high it makes my brain whirl Dropped my cell phone down below Ain’t that just like me"
"This way or no way You know, I’ll be free Just like that bluebird Now ain’t that just like me"
"Saying more and feeling less Saying no but meaning yes This is all I ever meant That's the message that I sent"
"I met him only once, it was 1973 or 1974. I was the producer of a record of a folk-rock band Steeleye Span. They wanted David Bowie to play a sax solo on one of the songs. I managed to get his phone number, I called him and said 'You don't know me, but some people which album I'm producing ask you if you'd like to play sax for them'. And Bowie asked - 'Okay, where and when?'. I replied - 'Whenever you can'. And he said - '3 o'clock this afternoon?'. I was frightened and thought he'd want 2000£ for that. He came at 3, smiling. He played just like we wanted, never asking about money, then shook everyone's hand and left. It was the only time we met. David taught me one beautiful thing. If you can and want to help somebody, do it for free. That's why I never asked anyone for money. By lending a hand in that way you give just a bit of what you do in your life."
"There is a glimmer of hope in the choice to quote an old song about new beginnings, and it isn't the only moment on the album that suggests a cycle of death and rebirth. Buried in the bleakness of "Blackstar" is an airy, suspiciously earnest passage that imagines the transmigration of souls: "Something happened on the day he died / Spirit rose a meter and stepped aside / Somebody else took his place and bravely cried / 'I'm a black star.'" Bowie nearly became a Buddhist monk when he was 19, and he specified in his will that his ashes should be scattered "in accordance with the Buddhist rituals." It's quite possible that he believed in reincarnation"
"David Bowie had everything. He was intelligent, imaginative, brave, charismatic, cool, sexy and truly inspirational both visually and musically. He created such staggeringly brilliant work, yes, but so much of it and it was so good. There are great people who make great work but who else has left a mark like his? No one like him."
"While a majority of posthumous music is released by an artist's estate, David Bowie organized new music to be released after his death himself. Bowie believed in reincarnation, and through the evolution of his many different personas and music styles, he became the king of reinvention. First he was a folk singer, then a glam rocker, next he was a new romantic; He was constantly changing and evolving in both his sound and his look."
"If you've got everybody collaborating on a mass scale; you can't be stopped. You can do anything, man. You can move mountains. If all the kids in this estate were a piecing, can you imagine what a beautiful place it would be?"
"I see a red door and I want it painted black No colors anymore, I want them to turn black I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes I see a line of cars and they're all painted black With flowers and my love, both never to come back I see people turn their heads and quickly look away Like a new born baby, it just happens every day I look inside myself and see my heart is black I see my red door, I must have it painted black Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black"
"Yes, star-crossed in pleasure, the stream flows on by Yes, as we're sated in leisure, we watch it fly, yes And time waits for no one, and it won't wait for me... Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman's face Hours are like diamonds, don't let them waste Time waits for no one, no favors has he"
"I'd play whenever I could get my hands on an electric guitar; I was trying to pick up rock'n'roll riffs and electric blues-the latest Muddy Waters. I'd spend hours and hours on the same track, back again, and back again."
"What interested me about Chuck Berry was the way he could step out of the rhythm part with such ease, throwing in a nice, simple riff, and then drop straight into the feel of it again. We used to play a lot more rhythm stuff. We'd do away with the differences between lead and rhythm guitar. You can't go into a shop and ask for a "lead guitar". You're a guitar player, and you play a guitar."
"I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs from the establishment...it's not what the Stones is about, is it? I don't want to step out on stage with someone wearing a fucking coronet and sporting the old ermine. I told Mick, It's a fucking paltry honour."
"There are certain guys that are band players and there's certain guys that ain't. If there's anybody lazier than me, it's Eric (Clapton)."
"I looked upon myself, in a sort of romantic and silly way, as like a laboratory."
"I thought rock and roll was an unassailable outlet for some pure and natural expression of rebellion. It used to be one channel you could take without ever havin' to kiss arse, you know?"
"I was number one on the Who's Likely To Die list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list."
"The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It's almost like Hari Kari. I intend to live to a 100 and go down in history."
"I don't encourage anybody to do what I do, you know? Why should you? More for me!"
"This morning on Dartford station a guy I knew at primary school came up to me. He's got every record Chuck Berry made. He is called Mick Jagger."
"Rap — so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another."
"New Rule: Airplane black boxes must now be made out of Keith Richards. The man, who has taken more drugs than Whitney Houston, Rush Limbaugh and Robert Downey, Jr., combined, recently fell out of a tree, and then crashed a jet ski. And yet, somehow, that cigarette never fell out of his mouth. What is this guy still running on? I've got to know. Because I'm beginning to think the future of medicine isn't injecting stem cells, it's injecting heroin."
"...how come Keith Richards still walks? Explain that Mr. Surgeon General! You never mention Keith do you? Aah, a little hole in the theory there! Surgeon General says, "Drugs are bad, drugs are evil!...except for that guy, they work real good for him, -but the rest of you..."
"Keith Richards is shooting heroin into his eyeballs and still touring all right! I'm getting mixed signals! I picture nuclear war and two things surviving: Keith and cockroaches! (does Keith Richards impression) "Where did everybody go-o? I saw a bright light and thought we were on ...""
"I was reading an interview with Keith Richards in a magazine and in the interview Keith Richards intimated that kids should not do drugs. Keith Richards! Says that kids should not do drugs! Keith, we can't do any more drugs because you already fucking did them all, alright! There's none left! We have to wait 'till you die and smoke your ashes! Jesus Christ! Talk about the pot and the fuckin' kettle."
"I know there is a cure for whatever bioterrorism they throw at us, I know there's one. And it lies within Keith Richards, I do know that. He is the only man on the planet that could go (imitates Keith snorting something) "Anthrax? All right! Doesn't go with my E. coli, but fuck." Keith is the only man who makes The Osbournes look fucking Amish. He's insane. I've seen Keith go to a drug dealer and the drug dealer's goin', "I'm out, man, I'm sorry. I have nothing left!" Supposedly, he goes to Switzerland and changes his blood. Not like one pint, but like a fucking Chevrolet, all of it. I just wanna know, who gets his blood? Some old Swiss man's going, "HEIDI!! We've gotta go on tour, you bitch! We've gotta pay for Mick's babies! COME ON!!!" Because I know this. I know that we may all be dead and gone, Keith will still be there with 5 cockroaches. Keith will go, "Ya know, I smoked your uncle! Did ya know that? Fucking crazy!""
"It was his unique syncopated playing style that defined rhythm guitar in rock 'n' roll."
"Very simple. I'm putting up the money, and I also have ears."
"The host is pathetic! The show is pathetic! The audience is pathetic!"
"You know Paula, who I couldn't look at the beginning of the series... I love her to death now. I hate to admit it but I do."
"Sinitta and Jackie are my family now. I don't think of them as ex-girlfriends anymore. They are an extension of my life... It must be infuriating, but I'd never change because my ex-girlfriends are so close I couldn't imagine life without them."
"Normally, they want me to be rude to them. People come up to me and sing, and I say "That was great. Thank you." And they're like "Well, aren't you going to be rude to me?" No! When I miss auditions, contestants get upset that I'm not there, because they expect me to be cruel to them — it's some sort of badge of honor. That's how crazy everything is."
"If I tape an 11-hour day, guess which parts end up on air. Not the bits when I'm pleasant, but the parts when I'm obnoxious."
"I changed my diet and I’ve not looked back since. You feel better, you look better. I cut out a lot of the stuff I shouldn’t have been eating and that was primarily meat, dairy, wheat, sugar — those were the four main things. … Once you get into a pattern I’ve found it quite enjoyable. It has helped me sleep and I wake up feeling less tired. I noticed a massive difference in how I felt in about a week. I have more energy and focus and it wasn’t difficult. I don’t like to use the word diet because that’s the reason I never went on a diet before — the word diet makes me miserable."
"My vocation is more in composition, really, than anything else. Building up harmonies, orchestrating the guitar like an army – I think that’s where it’s at, really, for me. I’m talking about actual orchestration in the same way you’d orchestrate a classical piece of music. Instead of using brass and violins, you treat the guitars with synthesizers or other devices; give them different treatments, so that they have enough frequency range and scope and everything to keep the listener as totally committed to it as the player is."
"A riff will come out of.. this whole thing of do you practice at home and all that. Well, I play at home and before I knew where I was, things would be coming out and that's those little sections or riffs or whatever. At that stage it's selection and rejection. It's whether you continue with something or you go, 'No that's too much like something else,' and then you move into something else. If you've got an idea and you think that's quite interesting, then I'd work and build on it at home. "Rock and Roll" was something that came purely out of the ether."
"[When I wrote], I'd be expanding on an idea and then I'd go back and I'd review it. So a lot of it you can hear train wrecks as you're playing through the song -- I'm just working and trying stuff. Then I'd come back, as you say, and extract what appeared to be the shining bits, if you like, as opposed to the bits, and then I'd lace them together. That's how the sequence of the song would arrive."
"The music is lyrical without lyrics. The lyrics are telling a story and they're conveying a situation or a person or a reflection or an observation, and the construction of the music I felt was doing the same sort of thing. It was lyrical in the way it was being played."
"Jimmy Page is one of rock music’s ultimate riff masters, guitar orchestrators and studio revolutionaries. His vast body of work with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin exhibits the type of wild abandon often associated with Jimi Hendrix, the passion and grit of a seasoned bluesman, and the sensitivity of a folk musician. [...] Page’s landmark use of echo effects in tracks like “How Many More Times” and “You Shook Me,” bizarre tunings in cuts like “Friends” and “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” and excursions with a violin bow in songs like “Dazed and Confused” yielded textures that were unparalleled at the time."
"It’s almost unfair that one of the greatest electric warriors of all time, a riffmeister of repute and a rocker almost without parallel, also happened to be a brilliant and thoughtful acoustic player as well. Jimmy Page’s musical magpie act and boundless virtuosity meant he was able to take almost any genre or style and bend it to his will. Much like his electric side, Page’s acoustic playing was unconventional, full of strange angles and unexpected shapes and changes. And yet it somehow always rocked. Simply exceptional."
"There's nothing better than going out there and performing and making that connection with audiences. Even after all this time I get the biggest buzz from that."
"I've heard everything — that they were the result of ancient ritual induction into childhood that involved wrestling a wild boar, that I was viciously attacked by a gang. Someone even wrote that I was abducted by aliens who left me with a mark. You know, I really don't care. People can believe whatever they want to believe."
"There were signs in England that the only way for me was down. The media turned against me. I was given a hard time because my outlook wasn't one of pure debauchery. I was a sensitive male and I was singing about spirituality; I didn't choose the loutish Oasis approach to my profession. Britpop was just building up at the time and my attitude somehow counted against me."
"Family, my wife and children, that's my reason for being. Everything is done with them in mind, so perhaps that's the reason this new album is up-tempo. It does feel like a celebration of life. I am finally in a content and happy place to the point where I feel like I need to sing about it. It's made me want to address things that are close to home."
"Myself and the people close to me are all part of a social system, and we were being conditioned to accept the status quo. But on this album, I'm saying it's time for us to take charge. We can change it. We can take control of our emotional system and be happy. My point is don't just sit there and allow life to happen to you. Go out and take charge if you want change, but it begins closer to home."
"A man decides after seventy years, That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep... And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again. Miracles will happen as we trip.But we're never gonna survive, unless... We get a little crazy"
"Oh darlin... In a sky full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy? In a world full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy?"
"Did you know, That when it snows, My eyes become large and The light that you shine can be seen."
"Ooh, the more I get of you, Stranger it feels, yeah. And now that your rose is in bloom, A light hits the gloom on the grave."
"There is so much a man can tell you, So much he can say. You remain, my power, my pleasure, my pain"
"Now that your rose is in bloom, A light hits the gloom on the grave, I've been kissed by a rose on the grave."
"Fearless people, Careless needle. Harsh words spoken, And lives are broken."
"Crossing that bridge, With lessons I've learned. Playing with fire, And not getting burned. I may not know what you're going through. But time is the space, Between me and you. Life carries on... it goes on."
"Then the rainstorm came over me And I felt my spirit break I had lost all of my belief, you see And realized my mistake But time threw a prayer to me And all around me became still I need love, love's divine Please forgive me, now I see that I've been blind Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name."
"Today, I give it, all to you, On this day we recall the memories, Of what we're goin' through,"
"In my heart a place, A most special place, And it's all for you, You're my girl, you're my, angel, The will's the same for us, Honey they can't be wrong, Cause everybody knows it was hard to break the sorrow, Then you came along"
"And they say She's in the Class A Team. Stuck in her daydream, Been this way since 18. But lately her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting, Crumbling like pastries. And they scream The worst things in life come free to us. Cos we're just under the upperhand And go mad for a couple of grams. And she don't want to go outside tonight. And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland Or sells love to another man. It's too cold outside For angels to fly; Angels to fly."
"I wanna be drunk when I wake up On the right side of the wrong bed. And every excuse I made up Tell you the truth I hate. What didn't kill me, It never made me stronger at all."
"'Cause maybe you're loveable. Maybe you're my snowflake. And your eyes turn from green to gray. And in the winter I'll hold you in a cold place. And you should never cut your hair, 'Cause I love the way you flick it off your shoulder.And you will never know Just how beautiful you are to me. But maybe I'm just in love When you wake me up."
"You were just a Small Bump unborn, in Four months you're brought to life. You might be left with my hair, but you'll have your Mother's eyes. I'll hold your body in my hands be as gentle as I can, but for now you're a scan of my unmade plans. Small bump, four months you are brought to life."
"I'm gonna pick up the pieces, and build a Lego house. When things go wrong we can knock it down."
"I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind I'll do it all for you in time And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now."
"That's you now, hello, ciao. Seems that life is great now. See me lose focus, as I sing to you loud. I can't, no, I won't hush. I'll say the words that make you blush. I'm gonna sing this now. See, I'm true, my songs are where my heart is."
"Give me love, like her Cos lately I've been waking up alone. The pain splatters teardrops on my shirt. I told you I'd let them go."
"People resent change, I think in some ways, but they forget that they've changed too. I think most of us changed for the better rather than the worst."
"I didn't invent an image. It just sorta grew on me, like a fungus or whatever it is. It was an extension of me. Well: I did say at seventeen, "I'm going to invent Dusty Springfield", but it was an extension of Mary O'Brien, convent schoolgirl. And I think that's what [Sheena]'s probably got, and there are too many people flashing around, saying "You gotta develop an image, kid!" I think that you know, singing and songs are the things that are the most important thing. An image comes when you present yourself to the public. And the public really kind of accepts you or they don't accept you. Trying to invent something that's not natural to you will be a disaster."
"Many other people say I'm bent, and I've heard it so many times that I've almost learned to accept it ... I know I'm perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don't see why I shouldn't."
"I'm glad to see that royality isn't confined to the box."
"The magic of my situation with Johnny Franz was that he allowed me the freedom to follow my enthusiasm. He’d sit in the control room while I’d go out and scowl at the musicians. It was very difficult for them because they’d never heard this stuff before. I’m asking somebody with a stand-up bass to play Motown bass-lines, and it was a shock. The ones who thought I was a cow I didn’t work with again. The ones who wanted to learn with me, they had the greatest time. Johnny had played piano for Anne Shelton, and had perfect pitch. Bless his heart, he’d sit there and read Popular Mechanics. But he had good ears, he’d suddenly look up from Popular Mechanics and go, E flat! I never took the producer’s credit for two reasons. For one, he deserved it and I was grateful. And then there was the calculating part of me that that thought it looked too slick for me to produce and sing. Because women didn’t do that. And there remains in the British audience, though less so, that attitude of ‘Don’t get too slick on us. Don’t be too smart or we won’t love you.’ And I wanted to be loved."
"Irishness is a state of mind rather than a geographic thing. I’m not English. My name is O’Brien and I’m glad it is. I’ve got nothing against the English and I’m glad I was born here. But I’m glad my mother came from Kerry and I’m glad my name is Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien and I can weep at Riverdance on TV, and it makes me laugh."
"It was that I felt that I'd done as much as I could do there [in England]. I didn't know what direction I could go, apart from across the sea."
"I was ready to work; what I couldn't was the right producer. I had considered various people like the people who do Randy Newman and talked to Ted Templeman who was doing Carly Simon at that time. Again, availability. I wasn't at the right place and right time. They were busy. And the thought of Roy was very strange, I mean, it was a bizarre combination. But I didn't know; I think a lot of people don't know what a very broad musical background he does have; He started out at Decca in the classical department and sort of regressed through Frank Chacksfield and Mantovani, passed through that into pop music and really got into heavy stuff; into rock. But I didn't know he had that background and it was nice. He has incredibly good judgments."
"Things have changed, sound systems now work - on occasion. Various things are made easier in some ways for the artists. All the things I used to want to do and get right, and became known as being difficult cause I wanted them... they are now part of a parcel of a tour, and it will be a delight to work under that system."
"...when, oh, when I see your face, yeah And, oh, when I'm in your warm embrace I know for sure our love is something special"
"Now, when you pass my way I guess I'll smile and say To think that boy was mine Once upon a time"
"...If I had to pick one artist who, song after song, always touched something deep inside me, it would be Dusty. I loved her work from the moment I heard I Only Want to Be with You in 1963, her first major hit. The sound was different from anything I had heard before - it made a visceral connection."
"Dusty sings around her material, creating music that's evocative rather than overwhelming ... Dusty is not searching – she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it."
"I never thought of my music as dark…It can’t be that dark to get people through a dark period, can it?"
"“This ain’t bad-guy talk, cos I’m not a bad guy…But people don’t realise what fear can do. I’ve had situations where I’ve been so scared, where I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and it’s gone on for weeks and it’s ruining my life. It makes you sick, it makes you mentally ill."
"I’ve a kinship with women…That’s why I’ve always put women in strong positions in music."
"One of the biggest problems with my daughter is that I’ve never loved anybody that much before…I was there at her birth. And all of a sudden I started feeling things. And it was too much for me. Because I was emotionally numb, and it was easier for me to get through life being emotionally numb, but then suddenly I was feeling things…I’ve lost people before, like grandmothers, but I’ve bounced back…This is different. Everything looks different, even music doesn’t sound the same. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I was in Islington yesterday and I was hoping I was going to see her, hoping she’s gonna walk up to me."
"Looking at the hundred or so scores I have done you might question the choices, but in a lot of ways this business is about relationships."
"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking In the dark Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops Your heart. You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before You make it You start to freeze as horror looks you right between The eyes You're paralyzed 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to Strike You know it's thriller, thriller night You're fighting for your life inside a killer Thriller tonight."
"Keith Emerson: the man who brought the keyboardist out from behind the organ (and then proceeded to throw said organ about the stage after teaching it a hard lesson involving knives). He (literally!) wrestled with his Hammond, climbed the rafters and showered sparks from the end of his custom Moog ribbon controller. Of course, such histrionics wouldn’t have been worth a hoot if the feller couldn’t play. But play he did. From blistering rock leads to impossibly fast baroque keyboard runs, Emerson has done it all. A surprisingly ballsy rocker, he wasn’t afraid to tone it down. His famous Lucky Man solo is etched into rock and roll history. Perhaps best of all, he dared to drag his monster modular Moog on stage."
"Peter Hook has had a fractious relationship with New Order over the years, and the two factions have been engaging in legal wrangling over the use of the name. Before that he, of course, was part of Joy Division, playing alongside Ian Curtis and Bernard Sumner until Curtis's tragic suicide in 1980. It was with Joy Division where he developed his famous high-note style, claiming that the amp he learnt on was so bad that he could only play high notes in order to hear himself!"