Music producers from the United States

"Oh, you've got a gun? So, you want to pop that?"

"Yo' waddup; this is Snoop D-O-Double-G sayin' stop the violence, drop the guns, and increase the peace."

"What did Snoop Dogg say to a guy carryin' an umbrella? "looks like drizzle ma nizzle""

"Now this No Limit shit, No Limit nigga Everbody wanna know how this shit happens, but we ain't playa hatin' And what's goin' on, but ya know what? It don't get no realer than this though dog."

"I had to shake the spot cause the game got crowded I'm devoted and quote it, I'm rowdy and bout it A No Limit Soldier, and happy to shout it."

"I'm sellin this shit, I ain't tellin this shit, I'm a mutha fuckin 2-time felon ya bitch From the cold hearted streets of the LBC To a mansion in the south down the street from my nigga P See, real niggas recognize the realness Put ya muthafuckin' choppers up if ya feel this."

"So if you got your chrome, you need to stay in the zone And get a vest for your mutha fuckin dome Cause it's on like a dog with out his bone I'm in it to win it and No Limit is my home (for life for life)."

"I'm a gangsta, but y'all knew that Da Big Boss Dogg, yeah I had to do that I keep a blue flag hanging out my backside, only on the left side, yeah that's the Crip side."

"Waitin' on the pizzle, the dizzle and the shizzle G's to the bizzack, now ladies here we gizzo."

"Mr. D, why is you doin' the Big Nasty on my bed?!"

"Sex is like a beautiful meeting of genitalia. It's the dance of love between a penis and vagina."

"When I'm not longer rappin', I want to open up an ice cream parlor and call myself Scoop Dogg."

"So what if I'm smokin' weed onstage and doing what I gotta do? It's not me shooting nobody, stabbing nobody, killing nobody. It's a peaceful gesture and they have to respect that and appreciate that."

"I keep hearing about muthafucking Harry Potter. Who is this muthafucker?"

"If the ride is more fly, you must buy"

"Fuck Bill O'Reilly. He's a muthafucking prick."

"The revolution will be televised."

"Andre [Recke] and I and my mom worked very hard to really get good music that I related to and was age-appropriate for me and wasn't just cheesy pop stuff."

"There are definitely people I respect and I love their music, but there was never really an artist that I said, "I want to be just like them, I love the way their career is going. I love their music." It wasn't really like that. I wanted to be like myself."

"I love writing, but I feel like you need time to really get in touch with yourself to do that. On [Metamorphosis], I would have liked to have had more time to work with the writers [and] write some more of my own stuff. Hopefully I can do that on my second album."

"I actually didn't want to have control of the writing on my first album. To write, you have to have time to connect with yourself. I don't have that time right now, because I'm so busy."

""Come Clean" is obviously about a boy and a girl's relationship and it's just talking about how somebody thinks they're in the dark. She's tired of it and he's tired of it and they're coming clean, whether it means they're gonna be together or not. They're laying all the cards out on the table and coming out with everything that hasn't been said basically. The video really shows that she's kind of in this monotone mood throughout the whole thing. She doesn't show too much emotion except that she's waiting for this boy, this guy, to come. You can't tell when they're running toward each other if they're gonna kiss or they're gonna hug or they're gonna hit each other. It's a bunch of different emotions."

"Well, I'm not going to be singing about lollipops because I no longer relate to lollipops."

"No, I don't do that [sing about sex]. My music isn't forward like that. It's not sexual the way Britney's music is sexual. She feels comfortable singing about that, and that's fine, but I just don't talk about that kind of stuff, sorry. I just don't."

"...I want the songs I sing to reflect that [I am a regular 16 year old]. Basically, I'm not Lizzie McGuire anymore."

"Compared to the first album, when I wasn't confident enough to make suggestions, this time around, I was very involved. I worked with the songwriters, telling them what was happening in my life, and what I wanted to sing about. If I thought it needed to be more heavy, more rock, I said so. I feel that this record is so much more me. I can't wait for people to hear it."

"Music is so personal to me. I can be myself, and say what I want to say. I feel I'm honest and don't try to hide things. But music enables people to learn about my personality, how I'm evolving. Even if I don't feel comfortable talking about something, I can feel comfortable expressing that same thing through my music."

"What it talks about is stuff that I've gone through, like, in the past year, which is, you know, a lot, and some of it's good, and some of it's bad, and a lot of it's, like, a big learning experience. And I got to write a lot about that with people that I've worked with before, so I felt completely comfortable."

"On the second album I worked with a lot of people that I worked with on the Metamorphosis album. And when I worked on Metamorphosis I was so nervous and shy about going into the studio and working with people, they eventually toward the end made me feel so comfortable and so secure with myself. I loved working with them. I have a great relationship with them. I talk to them [all the time]. When we started talking about the second album, I was like, "I want to work with all the same people." They knew what was going on in my life, what I was going through. I would call them and say, "I feel like this right now. I want a song about this..." I never really felt like I had enough time to write my whole album and I don't know if I'm secure enough with myself to do that. But I wrote three songs on the album, one I wrote with my sister. It's so personal and these people really got what I was going through and how I feel inside. I think that's what makes it good and that's what makes me relate to them."

"So many people think that this album is showing a different side of me, but that's not really what it is. I think it's just more me this time because I got to really do it how I wanted to."

"I love the song ["Haters"]. I wrote it, it was my idea. I think at the time I was feeling like I had to talk so much about my personal life because people make accusations and there are lies and rumors constantly. I think that song really just came to me because I was feeling like people are so negative. They love to read what's coming out next on Page Six [of the New York Post] and I just felt like it was appropriate. I also felt like normal girls could relate to that, what with school and how people backstab each other and talk bad about each other and how much petty stuff goes on."

"Uh oh. I don't think that I can tell who it [the person "Mr. James Dean" references] is, but it was definitely an experience that I went through that was interesting and I learned a lot from that time in my life. I think the song is very funny when I think about it."

"I love the song ["Weird"] too. It is really weird when you listen to the beat and the words. It's about someone that she's still obsessed with. And everything he does is like he says this, but he does this. And he does this but he says this. It's all twisted around and backwards. She's not really sure who he is or what he does, but she likes it."

"When you are under the control of a label, you don't always get to have the sound you like. If I could change it, I would, and it would sound [less pop]. My name is Hilary Duff, and I don't know why I don't get to make Hilary Duff music. I just have to get the freedom to do it, and during the show, I do get to do that: I get to throw away all of the CD stuff that has been mastered and sounds really pretty, and I get to sing live."

"It's more like giving people a taste of what the tour will be like. It's getting people to hear the music to a different sound … We remixed some of the songs so they sound totally different. It's really energetic."

"My sister and I really showed an interest in [performing] and dedication, and [our mother] was like, 'How can I tell my kids no?' It's the same as kids that are going into sports. Parents support them and push them."

"Our purpose is to educate as well as to entertain. Painless preaching is as good a term as any for what we do. If you're going to come away from a party singing the lyrics of a song, it is better that you sing of self-pride like 'We're a Winner' instead of 'Do the Boo-ga-loo!'"

"He don't love you like I love you If he did, he wouldn't break your heart He don't love you like I love you He's try-in' to tear us apart."

"People get ready there's a train comin'; You don't need no baggage, just get on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'; You don't need no ticket, just thank the lord."

"He says don't worry, worry, worry, worry.But they don't know, There can be no show. And if there's a hell below, We're all gonna go, go, go, go, go."

"Hush now child and don't you cry; Your folks might understand you by and by. Move on up towards your destination; You may find from time to time, Complications."

"We'll all turn black So who's to know? As a matter of fact, Color, creed and breed must go. There will be no light, So there can be no sight. And you'll judge your fellow man; Understand bout what is right. A million music, a million sound There's neutral thoughts For the underground."

"Let's do it in the mornin' Sweet breeze in the summer time. Feeling your sweet face All laid up next to mine. Sweet love in the midnight; Good sleep, come mornin' light. No worries 'bout nothin'; Just gettin' good, just gettin' good Just gettin' good love."

"Oh, many say that I'm too young To let you know just where I come from. Oh, but you will see that it's just a matter of time My love will surely make you mine.Ooh, living in a world of ghetto life, Everyone around seems so uptight. Nothing's wrong. It's alright with my man, my man."

"I'm giving him something he can feel. Oh, ho, to let him know my love is real.Hey, hey, hey...I'm giving him something he can feel. Yes, I am, babe To let you know my love is real."

"Wakin' up to find yourself creamin' Check your fears and hope that you're dreamin' A little space is all that I need If these suckers just allow me to breathe Snake pits and Lucifer's burns Can't take the strength I've earned and learned Stepped in depth of the same livin' hell Ain't too proud to die here as well.Do Do Wap is strong in here; Do Do Wap is strong in here, hey! hey!"

"I was someone more Because I was no one poor. To find that I too was down on my knees. I'm just homeless."

"Now is always the right time With something positive in your mind. Whenever someone pulls you down, Just get back up and hold your ground. ... Summer, winter, fall just go Through the rain and through the snow. Just get on back to living again...right on."

"It's hard to understand; There was love in this man. I'm sure all would agree That his misery Was his woman and things. Now Freddie's dead; That's what I said.Everybody's misused him; Ripped him off and abused him. Another junkie playin'; Pushin' dope for the man. A terrible blow, but that's how it go. Freddie's on the corner now. If you wanna be a junkie, wow; Remember, Freddie's dead."

"Why can't we brothers Protect one another? No one's serious, And it makes me furious. Don't be misled, Just think of Fred."

"Oooh, Superfly You're gonna make your fortune by and by. But if you lose, don't ask no questions why. The only game you know is Do or Die. Ah-ha-ha."

"And the war rages on in a land called somewhere And Generals order their men to kill And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten While a little cloud weeps on the side of a hill."

"I like them all. … They're all pictures of me when I wrote them. … I have no favorite songs."

"I wanted to sing other types of songs that Simon and Garfunkel wouldn't do. "Mother and Child Reunion" for example, is not a song that you would have normally thought that Simon and Garfunkel would have done. It's possible that they might have. But it wouldn't have been the same, and I don't know if I would have been so inclined in that direction. So for me it was a chance to break out and gamble a little bit … The breakup had to do with a natural drifting apart as we got older and the separate lives that were more individual. We weren't so consumed with recording and performing. We had other activities … there was no great pressure to stay together other than money, which exerted very little influence upon us. … We didn't need the money."

"There was always some kind of strain, but it was workable. The bigger you get, the more of a strain it is, because in your everyday life, you're less used to compromising. As you get bigger, you have your own way. But in a partnership you always have to compromise. … When you get into a partnership, you're not the boss. There's no boss. That makes it hard."

"Instead of thinking in terms of chords, I think of voice-leading; that is, melody line and bass line, and where the bass line goes. If you do that, you'll have the right chord. [These voices] will give you some alternatives, and you can play those different alternatives to hear which one suits your ear... Keep the bass line moving so you don't stay in one spot: if you have an interesting bass line and you roll it against the melody, the chords are going to come out right."

"I didn't want to repeat the same notes in the second verse that I used in the first, so I wrote out all the notes of the song and all the notes that were missing in the scale, given that there are twelve notes from octave to octave. All those notes that weren't in the scale were the ones I wanted in for the next verse. The listener isn't aware that they are new notes, but the sound is pleasing to the ear. I change the key, and somehow it's fresh because you haven't heard those notes before."

"Well its great to do a neighborhood concert. I hope everyone can hear us. I hope that the sound is good. I hope we are blasting Central Park West and Fifth avenue pretty much away. I just want to thank the police department and the fire department and the parks commissioner, and Ed Koch [Audience boos] — and particularly, you know, people that never get recognized for doing good things for the city, a group of people that have donated half of the proceeds that they're making tonight — the guys who are selling loose joints are giving the city half of their income tonight."

"I am editing myself as we go along"

"I have gone through different phases in my music writing. There was a time when I used a little exercise — incorporating all of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale — to get me going. I used this technique for a while, but I don't any longer because I am going back to simpler melodies. Originally I moved away from the simple songs because I thought they were too simple."

"I write from instinct, from inexplicable sparkle. I don't know why I'm writing what I'm writing. Usually, I sit and I let my hands wander on my guitar. And I sing anything. I play anything. And I wait till I come across a pleasing accident. Then I start to develop it. Once you take a piece of musical information, there are certain implications that it automatically contains — the implication of that phrase elongated, contracted, or inverted or in another time signature. So you start with an impulse and go to what your ear likes."

"[Rock 'n' roll] really is not given to thinking — and resents thinking. Which I believe is the big error of rock 'n' roll. It's always aspired to be the music of the working class. And it's never been looked upon as a vocabulary for art and artistic thinking... We have to be able to expand the vocabulary to express more complex thoughts."

"This is near enough true bliss."

"Slip slidin' away Slip slidin' away. You know the nearer your destination The more you're slip slidin' away."

"God only knows God makes his plan The information's unavailable To the mortal man. We work our jobs Collect our pay Believe we're gliding down the highway When in fact we're slip slidin' away."

"Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence."

"And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never shared No one dared Disturb the sound of silence."

""Fools," said I, "you do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence."

"And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said "The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sound of silence""

"A winter's day In a deep and dark December; I am alone, Gazing from my window to the streets below On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow. I am a rock, I am an island."

"I’ve built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, That none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain."

"I am shielded in my armor Hiding in my room safe within my womb I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock. I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries."

"I'm sitting in the railway station. Got a ticket to my destination. On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand. And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band."

"Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me."

"Tonight I'll sing my songs again, I'll play the game and pretend. But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me."

"Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobblestones. Looking for fun and Feelin' Groovy."

"Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together. I've got some real estate here in my bag. So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies, And we walked off to look for America"

"Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces, She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy, I said, 'Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera.'"

"Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."

"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know. Whoa, whoa, whoa God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson, Heaven holds a place for those who pray. Hey hey hey, hey hey hey."

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns it's lonely eyes to you Ooo ooo ooo. What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson? "Joltin' Joe has left and gone away." Hey hey hey, hey hey hey."

"Time, time, time, see what's become of me, While I looked around for my possibilities, I was so hard to please, But look around, the leaves are brown, And the sky is a hazy shade of winter."

"Hang on to your hopes, my friend. That's an easy thing to say, But if your hopes should pass away Simply pretend that you can build them again."

"Seasons change with the scenery; Weaving time in a tapestry. Won't you stop and remember me At any convenient time?"

"Someone told me It's all happening at the zoo. I do believe it, I do believe it's true."

"The monkeys stand for honesty, Giraffes are insincere, And the elephants are kindly but They're dumb. Orangutans are skeptical Of changes in their cages, And the zookeeper is very fond of rum."

"Zebras are reactionaries, Antelopes are missionaries, Pigeons plot in secrecy, And hamsters turn on frequently."

"When you're weary Feeling small When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all I'm on your side When times get rough And friends just can't be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down."

"I'll take your part When darkness comes And pain is all around."

"Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine If you need a friend I'm sailing right behind..."

"I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail Yes I would, if I could, I surely would I'd rather be a hammer than a nail Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would"

"Cecilia, you're breaking my heart You're shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees I'm begging you please to come home."

"In the clearing stands a boxer And a fighter by his trade And he carries the reminders Of ev'ry glove that laid him down Or cut him till he cried out In his anger and his shame "I am leaving, I am leaving." But the fighter still remains."

"I get all the news I need from the weather report."

"No I would not give you false hope On this strange and mournful day But the mother and child reunion Is only a motion away, Oh, little darling of mine I can't for the life of me Remember a sadder day I know they say let it be But it just don't work out that way..."

"When the papa found out, he began to shout, and he started the investigation It's against the law, it was against the law What the mama saw, it was against the law."

"I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin', I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where. Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard."

"A young girl in a parkin' lot was preaching to a crowd Singing sacred songs and reading from the Bible Well, I told her I was lost and she told all about the Pentecost And I seen that girl as the road to my survival... Even now that sweet memory lingers"

"Peace like a river ran through the city Long past the midnight curfew We sat starry-eyed We were satisfied... You can beat us with wires You can beat us with chains You can run out your rules But you know you can't outrun the history train"

"When I look back on all the crap I learned in high school, It's a wonder I can think at all, And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall."

"Kodachrome, They give us those nice bright colours, Give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh, yeah, I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away."

"Come on, take me to the Mardi Gras, Where the people sing and play, Where the music is elite and there's dancing in the street, Both night and day."

"Some people never say those words "I love you". It's not their style to be so bold. Some people never say those words "I love you". But like a child, they're longing to be told."

"When I was a little boy, (when I was just a boy) And the devil would call my name (when I was just a boy) I'd say "Now who do, Who do you think you're fooling?""

"And if I was the President, (was the President) And if'n the Congress called my name (was the President) I'd say "Now who do, Who do you think you're fooling?""

"I met my old lover on the street last night, She seemed so glad to see me, I just smiled, And we talked about some old times, and we drank ourselves some beers, Still crazy after all these years, Oh, still crazy after all these years."

"Now I sit by my window and I watch the cars I fear I’ll do some damage One fine day But I would not be convicted By a jury of my peers Still crazy Still crazy Still crazy after all these years."

"In my little town I grew up believing God keeps his eye on us all."

"The problem is all inside your head, she said to me The answer is easy if you take it logically I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free There must be fifty ways to leave your lover."

"Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me Hop on the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free."

"She said, why don't we both just sleep on it tonight And I believe, in the morning you'll begin to see the light And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right There must be fifty ways to leave your lover, fifty ways to leave your lover"

"Then I learned to play some lead guitar, I was underage in this funky bar And I stepped outside to smoke myself a j When I came back to the room, everybody just seemed to move And I turned my amp up loud and I began to play."

"First thing I remember when you came into my life I said I wanna get that girl, no matter what I do Well I guess I've been in love before and once or twice have been on the floor But I've never loved no-one the way that I love you."

"One and one half wandering Jews, Free to wander wherever they choose, Are travelling together in the Sangre de Christo, The blood of Christ mountains of New Mexico, On the last leg of a journey they started a long time ago, The arc of a love affair, Rainbows in the high desert air."

"Mountain passes slipping into stones, Hearts and bones."

"Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance Everybody thinks its true."

"Two disappointed believers Two people playing the game Negotiations and love songs Are often mistaken for one and the same."

"And what is the point of this story? What information pertains? The thought that life could be better Is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains."

"These are the days of miracle and wonder, This is the long distance call, The way the camera follows us in slo-mo, The way we look to us all, The way we look to a distant constellation That's dying in a corner of the sky, These are the days of miracle and wonder And don't cry, baby, don't cry, don't cry."

"It's a turn-around jump-shot, It's everybody jump-start, it's, Every generation throws a hero up the pop-charts, Medicine is magical and magical is art, Think of the boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart..."

"The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar, I am following the river down the highway Through the cradle of the Civil War."

"I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, Well, I'm going to Graceland. Poor boys and pilgrims with families And we are going to Graceland, And my travelling companion is nine years old, He is the child of my first marriage, But I've reason to believe We both will be received in Graceland."

"And she said 'Losing love is like a window in your heart, Everybody sees you're blown apart, Everybody feels the wind blow.'"

"She said, 'Don't I know you from the cinematographer's party?' I said, 'Who am I to blow against the wind?'"

"I said 'Hey, is this my problem? Is this my fault?' If that's the way its gonna be I'm gonna call the whole thing to a halt"

"She's a rich girl, She don't try to hide it, Diamonds on the soles of her shoes, He's a poor boy, Empty as a pocket, Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose, Sing ta-na-na, ta-na-na-na, She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes."

"A man walks down the street He says why am I soft in the middle now Why am I soft in the middle The rest of my life is so hard I need a photo opportunity I want a shot at redemption Don’t want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard."

"If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me You can call me Al."

"A man walks down the street He says why am I short of attention Got a short little span of attention And woe my nights are so long"

"There were incidents and accidents There were hints and allegations..."

"A man walks down the street It’s a street in a strange world Maybe it’s the third world Maybe it’s his first time around … He looks around around He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says Amen and Hallelujah."

"Homeless, homeless, Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake."

"Well I'm accustomed to a smooth ride, Or maybe I'm a dog that's lost its bite, I don't expect to be treated like a fool, no, no, I don't expect to sleep long nights, Some people say a lie is just a lie but I say, Why deny the obvious child?"

"Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself, How it's strange that some rooms are like cages, Sonny's yearbook from high school is down from the shelf, And he idly thumbs through the pages, Some have died, some have fled from themselves, On a struggle from here to get there, Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls, Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair."

"Never been lonely, Never been lied to, Never had to scuffle in fear, Nothing to dive to, Born at the instant, The church bells chime, The whole world whispering, You're born at the right time."

"Moves like a fist through traffic, Anger and no-one can kill it, Shoves a little bump to the momentum, It's just a little lump but you feel it In the creases and the shadows, With a rattling deep emotion. The cool, cool river Sweeps the wild, wide ocean."

"And sometimes even music Cannot substitute for tears."

"How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river When the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu? How can you?"

"If the answer is infinite light, Why do we sleep in the dark?"

"Locked in a struggle for the right combination Of words in a melody line, I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination. Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine."

"We don't mean to mess things up, But mess them up we do. And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry." Here's a smiling photograph Of love when it was new. At a birthday party. Make a wish and close your eyes: Surprise, surprise, surprise."

"I shoot a thought into the future, and it flies like an arrow, through my lifetime. And beyond. If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow, or even the wind-blown dust; find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed. Hurry on and remember me, as I'll remember you. Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates. The earth is blue. And everything about it is a love song. Everything about it."

"It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor. Outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure. It's a blessing to wash your face in the summer solstice rain. It's outrageous a man like me stand here and complain. But I'm tired."

"Take me. I'm an ordinary player in the key of C. And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity. Who's gonna love you when you're looks are gone? God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill."

"Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations, Appeals for love, or love's release, in private invocationsBut all that is changed now. Gone like a memory from the day before the fires. People hungry for the voice of God Hear lunatics and liars.Wartime prayers. Wartime prayers In every language spoken. For every family scattered and broken."

"Because you cannot walk with the holy, If you're just a halfway decent man. But I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind With a genius marketing plan.I'm trying to tap into some wisdom, Even a little drop would do. I want to rid my heart of envy And cleanse my soul of rage Before I'm through."

"Snowman sittin' in the sun doesn't have time to waste."

"Little kid dancin' in the grass, legs like rubber band. It's summertime, summertime. There's a line at the candy stand. Keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool. You'd better keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool."

""The universe loves a drama," you know. And ladies and gentlemen this is the show."

"Maybe the heart is part of the mist. And that's all that there is or could ever exist. Maybe and maybe and maybe some more. Maybe's the exit that I'm looking for."

"Once upon a time there was an ocean. But now it's a mountain range. Something unstoppable put into motion. Nothing is different, but everything's changed."

"The light through the stained glass was cobalt and red. And the frayed cuffs and collars were mended by halos of golden thread. The choir sang, "Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean." And all the old hymns and family names came fluttering down as leaves of emotion. As nothing is different, but everything's changed."

"I am walking up the face of the mountain. Counting every step I climb. Remembering the names of the constellations. Forgotten is a long, long time."

"I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow. Gonna paint a sign so you'll always know. As long as one and one is two. There could never be a father who loved His daughter more than I love you."

"Trust your intuition. It's just like goin' fishin'. You cast your line and hope you get a bite. But you don't need to waste your time worrying about the marketplace, Try to help the human race. Struggling to survive its harshest hour."

"It's easy to be generous when you're on a roll It's hard to be grateful when you're out of control"

"The bedroom breathes in clicks and clacks Uneasy heartbeat, can't relax But then your hand takes mine Thank God I found you in time"

"They say all roads lead to a river Then one day the river comes up to your door How will the builder of bridges deliver us all To the faraway shore?"

"We are who we are Or we're not But at least We'll eventually all fall asleep Eventually all fall asleep"

"So, what in the world are we whispering for? Everyone's naked, there's nothing to hide"

"My boy and me We're refugees of sorts From my hometown They don't like different there They would've mowed us down"

"He doesn't talk much anymore Just to the voices in his head The boy just gazed down at the floor And nodded once or twice At what she said"

"They didn't understand it and I tried to make them see That one is only poor only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money but I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors that Momma made for me Made just for me..."

"Now Momma's done away with the old black kettle she used to cook in when I was just little And the door ain't sprung on her electric range That little old farm and home we had it ain't there no more and that's too bad Folks are doing away with the simple things..."

"Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Please don't take him just because you can"

"You can have your choice of men but I could never love again He's the only one for me Jolene I have to have this talk with you My happiness depends on you and whatever You decide to do Jolene..."

"I hope life treats you kind And I hope you have all you've dreamed of. And I wish to you, joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love."

"If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So I'll go, but I know I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way.And I will always love you. I will always love you."

"It's been a long dark night And I've been a waitin' for the morning It's been a long hard fight But I see a brand new day a dawning."

"I've been looking for the sunshine 'Cause I ain't seen it in so long But everything's gonna work out just fine Everything's gonna be all right That's been all wrong.'"

"I can see the light of a clear blue morning I can see the light of a brand new day I can see the light of a clear blue morning And everything's gonna be all right It's gonna be okay."

"A lot of people get all turned off by the wig, the heels, the fingernails, the whole artificial bit. I do dress kinda pretty but old-fashioned. I think maybe I dress this way partly because of the image, you know, and partly because when I was a little girl growing up in a big old poor family, this was the way that the rich folks' wives dressed, when we'd see them drivin' through in their big old cars. As for the 'real me.' Well, under this wig, my own hair is about the same length and color, and I wear it about the same. But sometimes I'll dress up in a baggy old shirt and go out with my husband in a camper or something, just havin' ourselves a good time, and nobody recognizes me."

"I just depend on a lot of prayer and meditation. I believe that without God I am nobody, but that with God, I can do anything."

"My nails are my rhythm section, when I'm writing a song all alone. Some day, I may cut an album, just me and my nails."

"It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world"

"The way I dress, for the most part, is how most people would dress for a costume party. It would scare most people to death to look this cheap or whore-y, but to me, I’m comfortable. The way I look was really a country girl’s idea of what glamour was. I patterned my look after the town tramp. I thought she was the prettiest thing in the world, with all that bleached hair and bright-red lipstick. People would say, ‘Oh, she’s just trash,’ and I’d think, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.'"

"Even when I’m writing a modern song, I’ll find myself pulling stuff from those days before I ever left home, the days of Mama and Daddy and my grandmas and grandpas, and church days. All I ever have to do is close my eyes and just kind of go inside."

"I look so totally artificial, but I’ve always been the simplest person in the world."

"I think that if I am smart in business, it’s just that I’m smart about who I am. I know what I can, can’t, will and won’t do, and if I have to be strict about that, I will."

"Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish. Now, dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you, but there's no fire in your gut that causes you to put everything forth to overcome all the obstacles. So you have to dream more and never, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn't happen. That is in your department."

"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

"We [at Dollywood] don’t try to shove anything down anybody’s throat. We are very open. So many of my businesspeople and my best friends are different faiths, and I work with them, live with them, love them. The gays and lesbians, they come to our parks. I think people just know I’m a very open and accepting person. And in any religion we’re supposed to be that—we’re supposed to be kind...we’re not supposed to pass judgment. Our Bible says, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ and I believe in all those kinds of things. We’re all God’s children. No matter how we try to get to heaven, we all wanna go there. We just have our own routes to take, and that’s how I look at it."

"Now, that's some lines from the song that you and I did together. I know usually, at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I'm gonna talk to you. 'Cause there is that place on the other side, and I'm certainly gonna see you there, little brother. You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you. But I doubt that many of 'em loved you more than I did. Anyhow, I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you and I bet you're having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful and I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be. So, anyway, you made us happy while you were here, and we're happy that you're at peace. And I just want you to know that I will always love you. Goodbye, my sweet Leslie. See you over there."

"That's my therapy; my little guitar's my friend, And when I'm in that zone – I call it my 'God zone' – I just love that time."

"I could never do that. I don't care. I always count my blessings, more than I count my money. I don't work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job. I loved the work. And I've done well, and I'm thankful for it."

"It is true that I look artificial, but I believe that I'm totally real. My look is really based on a country girl's idea of glam. I wasn't naturally pretty, so I make the most of anything I've got."

"Well, you should've seen me this morning before I got ready to see youǃ But I'm serious, though. I'm not, like, a natural beauty. But I can enhance it. Whatever it takes, I do. I try to make the most of everything."

"I wrote a song years ago called 'In the Good Old Days When Times Were Bad,' and it said, 'No amount of money could buy from me the memories that I have of then. But no amount of money could pay me to go back and live through it again."

"When I started writing these songs, my mom was real impressed with how I could write, writing these songs at such an early age, And she would say, 'Oh honey, go get that guitar. I want you to sing them.' And she'd say to people, 'I want you to hear this song this little thing wrote.' And so I thought, ooh, I'm getting a whole lot of attention now! So, I think that kind of encouraged it. But also, I loved the sound of that music. I loved the sound of the instruments. I loved being able to create something, and it gave me a little space, and a little world of my own that I could just live in, and be creative in."

"I guess I was about ten years old, the first time that my uncle took me to sing in front of an audience. And it was when they kept clappin' and clappin' after I had finished my song, that I thought that, you know, I felt something. I was scared, I was nervous, I'm a country little kid. But when I got that applause and got that feeling, is when I thought this is what I think I'm gonna do."

"I remember this little redheaded girl with green eyes, prettiest little thing, and I said, 'Well, what's your name?' And she said, 'Jolene.' I said, 'I love that name.' All the way back to the bus I was [singing], 'Jolene, Jolene, Jolene,' so I wouldn't forget the name."

"It wasn't meant to be. And I don't regret it. I never regretted it. I mean, it was a choice. So, you make your choices, you make your sacrifices, and I never looked back. I knew early on that I was gonna walk that road 'til God told me to stop. And I'm still walking it, and He ain't said nothing to me about quittin' yet!"

"Well, I guess I am. But I don't think of it like they do. I'm just, I'm a feminine girl. I'm a workin' girl. I think we all should be treated with respect. And if we do a good job, we should get paid for it. So, I'm all about that."

"I have so many: Merle Haggard, Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul Simon. Hank Williams is one of the greatest ever because people can take his songs and do them in any fashion. They are simple, sweet songs, but they just touch your guts and reach you wherever they want to."

"I remember feeling like all our hard work had paid off: I was going to be able to make a life in this business. I don’t remember making that much money from [“Joshua”] at that time, but I’m sure I spent it on stage clothes or my family or something like that. I remember watching it rise up the charts and thinking, “Golly, that’s such a great feeling!”"

"My guitar and my songwriting: That’s my therapy; that’s my doctors, my nurses, my medicine. I really think my music has saved me — and saved a lot of other people because I’m able to write the feelings of people who are broken and don’t know how to express it. I can do it for them, and it really seems to help. It is wonderful when you’re going through hurt to be able to write about it."

"When I heard that huge production with Whitney’s voice, my gosh, who could even sing better than that? And David Foster’s arrangement overwhelmed me. I would have never in a million years believed that my little heartfelt song could have turned into one of the biggest love songs of all time. I was never so proud in my life as a songwriter to think that my little song could be that good and that big."

"I don’t really realize it until it’s already said. I just answer from my heart when somebody asks me a direct question. I love everybody. And, of course, Black lives matter. We all matter. We’re all God’s children. I hope people learn to love one another a little more than they do, and if I can be any help in that respect, then I hope to be."

"I think I’m a star to everybody but me, I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became. I’ll see a whole wall of my pictures somewhere, and I’ll wonder ‘How did that happen?’ It’s more a joy than a surprise."

"I’ll go into a closet and wonder, ‘Now, what in the hell did I come in here for?', There’s nothing that makes me happier than writing a song."

"I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil’ 'Coat of Many Colors,' because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that."

"I’ve been grateful for every good thing ever happened, God has always blessed me, surrounded me with good people. I pray that every day God will bring all the right things, all the right people, into my life."

"I’ve been at this so long, I’ve worn some of the most bizarre things – my hairdos have always been so out there, At the time you think you look good, then you look back on it, like, what was I thinking?"

"I’ve always been true to myself,” she says. “That was what my mama always used to say: to thine own self be true. I put a lot of stock in that. Everything I do, whether it’s my personality, how I conduct myself and business, or whatever, if I do it my way, according to what I understand and believe, there’s a strength in that. You can think, ‘I can stand by this, I can live by this."

"I think words and titles just have such connotations, When I think about a ‘feminist’, you think about women that are anti-men, and you think of women that have been so mistreated, they have to make some sort of a statement. I’m all about women, I’m all about empowering women, but I’m all about empowering all people – love and respect and uplifting [them]."

"Even within my own family, especially the last few years since Trump and Biden, all that, it’s like we can’t even go to a family dinner any more. Especially if people are drinking – they get in a damn fight at the table."

"This is amazing to me how people look to me, that’s a big responsibility. There ain’t nobody that good. I’m not all that. I make a joke – I’m not even all there. I try to just be a decent human being, try to use love as my great tool and weapon. I try to leave my heart, my eyes, my ears open, and my mouth closed, when I know it’s not the right thing to be doing."

"I’m almost 78 years old. When you get older, you see everything, you’ve been through everything, and you can take a new spin on something that might have been right for you 10, 15 years ago."

"My joke [is that] if I have any regrets, it’s that I got caught with some of the stuff that I had no regret about."

"In January 2025, Dolly shared, "I think I'm a star to everybody but me... I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became."

"Following the death of her husband in March 2025, Dolly released the song "If You Hadn't Been There," expressing gratitude for his unwavering support throughout their nearly 60-year marriage"

"Due to health challenges, Dolly postponed her December 2025 Las Vegas residency. She humorously referred to it as her "100,000-mile check-up," clarifying it wasn’t related to cosmetic surgery."

"In October 2025, Dolly reassured fans about her health, saying, "I don’t think God is through with me... I ain't done working." She humorously added, "I ain't ready to die yet.""

"In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, Dolly addressed speculation about her retirement, stating, "I can’t retire. I always say I’ve dreamed myself into a corner. I’ve got to keep all those dreams alive. Every dream spins off into something else.""

"Dolly’s big in Iceland. Her voice is immaculate, really powerful. Her character is so warm and human, and she has a great sense of humor. All my friends love Dolly, and most of them are people who would never listen to country music. It doesn’t happen very often when you get a character that is sort of larger than life. I don’t like rock music, but I like Kurt Cobain. He could be playing any style of music and I would have been interested. You know? And I think Dolly is like that. She is an incredible singer, an incredible songwriter."

"I met Dolly Parton in Tennessee; her titties were filled with Hennessy. That country music really drove me crazy, but I rode that ass and said, "Yes, Miss Daisy!""

"There's a lot of difference between songwriting and poetry, and I think that's what gets lost. Most lyrics do not read well. They sing well...I'll tell you who writes well, though, as I'm sure you're aware, and that's Dolly, Dolly Parton."

"it takes guts to be a woman under patriarchy. I mean, Dolly Parton is like an image of a super-femme, but she has this certain brassiness, she just has to have total guts to survive around men and to have her image be so female. She's the kind of person that a drag queen would emulate, because she is using that female, or femme facade, which is like Marlene Dietrich or Mae West or Dolly Parton or any of those gutsy women over the years who drag queens have chosen to emulate, especially the ones who do female impersonation. There's the other edge to them besides the femme facade that is totally gutsy and a real survivor of the world"

"This will sound crazy, but when I was interviewing Dolly Parton, I almost felt like she had healing powers."

"She seemed astonishingly unaffected. It was a bizarre contrast. She looks like a totally artificial creation, with the amazing blond wig and the 6-inch skyscraper heels and the bosom that makes her, no doubt, the unchallenged record holder and defending champion at Frederick's of Hollywood. Then she walks up to you and says, "Hi! I'm Dolly Parton!" The introduction is as unnecessary as if, say, John Wayne had walked up and said, "Hi! I'm John Wayne!" What is the proper response? "Yes, of course you are”? Dolly Parton spent about half an hour shaking everybody's hand and leaving behind a wake of people telling each other, "Gee, she's really nice," as if, well, as if somehow she shouldn't have been. There is a way in which we behave in public, in situations with a lot of strangers that implies a level of polite, subtle hostility. We are reserved. We check out the room for traps and hazards. We are uncomfortable, confronted with a hundred unfamiliar faces. What Dolly did was to come in with her brash, unaffected personality and sweep away all that paranoia in a rush of good will. It left everybody standing around afterward feeling a little goofy."

"If people really stopped and realized how much art and creative people move the world versus politics and religion, I mean it’s not even up for debate. An artist at least creates things, puts things into the world. Where as these other people are destroying things, taking things out of the world."

"I'm fucking sick of people who always try to blame movies, bands, songs, or talk shows for whatever the fuck hits them today – teen suicides, drug overdoses or everything else. If someone is stupid enough to kill himself because of a song, then that's exactly what they deserve – they weren't contributing anything to the society – it's one less idiot in the world. There's too many people – if more people kill themselves over music, it wouldn't disappoint me. What would disappoint me is that people are that stupid."

"… I don't expect everyone to get something deep out of it. Some people can just listen to the music, or get their aggressions out, but I think with any great painting or movie, album or whatever it is, it's better if people can take what they need from it. That they're not forced to get some particular message."

"The whole concept of this band is to present the ugly truth about society – warts and all, and let the chips fall where they may."

"If someone listens to our music, and it makes them creative, that makes me happier than anything. But with our music, we try to teach the masses of fans that not everything is as it seems."

"I hope that with our music we can inspire other people to be creative and to use their imagination, because it is something that is so lacking nowadays. You have virtual reality, MTV, video games and VCR's. Nobody really wants to think about things or create things. You have programs on a computer which will write a poem for you."

"The world doesn't revolve around the sun, it revolves around a giant cock. That is what the world is about. It's about sex. Anybody who doesn't want to realize this is fooling themselves. People are bored because they've done everything they can do. So now the fear of death is the only thing that gets them excited. That's why some people have made me into some type of sex symbol. I'm death on wheels the way I look."

"Hopefully, I’ll be remembered as the person who brought an end to Christianity."

"[The world's] not a great place anymore and it can't be. I'm sure it would have been much more enjoyable to be alive in the fifties, when there was at least an illusion of purity, and things that were taboo had such a great power to them. I think it was a time when magic was really alive. There's no imagination anymore. It was eliminated with video games and VCR's. I'm only necessary because of the way the world is. Well, maybe if I manage to make the world a better place then maybe I'd want to have a kid."

"I'm not anything like Brad Pitt or Antonio Banderas, but maybe it's the taboo element of my image, which is almost deathlike, that attracts them. I should be the last person that [people] should be attracted to."

"In explaining things to people, I've come to terms with the fact that a lot of my goals are very Christian in the end. Because people no longer appreciate the taboos of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. I have to take them as far as they've ever been taken before, on a grand scale, in order for the world to realize we have to start over. It's very much like the mythology of the bible, the end of the world, and the antichrist and people are made to make a choice about their faith. I think certain elements of that are correct."

"It's really important for me to get across to our fans that whenever I put myself in different circumstances. It is to learn from it so I can relay it to others."

"… if my ideology is a hand, then that's just two fingers. I incorporate a lot of Christian morality into what I do and in fact a lot of my beliefs are very conservative – like my desire for the world to be a better place where people use more intelligence. If you had to condense all that I believe in, it's that responsible, intelligent people should be allowed to do what they want. That artists and performers and architects, people who contribute something to the world, that actually have something to say as opposed to a business man or a politician, say, people who actually contribute to society, the power should be traded. The creators are always suppressed – other than the placebo "fame" that they're always given. I don't really suggest any solution – that we could all kick them out of their positions of power and take over. It's just the idea that if you enjoy what you do, that's why you should do it."

"… if I hadn't gone to a private Christian school, I'd never have built up enough animosity to want to have started a band. And now that I have one, the fact that they are giving me such resistance and publicity, they have made me far bigger than they'd ever have wanted me to have become. So I guess in a strange way the Christians have influenced me the most."

"I think onstage it was more me trying to show people my pain, and offstage it was just feeling it, period."

"Understand this, tell others: in my dream vultures chase me into my burning house. There, they pick out the brains of my family, dismember them, devour. I emerge from my home and I am burning, skin falling away like a snake as the structure crumbles into a black skeleton. I cannot fight off the vultures. A young man or woman emerges from the ashes. He/she doesn't save me, because he/she is holding my cracked and swollen heart in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. I can read it. It discusses and compares in great detail the differences between me and the vultures. He wraps my heart in the paper and tosses it to the ground. Can you see?"

"If you act like a rock star, you will be treated like one."

"I wanted to address the hypocrisy of talk show America. How morals are worn as a badge, to make you look good and how it is easier to talk about your beliefs than to live up to them."

"The only way that you achieve what you want and to fulfill your dreams and become great is by demanding that sort of attention. You have to make it happen."

"[...] art and commerce are in essence incompatible."

"Is adult entertainment killing our children? Or is killing our children entertaining adults?"

"If they think that an artist can destroy their faith, then their faith is rather fragile."

"To me, anything that is a church is really just far too close minded."

"We don't believe in credibility, because we know that we're fucking incredible."

"We don't like to kill our unborn, we need them to grow up and fight our wars."

"Art gives me the freedom I don’t have when I make music. In music, you feel a connection to the voice and think about the person behind it. In art that's secondary."

"Suicide is painless."

"The death of one is a tragedy, but death of a million is just a statistic."

"[A] dude's getting bullied and shoots up his school, and they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin; where were the parents at?"

"Sorry for the tune up between time, but what the hell, cowboys are the only ones who stay in tune, anyway..."

"Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel."

"I’m sorry, am I mumbling? Tell me when I’m mumbling. Damn … I always mumble."

"I don’t want to be a clown anymore. I don’t want to be a ‘rock and roll star.'"

"Start with a shovel, wind up with a spoon."

"I try to get up every day."

"Definitely, and it's getting more spiritual. Pretty soon I believe people will have to rely on music to get some kind of peace of mind, or satisfaction, or direction, actually. More so than politics, the big ego scene. You know it's an art of words... Meaning nothing. Therefore you will have to get an earthier substance, like music or the arts."

"We want our sound to go into the soul of the audience, and see if it can awaken some little thing in their minds... 'Cause there are so many sleeping people."

"I don't really live on compliments. As a matter of fact, they have a way of distracting me. I know a whole lot of musicians, artists out there who hears the compliments and thinks "wow, I must have been really great" and so they get fat and satisfied and they get lost and forget about their actual talent and start living in another world."

"I got a bad, bad feeling my baby don't live here no more... But that's alright i still got my guitar."

"Waterfall, nothing can harm me at all My worries seem so very small With my waterfall."

"Listen here, baby And stop acting so crazy You say your mum ain't home, it ain't my concern, Just play with me and you won't get burned. I have only one itching desire: Let me stand next to your fire."

"We’ll hold hands and then we’ll watch the sunrise From the bottom of the sea But first, are you experienced? Uh-have you ever been experienced? Well, I have"

"Have you ever been experienced? Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful."

"Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand? Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand? Alright. I'm goin down to shoot my old lady, You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man. Yeah,! I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady, You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man. Huh! And that ain't too cool."

"Purple haze, all in my brain Lately things just don't seem the same, Acting funny, but I don't know why, 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky."

"You got me blowin, blowin my mind, Is it tomorrow or just the end of time?"

"The traffic lights, they turn a blue tomorrow And shine their emptiness down on my bed The tiny island sags on downstream Cause the life it lived, is, is dead"

"Well she's walking through the clouds With a circus mind, that's running round. Butterflies and Zebras, and moonbeams, and fairytales- That's all she ever thinks about. Riding with the wind."

"White collar conservative flashin' down the street, Pointing that plastic finger at me, Hoping soon my kind will drop and die, But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high."

"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."

"Castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually"

"Anger he smiles towering in shiney metallic purple armour, Queen jealousy envy waits behind him, Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground."

"You're just like crosstown traffic So hard to get through to you. Crosstown traffic. I don't need to run over you. Crosstown traffic. All you do is slow me down. And I'm tryin' to get on the other side of town."

"I'm a Voodoo Child, Voodoo Child, Lord knows I am a Voodoo Child"

"I used to live in a room full of mirrors, All I could see was me. Then I take my spirit and I smash my mirrors, And now the whole world is here for me to see, Now I'm searching for my love to be."

"When the power of love overcomes love of power the world will know peace."

"There's so many tight-lipped ideas and laws around, and people put themselves in uniforms so tightly, that it's almost impossible to break out of that. Subconsciously, what these people are doing, they're killin' off all these little flashes they have, cutting off the idea of wanting to understand. They forgot, didn't believe, or just snuffed the feelings or thoughts off to continue with their crazy soul. They don't have the patience to really check out what's happenin' through music, theater and science. It’s like a spaceship. If a spaceship came down and you know nothin’ about it, the first thing you’re going to think about is shooting it. In other words, you get negative in the first place, which is not really the natural way of thinking. It’s like shooting at a flying saucer as it tries to land without giving the occupants a chance to identify themselves."

"Individual is unable to conform to military rules and regulations. Misses bed check: sleeps while supposed to be working: unsatisfactory duty performance."

"You never told me he was that fucking good."

"I want him to be remembered for what he was – not this tragic figure he has been turned into by nit-pickers and people who used to stalk us and collect photographs and 'evidence' of what we were doing on a certain day. He could be grumpy, and he could be terrible in the studio, getting exactly what he wanted – but he was fun, he was charming. I want people to remember the man I knew."

"I said, "You’re Jimi Hendrix, and anything you do is taken as gospel because of who you are. In the first show, you humped the guitar, you played it with your teeth, you stuck it behind your back. You just forgot to play.”"

"We started from the premise that music was a mission, not a competition … That the basis was the blues, but that the framework of the blues was too tight. We'd talk first about what he wanted the emotion of the song to be. What's the vision? He would talk in colours and my job was to give him the electronic palette which would engineer those colours so he could paint the canvas."

"When you listen to Hendrix, you are listening to music in its pure form … The electronics we used were 'feed forward', which means that the input from the player projects forward – the equivalent of electronic shadow dancing – so that what happens derives from the original sound and modifies what is being played. But nothing can be predictive – it is speed-forward analogue, a non-repetitive wave form, and that is the definition of pure music and therefore the diametric opposite of digital. Look, if you throw a pebble into a lake, you have no way of predicting the ripples – it depends on how you throw the stone, or the wind. Digital makes the false presumption that you can predict those ripples, but Jimi and I were always looking for the warning signs. The brain knows when it hears repetition that this is no longer music and what you hear when you listen to Hendrix is pure music. It took discussion and experiment, and some frustrations, but then that moment would come, we'd put the headphones down and say, "Got it. That's the one.""

"Jimi Hendrix is very important. He's my idol. He sort of epitomizes, from his presentation on stage, the whole works of a rock star. There's no way you can compare him. You either have the magic or you don't. There's no way you can work up to it. There's nobody who can take his place."

"I dreamed about Jimi Hendrix he came back for one day was born weepin' out of an egg the mid-wife said and straight away began to pray with lifted head"

"He was young and black and beautiful big eyed, perfect skin an' he played my guitar like a lightning storm like twirlin' feathers in the wind he could make it sound like the end of the world a fire, the flick of a knife he could squeeze it slow and masterful like the hand that brought the world to life"

"He made all Manhattan shake and every street and sidewalk quake his stratocaster caused the mighty Empire State to vibrate"

"He did a forty-two minute cosmic rise in future shocks Star Spangled Banner in the back of CBGB's He stopped every clock in New York state and every heart that heard him and time itself was beaten and confused and fell lamb-like under the spell of his fabulous flashing fingers He played an encore at the Bitter End a heartburst Little Wing even the waiters cried and then we fell outside and in the dusty dawn of Bleeker street a sweet rain fell and Jimi died."

"I recorded "…Moon" on my own with a drum machine, then brought musicians in as they were needed. It's about a person who has a spectacular, meteor-like rise, but burns out or dies young. Though the song ain't about him, the nearest equivalent would be Hendrix."

"Hendrix had conjured – with his vision and sense of sound, his personality and genius – the most extraordinary guitar music ever played, the most remarkable sound-scape ever created; of that there is little argument. Opinion varies only over the effect his music has on people: elation, fear, sexual stimulation, sublimation, disgust – all or none of these – but always drop-jawed amazement."

"I remember Cliff talking about how his roommate at Berkeley, a Jewish brother from the Bronx, had introduced him to a far-out guitar player named Jimi Hendrix. "He'll blow your mind, Corn" said Cliff. And he did."

"Through the 80s, yuppie nostalgia for the halcyon '60s obscured Hendrix's contributions [...] at least in the minds of post-Baby Boomers. Today, record store bins are filled with dozens of pieces of Hendrix product, despite the fact that he sanctioned the release of only three studio albums and one live disc in his lifetime. It's difficult if not impossible for new listeners to access his legacy when the meaningless notion that he was "the greatest electric guitarist who ever lived' is carved in granite on the base of his statue in the rock pantheon."

"Man, I promise, she's so self conscious She has no idea what she doin' in college That major that she majored in don't make no money But she won't drop out, her parents will look at her funny. Now, tell me that ain't insecurr, The concept of school seemed so securr. Sophomore, three yurrs, ain't picked a carurr."

"It seems, we living the American dream But people highest up got the lowest self esteem. The prettiest people do the ugliest things For the road to riches and diamond rings."

"We'll buy a lot of clothes, but we don't really need 'em Things we buy to cover up what's inside 'Cause they made us hate ourself and love their wealth."

"God show me the way, because the Devil's trying to break me down The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now And I don't think there's nothing I can do now to right my wrongs I wanna talk to God, but I'm afraid 'cause we ain't spoke in so long."

"To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers, even the strippers (Jesus walks with them) To the victims of welfare for we livin' in hell here, hell yeah (Jesus walks with them) Now, hear ye, hear ye, want to see Thee more clearly I know He hear me when my feet get weary 'Cause we're the almost nearly extinct We rappers is role models: we rap, we don't think I ain't here to argue about his facial features Or here to convert atheists into believers I'm just trying to say the way school needs teachers, The way Kathie Lee needed Regis, that's the way I need Jesus So here go my single, radio needs this They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus That means guns, sex, lies, videotape But if I talk about God, my record won't get played, huh?"

"I get down for my grandfather who took my mama Made her sit in that seat where white folks ain't want us to eat At the tender age of six, she was arrested for the sit-ins And with that in my blood, I was born to be different Now niggas can't make it to ballots to choose leadership But we can make it to Jacob's or to the dealership That's why I hear new music and I just don't be feeling it Racism's still alive, they just be concealin' it."

"My flow is in the pocket like Wallace, I got the bounce like hydraulics, I can't call it, I got the swerve like alcoholics. My freshman year, I was going through hella problems 'Til I built up the nerve to drop my ass up out of college."

"Always said if I rapped, I'd say somethin' significant But now I'm rapping 'bout money, hoes, and rims again."

"Told 'em I finished school, and I started my own business. They say, 'Oh you graduated?' No, I decided I was finished."

"Two words, Chi-town raised me crazy, So I live by two words: 'Fuck you, pay me' Screaming, 'Jesus, save me' You know how the game be, I can't let 'em change me 'Cause on judgment day, you gon' blame me Look, God, it's the same me And I basically know now, we get racially profiled 'Cuffed up and hosed down, pimped up and ho'd down Plus, I got a whole city to hold down From the bottom, so the top's the only place to go now."

"How do you console my mom or give her light support Tellin' her her son's on life support? And just imagine how my girl feel, On the plane scared as hell that her guy look like Emmett Till."

"And I still won't grow up, I'm a grown-ass kid Swear I should be locked up for stupid shit that I did But I'm a champion, so I turned tragedy to triumph Make music that's fire, spit my soul through the wire."

"Now that you're gone, it hit us Super hard on Thankgiving and Christmas, this can't be right. Yo, you heard the track I did man, 'This Can't Be Life'. Somebody please say grace so I can save face And have a reason to cover my face."

"I woke up early this morning with a new state of mind, A creative way to rhyme without usin' knives and guns. Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to God, And keep your face to the rising sun. I feel like one day you'll understand me, dawg You can still love your man and be manly, dawg"

"Now I could let these dream killers kill my self esteem, Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams I use it as my gas, so they say that I'm gassed But without it I'd be last, so I ought to laugh."

"Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop."

"I'm Kan, the Louis Vouitton don Bought my mom purse, now she Louis Vuitton mom I didn't play the hand I was dealt I changed my cards I prayed to the skies and I changed my stars I went to the malls and I balled too hard 'Oh My God, is that a Black card?' I turned around and replied 'Why yes, but I prefer the term African American Express.' Brains, power, and muscle like Dame, Puffy, and Russell Your boy back on his hustle, you know what I've been up to Killing y'all niggas on that lyrical shit Mayonnaise-colored Benz, I push Miracle Whips."

"And I heard 'em say Nothing's ever promised tomorrow or today From the Chi, like Tim, it's a harder way So this is in the name of love like Robert say Before you ask me to go get a job today, Can I at least get a raise on the minimum wage?"

"They say people in your life are seasons And anything that happens is for a reason The devil is alive, I feel him breathin' Claiming money is the key, so keep on dreamin' And put them lottery tickets just to tease us"

"Jay's favorite line: 'Dawg, in due time!' Now he look at me, like, 'Damn, dawg! You where I am!' A hip hop legend I think I died in that accident, 'cause this must be heaven."

"I'm tryin' to right my wrongs But it's funny, them same wrongs helped me write this song."

"How we stop the Black Panthers? Ronald Reagan cooked up an answer. Who gave Saddam anthrax? George Bush got the answers."

"I know it's past visiting hours, But can I please give her these flowers? You know the best medicine go to people that's paid. If Magic Johnson got a cure for AIDS And all the broke motherfuckers passed away, You telling me if my grandma was in the NBA, Right now, she'd be okay? But since she was just a secretary Working for the church for thirty-five years, Things supposed to stop right here?"

"Why everything that's supposed to be bad make me feel so good? Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would. Man, I tried to stop, man, I tried the best I could, but You make me smile."

"Little was known of Sierra Leone And how it connect to the diamonds we own Though it's thousands of miles away Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today Over here, it's a drug trade, we die from drugs Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs."

"I was sick about awards, couldn't nobody cure me Only playa that got robbed but kept all his jewelry Alicia Keys tried to talk some sense in him Thirty minutes later seein' there's no convincin' him What more could you ask for? The international asshole Who complain about what he is owed? And throw a tantrum like he is three years old You gotta love it though: somebody still speaks from his soul And wouldn't change by the change or the game or the fame When he came in the game, he made his own lane Now all I need is y'all to pronounce my name It's Kanye, but some of my plaques, they still say 'Kayne'."

"I wanna tell the whole world about a friend of mine This little light of mine and I'm finna let it shine I'm finna take y'all back to them better times I'm finna talk about my mama if y'all don't mind I was three years old when you and I moved to the Chi Late December, harsh winter gave me a cold You fixed me up something that was good for my soul Famous homemade chicken soup, can I have another bowl? You work late nights just to keep on the lights Mommy got me training wheels so I could keep on my bike And you would give anything in this world Michael Jackson leather and a glove, but didn't give me a curl And you never put no man over me And I love you for that, mommy, can't you see? Seven years old, caught you with tears in your eyes 'Cause a nigga cheatin', telling you lies, then I started to cry As we knelt on the kitchen floor I said mommy I'ma love you 'til you don't hurt no more And when I'm older, you ain't gotta work no more And I'ma get you that mansion that we couldn't afford."

"Forrest Gump mama said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates' My mama told me go to school, get your doctorate Somethin to fall back on, you could profit with But still supported me when I did the opposite Now I feel like there's things I gotta get, things I gotta do, just to prove to you You was getting through, can the choir, please Give me a verse of 'You Are So Beautiful To Me' Can't you see, you're like a book of poetry Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, turn one page and there's my mommy."

"Good morning and look at the valedictorian Scared of the future while I hop in the DeLorean Scared to face the world, complacent career student Some people graduate, but be still stupid"

"When it feel like living's harder than dyin' For me givin' up's way harder than tryin' Lauryn Hill said her heart was in Zion I wish her heart still was in rhymin' 'Cause who the kids gon' listen to, huh? I guess me if it isn't you Last week I paid a visit to the institute They got the dropout keepin' kids in the school."

"N-Now th-that that don't kill me Can only make me stronger I need you to hurry up now 'Cause I can't wait much longer I know I got to be right now 'Cause I can't get much wronger Man, I've been waiting all night now That's how long I've been on ya"

"And I'm back on my grind A psychic read my lifeline, told me in my lifetime My name would help light up the Chicago skyline And that's why I'm Seven o'clock, that's primetime Heaven'll watch, God calling from the hotlines Why he keep giving me hot lines? I'm a star, how could I not shine?"

"I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven When I awoke, I spent that on a necklace I told God I'd be back in a second Man, it's so hard not to act reckless To whom much is given, much is tested Get arrested, guess until he get the message I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny And what I do? Act more stupidly Bought more jewelry, more Louis V My mama couldn't get through to me The drama, people suing me I'm on TV talking like it's just you and me I'm just saying how I feel, man I ain't one of the Cosbys, I ain't go to Hillman I guess the money should've changed him I guess I should've forgot where I came from."

"She don't believe in shooting stars But she believe in shoes and cars Order the hors d'oeuvres, views of the water Straight from a page of your favorite author And the weather's so breezy Man, why can't life always be this easy?"

"In my past, you on the other side of the glass Of my memory's museum I'm just sayin', hey, Mona Lisa Come home, you know you can't roam without Caesar."

"People talking shit, but when the shit hits the fan Everything I'm not made me everything I am. I know people wouldn't usually rap this But I got the facts to back this Just last year, Chicago had over six hundred caskets Man, killing's some wack shit Oh, I forgot, 'cept for when niggas is rappin' Do you know what it feel like when people is passin'? He got changed over his chains a block off Ashland I need to talk to somebody, pastor The church want tithe, so I can't afford to pay Pink slip on my door, 'cause I can't afford to stay My fifteen seconds up, but I got more to say-- 'That's enough Mr. West, please, no more today.'"

"I met this girl when I was three years old And what I loved most, she had so much soul She said, 'Excuse me, little homie, I know you don't know me But my name is Windy and I like to blow trees.' I told her in my heart is where she'll always be She never messed with entertainers 'cause they always leave She said, 'It felt like they walked and drove on me.' Knew I was gang affiliated, got on TV and told on me I guess that's why last winter she got so cold on me She said, 'Ye, keep making that platinum and gold for me!'"

"But if you really cared for her Then you wouldn't have never hit the airport to follow your dreams Sometimes I still talk to her But when I talk to her, it always seems like she talking 'bout me Every interview, I'm representin' you, makin' you proud Reach for the stars, so if you fall, you land on a cloud Jump in the crowd, spark your lighters, wave 'em around If you don't know by now, I'm talking 'bout Chi-Town."

"My big brother was B.I.G.'s brother So here's a few words from your kid brother If you admire somebody you should go ahead tell 'em People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em."

"Last night I saw you in my dreams Now I can't wait to go to sleep And this life is all a dream So my real life starts when I go to sleep."

"Why would she make calls out the blue? Now I'm awake, sleepless in you."

"Chased the good life my whole life long Look back on my life, and my life gone Where did I go wrong? And my head keeps spinning Can't stop having these visions I gotta get with it."

"How could you be so Dr. Evil? You're bringin' out a side of me that I don't know I decided we wasn't gon' speak so Why we up 3 AM on the phone? Why do she be so mad at me for? Homie, I don't know, she's hot and cold I won't stop, won't mess my groove up 'Cause I already know how this thing go You run and tell your friends that you're leaving me They say that they don't see what you see in me You wait a couple of months, then you gon' see You'll never find nobody better than me."

"I'm a problem that'll never ever be solved I'm a monster, I'm a maven I know this world is changing Never gave in, never gave up I'm the only thing I'm afraid of No matter what, you'll never take that from me My reign is as far as your eyes can see, it's amazing."

"I'm not loving you, way I wanted to I can't keep my cool, so I keep it true I got something to lose, so I gotta move I can't keep myself and still keep you too No more wasting time, you can't wait for life We're just racing time, where's the finish line?"

"'Bout the baddest girl I ever seen Straight up out a movie scene Who knew she was a drama queen That'd turn my life to Stephen King's? Just looking at your history You're like the girl from Misery She said she ain't take it to this degree Well, let's agree to disagree You spoiled little LA girl You're just an LA girl, you need to stop it now."

"Let me know Do I still got time to grow? Things ain't always set in stone That be known, let me know Seems like street lights, glowing, happen to be Just like moments, passing, in front of me So I hopped in the cab and I paid my fare See, I know my destination, but I'm just not there In the streets I'm just not there Life's just not fair."

"On lonely nights, I start to fade Her love's a thousand miles away It's 4 AM and I can't sleep Her love is all that I can see Memories made in the coldest winter Goodbye, my friend, will I ever love again? If spring can take the snow away Can it melt away all our mistakes?"

"I fantasized 'bout this back in Chicago Mercy, mercy me, that Murciélago Beyond the truest Hey, teacher, teacher, tell me how do you respond to students? And refresh the page and restart the memory? Re-spark the soul and rebuild the energy? We stopped the ignorance, we killed the enemy Sorry for the night demons that still visit me The plan was to drink until the pain over But what's worse, the pain or the hangover?"

"Penitentiary chances, the devil dances And eventually answers to the call of autumn All them fallin' for the love of ballin' Got caught with thirty rocks, the cop look like Alec Baldwin Inter-century anthems based off inner-city tantrums Based off the way we was branded Face it, Jerome get more time than Brandon And at the airport, they check all through my bag And tell me that it's random Is hip-hop just a euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing But this is more than just my road to redemption Malcolm West had the whole nation standing at attention. I was looking at my resume, feeling real fresh today They rewrite history, I don't believe in yesterday And what's a Black Beatle anyway, a fuckin' roach? I guess that's why they got me sitting in fuckin' coach."

"Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it, I guess every superhero need his theme music. ** Power No one man should have all that power The clock’s ticking, I just count the hours I embody every characteristic of the egotistic He knows he's so fucking gifted I just needed time alone with my own thoughts Got treasures in my mind, but couldn't open up my own vault My childlike creativity, purity, and honesty Is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts Reality is catching up with me Taking my inner child, I'm fighting for custody. Lost in translation with a whole fuckin' nation They say I was the abomination of Obama's nation Well, that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation Now this'll be a beautiful death I'm jumping out the window, letting everything go."

"Restraining order, can't see my daughter Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order Public visitation, we met at Borders Told her she take me back, I'll be more supportive I made mistakes, I bumped my head Them courts sucked me dry, I spent that bread She need her daddy, baby, please Can't let her grow up in that ghetto university."

"I'm living in the future so the present is my past. My presence is a present, kiss my ass."

"I'm so appalled, Spalding, ball Balding Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all."

"Put your hands to the constellations The way you look should be a sin, you're my sensation."

"May the Lord forgive us, may the gods be with us In that magic hour, I seen good Christians Make brash decisions, oh, she do it What happened to religion? Oh, she lose it She putting on her makeup, she casually allure Text message break-ups, the casualty of tour How she gon' wake up and not love me no more? I hit the Jamaican spot, at the bar, take a seat I ordered the jerk, she said you are what you eat You see, I always loved that sense of humor But tonight, you should have seen how quiet the room was."

"'You love me for me', could you be more phony?"

"And I always find, yeah, I always find something wrong You been puttin' up with my shit just way too long I'm so gifted at finding what I don't like the most So I think it's time for us to have a toast Let's have a toast for the douchebags Let's have a toast for the assholes Let's have a toast for the scumbags Every one of them that I know Let's have a toast for the jerk-offs That'll never take work off Baby, I got a plan, Run away fast as you can."

"Never was much of a romantic I could never take the intimacy And I know I did damage 'Cause the look in your eyes is killing me I guess you knew of that advantage 'Cause you could blame me for everything And I don't know how I'ma manage If one day, you just up and leave."

"Have you lost your mind? Tell me when you think we crossed the line No more drugs for me, pussy and religion is all I need Grab my hand and baby, we'll live a hell of a lie I think I fell in love with a pornstar And got married in the bathroom Honeymoon on the dance floor And got divorced by the end of the night That's one hell of a life."

"On the bathroom wall I wrote "I'd rather argue with you than to be with someone else" I took a piss and dismiss it like "fuck it" And I went and found somebody else Fuck arguing and harvesting the feelings Yo, I'd rather be by my fuckin' self 'Til about 2 a.m. and I call back And I hang up and I start to blame myself Somebody help You weren't perfect, but you made life worth it Stick around, some real feelings might surface."

"You're my devil, you're my angel You're my heaven, you're my hell You're my now, you're my forever You're my freedom, you're my jail You're my lies, you're my truth You're my war, you're my truce You're my questions, you're my proof You're my stress and you're my masseuse Run from the lights, run from the night, run for your life."

"Pardon, I'm getting my scream on Enter the kingdom But watch who you bring home They see a black man with a white woman At the top floor they gon' come to kill King Kong Middle America packed in Came to see me in my black skin Number one question they're asking Fuck every question you asking If I don't get ran out by Catholics Here come some conservative Baptists Claiming I'm overreacting."

"Soon as they like you make 'em unlike you Cause kissing people's ass is so unlike you."

"My mama was raised in the era when Clean water was only served to the fairer skin Doing clothes, you would've thought I had help But they wasn't satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself. So go and grab the reporters So I can smash their recorders See, they'll confuse us with some bullshit Like the New World Order Meanwhile the DEA Teamed up with the CCA They tryna lock niggas up They tryna make new slaves See, that's that privately owned prison Get your peace today They prolly all in the Hamptons Bragging 'bout what they made."

""Baby girl, he's a loner, baby girl, he's a loner" Late-night organ donor, after that, he'll disown ya After that he's just hopeless, soul mates become soulless "When it's over it's over," and bitch, I'm back out my coma"

"Time to take it too far now Michael Douglas out the car now. Got the kids-and-the-wife life But can't wake up from the nightlife I'm so scared of my demons I go to sleep with a nightlight My mind move like a Tron bike Pop a wheelie on the Zeitgeist."

"Before the limelight stole ya Remember we were so young When I would hold you Before the blood on the leaves I know there ain't nothin' wrong with me Something strange is happening We could've been somebody Before they call lawyers Before you tried to destroy us How you gon' lie to the lawyer? It's like I don't even know ya I gotta bring it back to the 'nolia All in on that alimony, uh Yeah, yeah, she got you, homie, yeah 'Til death, but do your part Unholy matrimony."

"I know I got a bad reputation 'Walk around, always mad' reputation 'Leave a pretty girl sad' reputation Start a Fight Club, Brad reputation Close your eyes and let the word paint a thousand pictures One good girl is worth a thousand bitches Bound."

"We on an ultralight beam This is a God dream This is everything Deliver us serenity Deliver us peace Deliver us loving We know we need it That's why we need You now Pray for Paris, Pray for the parents."

"Up in the morning, miss you bad Sorry I ain't call you back, same problem my father had All this time, all he had And what he dreamed, all his cash Market crashed, hurt him bad People get divorced for that Dropped some stacks, pops is good Mama passed in Hollywood If you ask, lost my soul Drivin' fast, lost control Off the road, jaw was broke 'Member we all was broke?"

"Seem like the more fame, I only got wilder Hands up, we just doing what the cops taught us I've been outta my mind a long time I've been outta my mind a long time I be saying how I feel at the wrong time Might not come when you want but I'm on time. Name one genius that ain't crazy."

"See, before I let you go One last thing I need to let you know You ain't never seen nothing crazier than This nigga when he off his Lexapro Remember that last time in Mexico? Remember that last time, the episode?"

"Who your real friends? We all came from the bottom I'm always blaming you, but what's sad, you not the problem Real friends I guess I get what I deserve, don't I? Word on the streets is they ain't heard from him I guess I get what I deserve, don't I? Talked down on my name, throwed dirt on him."

"You tried to play nice, everybody just took advantage You left your fridge open, somebody just took a sandwich."

"Any rumor you ever heard about me was true and legendary I done got Lewinskys and paid secretaries For all my niggas with babies by bitches That use they kids as meal tickets Not knowin' the disconnect from the father The next generation will be the real victims Had my life threatened by best friends with selfish intents What I'm supposed to do? Ride around with a bulletproof car and some tints?"

"My wife said, I can't say no to nobody And at this rate, we gon' both die broke Got friends that ask me for money knowing I'm in debt And like my wife said, I still didn't say no People trying to say I'm going crazy on Twitter My friends' best advice was to stay low I guess it's hard to decipher all of the bills Especially when you got family members on payroll The media said it was outlandish spending The media said he's way out of control I can see a thousand years from now in real life Skate on the paradigm and shift it when I feel like Troll conventional thought, don't need to question I know it's antiquated so sometimes I get aggressive Thank God for Jay Electra, he down with the mission Did it with no permission, on our own conditions Most blacks with money have been beaten to submission Yeezy with the big house, did it way different Never listen to Hollywood producers Don't stare at money too long, it's Medusa The ultimate Gemini has survived I wasn't supposed to make it past 25."

"Most black men couldn't balance a checkbook But buy a new car, talking 'bout, 'How my neck look?' Well, it all looks great Four hundred years later, we buyin' our own chains The light is before us brothers, so the devil workin' hard Real family stick together and see through the mirage The smokescreens, perceptions of false reality I've been woken from enlightened man's dream Checkin' Instagram comments to crowdsource my self-esteem Let me not say too much or do too much 'Cause if I'm up way too much, I'm out of touch I'm prayin' a out-of-body experience will happen So the people can see my light, now it's not just rappin' God, I have humbled myself before the court Drop my ego when confidence was my last resort."

"My wife calling, screaming, say we 'bout to lose it all Had to calm her down 'cause she couldn't breathe Told her she could leave me now, but she wouldn't leave Oh, don't bring that up, that's gon' get me sentimental You know I'm sensitive, I got a gentle mental Every time somethin' happen they want me sent to mental We had an incident, but I cover incidentals You want me workin' on my messagin' When I'm thinkin' like George Jetson But soundin' like George Jefferson Then they questionin' my methods then Plus, what was meant to be was meant to be Even if, publicly, I lack the empathy I ain't finna talk about it 'nother four centuries."

"Sometimes I take all the shine Talk like I drank all the wine Years ahead but way behind I'm on one, two, three, four, five No half-truths, just naked minds Caught between space and time This not what they had in mind But maybe someday..."

"Niggas is savage, niggas is monsters Niggas is pimps, niggas is players 'Til niggas have daughters, now they precautious Father, forgive me, I'm scared of the karma 'Cause now I see women as somethin' to nurture Not somethin' to conquer Now she cuttin' class and hangin' with friends You break a glass and say it again She can't comprehend the danger she in If you whoop her ass, she move in with him Then he whoop her ass, you go through it again But how you the devil rebukin' the sin?"

"If you woke, then wake up With Judas, kiss and make up Even with the bitter cup Forgave my brothers and drank up Everything old shall now become new The leaves’ll be green, bearing the fruit Love God and our neighbor, as written in Luke The army of God, and we are the truth."

"Lifelike, this is what your life like, try to live your life right People really know you, push your buttons like typewrite This is like a movie, but it's really very lifelike Every single night, right, every single fight, right? I was looking at the 'Gram and I don't even like likes I was screaming at my dad, he told me, 'It ain't Christ-like' But nobody never tell you when you're being like Christ."

"Nothing worse than a hypocrite Change, he ain't really different He ain't even try to get permission Ask for advice and they dissed him Said I'm finna do a gospel album What have you been hearing from the Christians? They'll be the first one to judge me Make it feel like nobody love me."

"First, it go viral, then they get digital Then they get critical, no, I'm not doin' no interview Mask on my face, you can't see what I'm finna do Had to move away from people that's miserable And this money could never neglect me I pray that my family, they never resent me And she fell in love with me soon as she met me."

"Genius gone clueless, it's a whole lot to risk Alcohol anonymous, who's the busiest loser? Heated by the rumors, read into it too much Fiendin' for some true love, asked Kim, 'What do you love?' Hard to find what the truth is, but the truth was that the truth suck Always seem to do stuff, but this time it was too much."

"I don't want my mind alerting People sayin' tweeting gonna make you die early How 'bout have my heart hurting? Hold it all inside, that could make you die early I be going through things I had to wrote Celebrity drama that only Brad'll know Too many family secrets, somebody passing notes Things I cried about, I find laughable."

"Sittin' by myself, I'm just thinking About all I've been through, I wish I was dreaming Man, it's hard to be an angel when you surrounded by demons I watched so many people leave I see 'em change by the season, that's mama's sеasoning God got you, the devil's watching, he just peeking in I know I madе a promise that I'd never let the reaper in But lately, I've been losin' all my deepest friends And lately, I've been swimmin' on the deepest end It's just drugs, it ain't no hugs, it ain't no love there You been down so much you don't even know what's upstairs Suicidal thoughts got you wonderin' what's up there And if I talk to Christ, can I bring my mother back to life? And if I die tonight, will I see her in the afterlife? But back to reality, where everything's a tragedy."

"Startin' to feel like you ain't been happy for me lately, darling Remember when you used to come around and serenade me But I guess it's gone different, in a different direction, lately Trying to do the right thing with the freedom that you gave me Wrap your arms around with your mercy I give up on doing things my way."

"Here go all your problems again Three, two, one, you're pinned Don't you wish the night would go numb? I've been feelin' low for so long I ain't had a high in so long I been in the dark for so long Night is always darkest 'fore the dawn Gotta make my mark 'fore I'm gone I don't wanna die alone Sadness settin' in again Three, two, one, you're pinned Took your thoughts and penciled 'em in Should've wrote 'em down in pen And maybe they'd come to life."

"Mama, your son in the red hat Had suffered set-backs, had 'shouldn't-have-said-thats' Had made everyone mad Give 'em enough of they own rope to hang 'em with The paparazzi never really got what my angle is They treat my married life like some type of entanglement."

"You know why my spirit's callin' Darkness can't take light from me Haven't you gone far enough? Sacrificed the ones you love Gave up on your sanity Like some twisted fantasy What would I say to everything? Your actions cost everything."

"When I had my accident, I found out at that moment nothing in life is promised except death."

"If you have the opportunity to play this game called life, you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed. I know everybody asked me the question, they wanted to know, 'What, Kan, I know he's gonna wild out, I know he's gonna do something crazy.' Everybody wanted to know what I would do, if I didn't win... I guess we'll never know!"

"I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're looking for food.' George Bush doesn't care about black people."

"Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!"

"Know your worth! People always act like they're doing more for you than you're doing for them. Ask yourself this question, "Why would they do that?" Obviously, you bring something to the table for them to even do business with you."

"Life is 5% what happens and 95% how you react!"

"Would you believe in what you believe in if you were the only one who believed it?"

"I refuse to accept other people's ideas of happiness for me. As if there's a "one size fits all" standard for happiness"

"I hate when I'm on a flight and I wake up with a water bottle next to me like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this water bottle"

"I am Warhol. I am the number 1 most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh. Walt Disney. Nike. Google. The music and the clothing are just as important. That's what makes you hip hop. You show people that you're hip hop by what you wear. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78tT_YxF_c You ain't got the answers Sway! [In response to Calloway suggesting he start a clothing company on his own"

"Man, let me tell you something about George Bush and oil money and Obama and no money. People want to say Obama can't make these moves or he's not executing. That's because he ain't got those connections. Black people don't have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don't have the same connections as oil people."

"When I was trying to serve multiple gods it drove me crazy. That's like the greatest chef in the world trying to make a seven-course meal and serve it at eight different houses."

"You know, he made these peace treaties,[...] I just think it was to make money. I just think that that’s what they’re about is making money. I don’t think that they have the ability to make anything on their own. I think they’re born into money, and it makes me feel like they weren’t serving my boy Trump the way they could’ve."

"This ain’t a game. Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business."

"I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda"

"I see good things about Hitler also. I love everyone. Jewish people are not going to tell me you can love us, and you can love what we’re doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we’re pushing with the pornography. But this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good, and I’m done with that."

"I like Hitler."

"They did good things too, we've got to stop dissing the Nazis all the time."

"I don't like the word evil next to Nazis. I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."

"He didn’t kill six million Jews. That's just factually incorrect. The Holocaust is not what happened. Let's look at the facts of that. Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities."

"I'm done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table. Especially Hitler."

"I'm never apologizing for my Jewish comments"

"I'm a Nazi"

"I love Hitler now what bitches"

"Some of my best friends are Jewish and I don't trust any of them"

"Elon stole my Nazi swag at the inauguration"

"Donald Trump, please free my brother Puff"

"Im [sic] never apologizing for my Jewish comments I can [say] whatever the fuck I wanna say forever [where's] my fucking apology for freezing my accounts suck my dick [how's] that for an apology"

"Hitler was sooooo fresh"

"call me Yaydolf Yitler"

"Adam Sandler Thank you for the love"

"After further reflection I've come to the realization that I'm not a Nazi"

"The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence [...] You are a father. Please stop."

"He is opening Donda Academy, a vocational school in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, and plans to build a series of shelters — which he calls “Dondasteries” — to provide safe spaces for those in need."

"With Kanye, the arrogant thing always comes up, but think about what that does for your ability to make art. He doesn't even question himself as to whether he can do it or not. He does it fast and good, and he doesn't stop on the side of the road to wonder if he can do it."

"The one thing I fear for [West] the most is if you keep talking about being the greatest, people eventually are going to want to watch you fail. Those who crash and burn are far more interesting to watch than those who actually succeed."

"I've met with Kanye [...] The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful, and the way that [West] can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable."

"He's a jackass."

"I like Kanye, He's a Chicago guy. Smart. He's very talented. He is a jackass, but he's talented."

"@KanyeWest asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of “Iron Man” from the US Festival without vocals and was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many. He went ahead and used the sample anyway at his album listening party last night. I want no association with this man!"

"We can't stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile ... but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr. Musk. Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X. That's twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence. His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews. I don't know what's worse, the fact that he identifies as a Nazi (which implies he wants to exterminate ALL marginalized communities including his own) or the fact that there is not sufficient OUTRAGE to remove and ban him from all social media at this point. Silence is complicity."

"Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud"

"During Kanye West’s spectacular plummet last fall, my friends and I would often marvel at the latest outrageous thing he’d said. And we would send around clips of what were, in hindsight, terribly suspect comments he’d previously made. One such example was “I am not a fan of books,” which Ye told an interviewer upon the publication of his own book, Thank You and You’re Welcome. “I am a proud non-reader of books,” he continued. That statement strikes me as one of the more disturbing things he’s ever said. Ye’s patently reprehensible anti-Semitic tirades rightly drew the world’s scorn. But his anti-book stance is disturbing because it says something about not only Ye’s character but the smugly solipsistic tenor of this cultural moment. We have never before had access to so many perspectives, ideas, and information. Much of it is fleetingly interesting but ultimately inconsequential—not to be confused with expertise, let alone wisdom. This much is widely understood and discussed. The ease with which we can know things and communicate them to one another, as well as launder success in one realm into pseudo-authority in countless others, has combined with a traditional American tendency toward anti-intellectualism and celebrity worship. Toss in a decades-long decline in the humanities, and we get our superficial culture in which even the elite will openly disparage as pointless our main repositories for the very best that has been thought."

"This is classic anti-Semitism. There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better. We hope that he will take responsibility for his words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologize to those he has offended."

"[H]urtful, offensive and wrong. They perpetuate stereotypes that have been the basis for discrimination and violence against Jews for thousands of years. Words like this tear at the fabric of the Black-Jewish relationship. The Black and Jewish communities must stand together through incidents like this to make clear that trafficking in hateful stereotypes is unacceptable — and that the words of one entertainer do not reflect the views of an entire community."

"In the past week, Ye has spread some of the most vile and age-old stereotypes about Jews to his hundreds of millions of followers. There should be no place for this kind of hate in our public discourse. We support every entertainer’s right to free speech, but no one has a free pass to target and demonize a minority group with such malice. We are gravely concerned about the impact of Ye’s statements — and how they will affect his fans, particularly young people. At the same time, we hope this can be a moment that ultimately creates better awareness about the dangers of antisemitism for Ye, his fans, and other entertainers. We remain open to dialogue with him about how harmful and fallacious his comments are."

"While I was working on Downward Spiral, I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: "Are you exploiting my sister's death by living in her house?" For the first time, the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, "No, it's just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I'm in this place where a weird part of history occurred." I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don't want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, "What if it was my sister?" I thought, "Fuck Charlie Manson." I went home and cried that night. It made me see there's another side to things, you know?"

"I think, fundamentally music is something inherently people love and need and relate to, and a lot of what's out right now feels like McDonalds. It's quick-fix. You kind of have a stomachache afterwards. It's not wholly satisfying. And it's fake. I would hope that the music that inspired me, that got me going, that talked to me, felt like it was coming from some place that had some true emotion and true integrity behind it. I think that can reemerge."

"God money I'll do anything for you. God money just tell me what you want me to. God money nail me up against the wall. God money don't want everything he wants it all."

"Head like a hole, Black as your soul. I'd rather die than give you control."

"Bow down before the one you serve; You're going to get what you deserve."

"You let me violate you. You let me desecrate you. You let me penetrate you. You let me complicate you. Help me, I broke apart my insides. Help me, I've got no soul to sell. Help me; the only thing that works for me. Help me get away from myself.I want to fuck you like an animal. I want to feel you from the inside. I want to fuck you like an animal. My whole existence is flawed. You get me closer to God."

"I hurt myself today To see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real."

"What have I become, My sweetest friend? Everyone I know Goes away in the end. You could have it all, My empire of dirt. I will let you down; I will make you hurt."

"Alanis Morissette and I actually used to date. I especially liked it when we went to the movies."

"That's something the kids should know about. Reading is a gateway to witchcraft and lesbianism."

"I wrote "Eat It" because I wanted to buy a banana boat for Christmas. It worked."

"I have very mixed feelings about [Napster]. On one hand, I'm concerned that the rampant downloading of my copyright-protected material over the Internet is severely eating into my album sales and having a decidedly adverse effect on my career. On the other hand, I can get all the Metallica songs I want for FREE! WOW!!!!!"

"What kind of bananas do you have working at newspapers in Austin that would base an entire review of an artist's performance on whether or not they had a good seat?"

"I think my chances of getting into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame are about as good as Milli Vanilli's."

"Right now I'm listening to a lot of Top 40 music, because THAT'S MY JOB."

"Many years ago I found out something about hamburgers that really grossed me out. You may not know this, so I hope I don't make you sick, but it turns out hamburgers are actually made out of dead cows. I am not making this up. Needless to say, as soon as I discovered that, I gave up meat entirely."

"If money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it."

"My brothers and sisters all hated me 'cause I was an only child."

"I'll never forget the first thing she said to me, she said: "Hey - you've got weasels on your face." Right then I knew it was true love."

"Look If you had one shot to sit on your lazy butt and watch all the TV you ever wanted until your brain turned to mush Would you go for it? or just let it slip? Yo"

"Shoppin' online for deals on some writable media I edit Wikipedia"

"I'm nerdy in the extreme Whiter than sour cream"

"I sued Taco Bell 'Cause I ate half a million Chalupas And I got fat! I sued Panasonic They never said I shouldn't use their microwave To dry off my cat!"

"Oh, you don't wanna mess with the R-I-double-A They'll sue you if you burn that CD-R It doesn't matter if you're a grandma, or a seven-year-old girl They'll treat you like the evil, hard-bitten, criminal scum you are"

"Never had a date That you couldn't inflate"

"We only torture the folks we don't like You're probably gonna be okay."

"Suffered from alienation, carried the weight on my own, had to be so strong, so I believed, and now I know I've succeeded, in finding the place I conceived."

"You look at me and see the girl, who lives inside the golden world, but don't believe, that's all there is to see, you'll never know the real me."

"It seems as though I've always been, somebody outside looking in, well, here I am for all of them to bleed, but they can't take my heart from me, and they can't bring me to my knees, they'll never know the real me."

"When you love someone so deeply they become your life, it's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside, blindly I imagined I could keep you under glass, now I understand to hold you I must open my hands, and watch you rise."

"Standing alone, eager to just believe, it's good enough to be what you really are, but in your heart, uncertainty forever lies, and you'll always be, somewhere on the outside."

"So many I considered, closest to me, turned on a dime and sold me out dutifully, although that knife was chipping away at me, they turned their eyes away and went home to sleep."

"I can make it through the rain, I can stand up once again, on my own, and I know, that I’m strong enough to mend, and every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith, and I live one more day and I make it through the rain."

"Who's gonna love you when it all falls down? Who's gonna love you when your bankroll runs out? Who's gonna care when the novelty's over? When the star of the show isn't you anymore. Nobody cares when the tears of a clown fall down (I guess your mama never told you what goes around comes back around)."

"Please be at peace father, I'm at peace with you, bitterness isn't worth clinging to, after all the anguish we've all been through."

"Father, thanks for reaching out and lovingly, saying that you've always been proud of me, I needed to feel that so desperately, you're always alive inside of me."

"See, I'm looking for a man that'll rub me slow, make me sing real high when he goes down low."

"By the time you get this message It's gonna be too late. So don't bother paging me cause I'll be on my way. You're gonna miss me baby, hate to say I told you so."

"She'll never be MC."

"But instead I kept my tears inside, cause I knew if I, started I'd keep crying for the rest of my life with you, I finally built up the strength to walk away, don't regret it, but I still live with the side effects."

"For the record, "You'll Always Be a Part Of Me" no matter what you do, For the record, can't nobody say I didn't give "My All" to you, For the record, I told you "Underneath The Stars" that you "Belong" to me, For the record, It's obvious that we just "Can't Let Go" of us "Honey"."

"This is for my peoples who just lost somebody, your best friend, your baby, your man or your lady, put your hand way up high, we will never say bye, mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, friends and cousins, this is for my peoples who lost their grandmothers, lift your head to the sky, cause we will never say bye."

"They can say anything they want to say Try to bring me down But I won't face the ground"

"Why you so obsessed with me? Boy I wanna know. Lying that you're sexing me when everybody knows"

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor, starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean, I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."

"I love Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey's music saved little ghetto children's lives. Songs like "Vision of Love" gave us hope and we would sing those songs and try to hit every note like Mariah -- which we can't. I don't think she knows what a big part she plays in Mary J. Blige's life. And then to meet her….she's such a beautiful person that you can't do anything but defend her when [the media] starts acting stupid on her. She doesn't deserve that."

"Mariah has an amazing gift from God that has no color, no boundaries and no limitations. You hear the passion and the honesty within her music"

"No one would have believed that Mariah Carey could come full circle. Except Mariah."

"When others would have quit, overcome by the negativity, she soldiered on - a phoenix rising from the ashes."

"She has the voice of an angel."

"After I first heard "Vision [of Love]" (Carey's debut single) I first started doing runs [singing harmonic variations on scales]"

"When I discovered Mariah Carey and "Vision of Love," that was a breath of fresh air. And I adored her from that moment on and idolized her. It's really amazing that in articles I've been compared to her."

"I discovered Mariah in my room one day listening to the radio, and as soon as 'Vision of Love' came on, I ran downstairs going, ‘Mommy, mommy - I just found the greatest person in the world! I just heard the greatest new voice!'."

"Mariah Carey... she is a huge influence on me. I mean, she's amazing."

"I love her, she's such a nice person! I had an opportunity to meet her for the first time at the Z100 concert. Randy [Jackson] was like 'Mariah's here, would you like to meet her?' I said no, I don't wanna meet her! I'm gonna be an idiot in front of her. In my mind, I was saying, 'I'm gonna throw up, I'm gonna throw up!' but the words came out of my mouth. Mariah was laughing at me. It so was funny!"

"Sorry, but when you sing songs that the great Mariah Carey sings, you run the hugest risk of being compared to icons. And right now, there's no one hotter than Mariah Carey and we're constantly reminded of how brilliant her voice is. It's a big, big, huge risk to take on a song like that."

"My theory is that Mariah Carey can sing anything. You hear that expression, 'She can sing the phone book’. If you can really sing, you should be able to sing anything. That's [what] the whole competition [is about]."

"Mariah Carey has also covered it... and about bloody time! It took 21 years for someone to do a proper cover of one of our songs."

"I remember the moment I first heard Vision of Love. Then I saw this white girl with a black voice on television, and everything about her bowled me over. You could relate to her and yet she was a magical icon, and throughout my school days all I dreamed of was being like Mariah Carey. She sang with a gospel choir around her, which was always my dream. I just wanted to be her."

"Her friendship is very important to me. And it has provided me with some of my fondest memories and experiences of being in the music industry. It's just great that she is such a down to earth person who just happens to be a little more famous than most of my other friends."

"My first impression of Mariah was that she was an incredible singer, very funny (she's always cracking jokes) and just a very nice person to be around.... after 5 years I still feel the same way. I really enjoy being a part of her team. Normally when I work with a new artist I'm not necessarily a "fan", but there's no question Mariah is a truly great singer, so in this case, yes I was (and am) a fan."

"I’d heard a lot of good and bad things about [Mariah] and was pleasantly surprised by her professionalism and her niceness. She’s a lovely lady and a really good actress as well."

"Mariah was really nice to work with. You hear lots of rumours about Mariah, that she's very egotistical and other bad stories but I have to say that they're untrue. We had a lot of fun with Mariah and we found her a very down to earth person."

"She's brilliant in the studio; I don't think I've heard anyone talk so knowledgeably about the music industry like her. She's very intelligent and very funny - it was a great honour to work with her"

"We hit it off real well. Every time we get together she is open and she really trusts me. The ingredients are good and there is a chemistry there that you can hear through the music. I can't give her advice on her pop stuff but she will seek it for dance stuff. You know she rarely ever works with a producer. She's a writer and producer in the Lauryn Hill category, she doesn't come into the studio with a superstar attitude, the people around her may give you that impression, but we have a really good relationship."

"Oh, I've got news for you Baby, that I've made plans for two I guess I'm just a stubborn kind of fellow Got my mind made up to love you."

"You are my pride and joy And I just love you, little darlin' Like a baby boy loves his toy You've got kisses sweeter than honey And I work every day to give you all I know And that's why you're my pride and joy."

"By the look in your eye I can tell you're gonna cry. Is it over me? If it is, save your tears For I'm not worth it, you see. For I'm the type of boy who is always on the roam, Wherever I lay my hat that's my home, I'm telling you that's my home."

"Mother, mother There's too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying. You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today."

"Father, father We don't need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate. You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today."

"Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality Talk to me, so you can see Oh, what's going on What's going on."

"Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong Oh, but who are they to judge us Simply because our hair is long Oh, you know we've got to find a way To bring some understanding here today."

"Hey baby, what'cha know good? I'm just gettin' back, but you knew I would. War is hell, when will it end? When will people start gettin' together again?"

"I just want to ask a question: Who really cares? To save a world in despair There'll come a time, when the world won't be singin' Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin' Who really cares? Who's willing to try to save a world That's destined to die?"

"Woo ah, mercy mercy me. Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no. Where did all the blue skies go?"

"Oh mercy, mercy me. Ah things ain't what they used to be. What about this overcrowded land? How much more abuse from man can she stand? Oh, na na... My sweet Lord... No."

"Rockets, moon shots Spend it on the have nots Money, we make it 'Fore we see it you take it Oh, make you wanna holler The way they do my life Make me wanna holler."

"Crime is increasing Trigger happy policing Panic is spreading God know where we're heading Oh, make me wanna holler They don't understand."

"I've come of heart, baby, but now I'm cool I didn't make it surely, playin' by the rules I've come of heart, baby, but now I'm fine I'm checkin' trouble, sure movin' down the line I've come of heart, baby, but that's OK 'Cause Trouble Man don't get in my way."

"I've been really tryin, baby Tryin to hold back these feelings for so long And if you feel, like I feel baby Come on, oh come on, Let's get it on."

"Stop beatin round the bush, Let's get it on."

"Oh, If I should die tonight Oh baby, though it be far before my time I won't die blue, sugar yeah 'Cause I've known you."

"Oooh, oh, how many eyes Have seen their dream? Oh, how many arms Have felt their dream? How many hearts, baby... Have felt their world stand still?"

"Won't you rather make love, children As opposed to war, like you know you should?"

"Ooo remember, baby, how you made me feel just like a king? Ah, I've been waiting I'm ready for you to start doin' the things So I'll know you're mine. You're so fine, so petite, oh candy sweet. Ah, I've been waiting. Come here, baby, get to this."

"Distant lover, ooo, sugar How can you treat my heart so mean and cruel? Didn't you know, sugar, that I dream Of what I spent with you? I treasure it like it was a precious jewel, oh baby. Lord have mercy!"

"Ooh, baby let's get down tonight Baby I'm hot just like an oven I need some lovin' And baby, I can't hold it much longer It's getting stronger and stronger And when I get that feeling I want Sexual Healing. Sexual Healing, baby Makes me feel so fine Helps to relieve my mind. Sexual Healing baby, is good for me Sexual Healing is something that's good for me."

"Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, let's make love tonight Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, 'cos you do it right."

"My baby ohhh Come take control, just grab a hold Of my body and mind; soon we'll be making it Honey, oh we're feeling fine You're my medicine. Open up and let me in. Darling, you're so great; I can't wait for you to operate."

"There's a poem in I Am Becoming ["Invoke Mercy Extraordinary"] - it's about Marvin Gaye because I love his music and I think there was an extraordinary pull in him between the flesh and the spirit. These two things operated in him very strongly. He has a record called 'What's Going On' which is a most loving piece of work - the concern for humanity, the earth and ecology - it was such an incredibly beautiful piece; it was levitating; it was going to incredible heights. I think if he had continued in that direction he would have ended monastery or on a hill by himself. But always that pull between the flesh and the spirit, that fight."

"I think that there is a whole lot turning upside down at rock radio -- not -- excuse me, talk radio particularly. Radio as we know it is pretty much changing completely. You know, the diversity of the taste of the folks that are watching the show right now is way more than what is available in the little Motorola in your car today. And where are the new personalities? Where is the new Stern, somebody who has that much impact? Where is the new."

"Maybe I'm like acts of Congress or your favorite chinese restaurant -- you don't really want to know what's going on behind the door. I'm a real study in contrast, I expect, looking from without. But it adds up to what you get on stage."

"Nine times out of 10 when people do a tribute album or tribute songs for somebody, it's what I call 'white boys playing reggae'. They know they can't, we know they can't, so they sing like they can't and play like they can't. They gently make fun of the idiom or sing in a false accent."

"For the last 30 years, I've been leading a life of crime and international intrigue that's involved 40 stamps in my passport, love affairs, and broken hearts to go with each one of them. You would have to live three lifetimes to catch up with just the allegations that follow me!"

"What I do is dangerous for sponsors, dangerous for editors. But I'm really a radio kid. I grew up on radio, not TV. Ultimately, I'll probably do radio."

""It's not about money right now. My ambition is to further create a signature sound, a signature spirit, that makes some kind of contribution to music in general."

"I change as the times change. I'm a reflection of what's around me without trying at all."

"I believe more and more that this business is about people. People, people. The idea is to make friends at the retail level, the warehouse level, let people see you exist, can form sentences and have an interest in something other than yourself."

"Somebody asked me the question not too long ago: 'Dave, do you think the music business has turned corrupt'. I said: 'Absolutely not - it has always been corrupt."

"You can really bring so much more to rock'n'roll. Rock'n'roll is the most accepting, is the most fertile ground for creating hybrid forms of music and hybrid forms of show, if you draw from many, many different wells. It's just unfortunate so many rock'n'roll stars only bother to learn how to play like Led Zeppelin and/or the Rolling Stones and that's what you get, disc after disc and show after show.""

"Fun is the pivotal point of our existence. Fun is what the United States is based on. The thing is, when you are working all night in the studio, is it possible to have fun?"

"I'm not conceited. Conceit is a fault, and I have no faults."

"Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix."

"Everybody enjoys arguing about the current state of music because it feels as if you are talking about something incredibly important, yet it requires little understanding of the subject matter at hand. It's like world politics meets the pink questions in Trivial Pursuit. Points are made but nothing gets accomplished."

"Songs can be Trojan horses, taking charged ideas and sneaking past the ego's defenses and into the open mind."

"I love the Grammy nominations this year. Anybody who really loves what they do got rewarded for it. It's not a death match between Ray Charles and Jessica Simpson."

"There's a real self-serving element to hip-hop that threatens its life span."

"If I had done things differently, I'd probably have the paparazzi waiting around for me. At the studio where I've been recording, Jessica Simpson is working there, too. The paparazzi are outside waiting for her to come out. That's the result of her decisions. My decisions have led me to the point that when I walk out in front of the paparazzi, I'm considered a waste of film."

"I am not in Us Weekly. I'd have to be going out with someone who is in there to be in there myself."

"The saddest kind of sad is the sad that tries not to be sad. You know, when Sad tries to bite its lip and not cry and smile and go, "No, I'm happy for you?" That's when it's really sad."

"I won't ever get on stage at a comedy club when people know about it."

"If you told me I was going to live to 240, I would take 10 years off and try and act. I don't have that kind of time, so I'd much rather stick to playing guitar."

"Sheryl's heroes are in black and white photos, and so are mine."

"I went to my library, right? And I started to research the Bill of Rights and I did not technically find anything that said all Americans shall eat shrimp with whoever they like, but I found some things that are close enough to infer that I am within my legal rights to enjoy seafood with whomever I choose."

"It was so frightening at the time to be seventeen and have heart monitors hooked up to you. That was the moment the songwriter in me was born. I discovered a whole other side of me. I came home that night and started writing lyrics. I discovered it all at once: It was like opening up a lockbox, and inside was a depth that I didn't even know I had as a person, or a writer — incredible creativity and vision and neurosis, complete neurosis. They all go together in a package."

"I never worked with T.I. Here's the back story to that Wikipedia nugget: I was a guest on TRL and happened to get my hands on the list of goofy, un Andrew-Miller-like questions I was going to be asked before I walked on set. One of the questions was "Who do you like more, T.I. or [I forgot the other southern rap artist]?" So I snuck to the bathroom and searched "T.I." on my Blackberry. I memorized as much information as I could and then announced that we were working together."

"What I've learned in my life, it's a very interesting social study for me, to go back and forth between being the guy at home and being the guy on the road and being the guy in studio and being the guy in the interview. The environment around you has so much to do with your character, and when I'm home, my character really changes quite a bit. I become very domesticated, it becomes riding my bike, and the music thing — the music thing doesn't leave but it's kind of less put upon me by other people as a musician."

"I find myself in situations that I know would be unbelievable pictures and I have to gauge, Is this worth taking the camera out? Am I gonna lose the moment? Am I gonna get a dirty look from Sting?"

"I know if it was the Time 99, I would've been off the list."

"Sometimes it feels like my life is just one long day."

"The first thing I said was a question: Does this really come from the family? I think that was essential to me sort of processing the honor. And when I found out that, in fact, it had, it took me about 48 hours to sort of strike the balance in how I was going to approach being -- you know, being invited to this unbelievable event without actually having the proximity to Michael Jackson personally. I'd never met him."

"It wasn’t as direct as me saying “I now make the choice to bring the paparazzi into my life.” I really said, “I now make the choice to sleep with Jessica Simpson.” That was stronger than my desire to stay out of the paparazzi’s eye."

"I was smart enough to know it would probably make me a salable item for the paparazzi. I knew I’d have to move to a home that had a gate. But that pearl of possibility that lives in your heart when you meet somebody you want to know more about has such a different molecular density than everything else that you have to pursue it."

"Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’”"

"I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick."

"Sexually it was crazy. That’s all I’ll say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm."

"Absolutely, because during sex, I’m just going to run a filmstrip. I’m still masturbating."

""Welcome to the real world", she said to me Condescendingly. Take a seat, Take your life Plot it out in black and white. Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings And the drama queens. I'd like to think the best of me Is still hiding Up my sleeve.They love to tell you: Stay inside the lines, But something's better On the other side."

"I want to run through the halls of my high school, I want to scream at the Top of my lungs. I just found out there's no such thing as the real world, Just a lie you've got to rise above."

"I am driving up '85 in the Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon, Just stuck inside the gloom. 4 more exits to my apartment but I am tempted to keep the car in drive And leave it all behind.Because I wonder sometimes About the outcome Of a still verdictless life."

"Something about the way your hair falls in your face I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase You tell me where to go and Though I might leave to find it, I'll never let your head hit the bed Without my hand behind it.And if you want love, We'll make it. Swim in a deep sea Of blankets. Take all your big plans And break them, This is bound to be a while."

"Yes, I'm grounded, got my wings clipped, I'm surrounded by all this pavement. Guess I'll circle while I'm waiting For my fuse to dry.Someday I'll fly, someday I'll soar, Someday I'll be so damn much more. Cause I'm bigger than my body gives me credit for."

"I know a girl; She puts the color inside of my world. But she's just like a maze Where all of the walls all continually change. And I've done all I can To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands. Now I'm starting to see Maybe it's got nothing to do with me.Fathers, be good to your daughters, Daughters will love like you do. Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, So mothers, be good to your daughters too."

"Me and all my friends We're all misunderstood. They say we stand for nothing and There's no way we ever could. Now we see everything that's going wrong With the world and those who lead it. We just feel like we don't have the means To rise above and beat it.So we keep waiting, Waiting on the world to change. We keep on waiting, Waiting on the world to change. It's hard to beat the system When we're standing at a distance. So we keep waiting, Waiting on the world to change."

"Now if we had the power To bring our neighbors home from war, They would have never missed a Christmas, No more ribbons on their door. And when you trust your television, What you get is what you got. Because when they own the information, oh They can bend it all they want."

"Belief is a beautiful armor But makes for the heaviest sword. Like punching underwater, You never can hit who you're trying for. Some need the exhibition And some have to know they tried, It's the chemical weapon for the war that's ragin' on inside."

"Gravity is working against me, And gravity wants to bring me down.Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good And can't sustain like one half could. It's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees."

"When you’re dreaming with a broken heart, The waking up is the hardest part."

"Have no fear for giving in, Have no fear for giving over. You'd better know that in the end It's better to say too much Than never say what you need to say again.Even if your hands are shaking And your faith is broken, Even as the eyes are closing, Do it with a heart wide open."

"Lightning strikes Inside my chest to keep me up at night. Dream of ways To make you understand my pain."

"I was born in the arms of imaginary friends, Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been. Then you come crashing in, like the realest thing, Trying my best to understand all that your love can bring.Oh half of my heart's got a grip on the situation; Half of my heart takes time. Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you That I can't keep loving you (can't keep loving you) Oh, with half of my heart."

"Who says I can’t be free? From all of the things that I used to be. Re-write my history. Who says I can’t be free?"

"Goodbye cold, goodbye rain, Goodbye sorrow, and goodbye shame.I'm headed out west with my headphones on, Boarded a flight with a song in the back of my soul And no one knows I just found out her ghost left town The queen of California is stepping down, down."

"Did you know that you could be wrong And swear you’re right? Some people been known to do it All their lives. But you find yourself alone Just like you found yourself before. Like I found myself in pieces On the hotel floor. Hard times help me see.I’m a good man with a good heart; Had a tough time, got a rough start. But I finally learned to let it go, Now I’m right here, and I’m right now. And I’m hoping, knowing somehow That my shadow days are over. My shadow days are over now."

"Oh, you can't make yourself stop dreaming Who you're dreaming of. If it's who you love, Then it's who you love."

"You be the DJ, I'll be the driver, You put your feet up in the getaway car. I'm flying fast like a, a wanted man. I want you, baby, like you can't understand.Oh, love on the weekend, Love on the weekend. We found a message in a bottle we were drinking."

"He was over at my house every day between fifth grade and eighth grade."

"John wanted to take it in more of a pop direction than I did. It was like a marriage that we both knew would go bad once we started touring."

"Neither punk nor prom king, Mayer was a tall kid from Connecticut, driving on the freeways, chasing slippery techno women, inhabiting a world of parents and slipcovers and holidays and gracious Southeastern metropolises; he was smart, inquisitive, articulate, a touch off in places."

"John Mayer is a very talented brother and you don't know where your blessings are going to come from."

"He words stuff with a real, I guess it's a witty, intelligent, very human [sensibility]. I would like to grab some of those qualities...I wish he was my friend."

"Me and John, we just cool, period. ... We get in the studio and we vibe and then we make music from that point."

"One time I saw him perform live and he switched up his song at the end, like, [improvised] different chords — he remixed it...He's just not your typical guitar player. He's trying to push the envelope for the way guitarists and vocalists are heard. ... I just respect his musicality."

"You know, the dude is a real musician. It's like anything you ever loved in Joe Jackson or anything you ever loved in any '70s rock. You're gonna get it out of this dude. He's a real student, and it comes through in his music."

"I was astonished at how well he played live. I had no idea he was that good."

"What song do I hate? I think "Daughters," by John Mayer, would be a good candidate. I don't know why he bugs me so bad."

"Before that it was Halo, and no one could beat him. That's pretty much his MO if he finds an interest in something -- it doesn't matter how incidental it is."

"No musician is indifferent to the public's perception of him, but the exuberant, logorrheic Mayer takes self-awareness to new postmodern heights. Like a football player providing color commentary on his own career, he muses constantly on his own abilities and his place in the taxonomy of pop."

"Young people are very cynical now, you know? Very cynical! They've been taught cynicism, they've been — they've been bred cynicism. So, I think it's important to give them hope and realism in the same package, you know? You can be realistic but there should be — there should be hope in it. Because hope's what we're about. If we don't have hope then we don't go on."

"I think for it to be unhip to be idealistic is weird, you know? I mean, even all the best rebels to me had some sense of hope in them."

"I don't understand the ones that have no sense of hope and invest in hate. That's not gonna work out, you know? It's a waste of your time!"

"You don't hear any more of, 'Hey, we did something creative and we turned a profit, how about that?' Everywhere we look, we want to make the most money possible. This is a dangerous, corrupt notion. That's where you see the advent of programming on the radio, and radio research, all these silly things. That has made pop music what it is today. Everything — morals, truth — is all going out the window in favor of profit."

"I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem. You know, I saw a billboard in New York I wish I had photographed. It was for the TNN network. It said three words against a patriotic background of red, white and blue — BIGGER, YOUNGER, RICHER. Now, I find that fascinating: 'Bigger, younger, richer.' This whole idea of being wealthy has gone too far. I never ride in a limousine, you know. I feel gross if I get in a limousine. One good thing about the sixties was it sort of was the opposite back then. You looked silly trying to appear rich."

"It's funny how the music industry is enraged about the Internet and the way things are copied without being paid for. But you know why people steal the music? Because they can't afford the music. I'm not condoning downloading music for free. I don't think that's really fair, but I understand it. If you brought CD prices back down to $8.98, you would solve a lot of the industry's problems."

"An act like ours wouldn't even be around today if someone hadn't brought us along and let us make mistakes and grow at our own pace. Today it seems that if you don't have a hit — or even if you do — they have no use for you the next time."

"I'm frustrated by what I hear. Maybe it's not meant for me. Personally, I'm way too bright for a lot of the hip-hop lyrics to affect. I'm much too smart to think that jewelry or how cool I am is really going to change much about my personality. If you're dumb enough that it entertains you, have a great time. But I am seeking more than that."

"I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that an artist has to take some moral responsibility for what he or she is putting out there. And I think a lot of these young kids are going to have to learn the hard way before they realize that you can actually do some damage if you're being careless or frivolous in what you're saying."

"I think television's become a downright dangerous thing. It has no moral barometer whatsoever. If you want to talk about something that is all about money, just watch the television. It's damn dangerous. TV does not care about you or what happens to you. It's downright bad for your health now, and that's not a far-out concept. I think watching the TV news is bad for you. It is bad for your physical health and your mental health. The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit."

"Artists aren't necessarily business people. And they aren't necessarily aware of all the things that go on in their names. Some just want to make some music, but there is a lot of greed among artists as well. Whether or not we know it, we are all to blame. I think it's time — starting with the artist — to try to be a little more responsible and aware of what goes on in our name."

"I feel sorry for kids these days. They get so much homework. Remember the days when we put a belt around our two books and carried them home? Now they're dragging a suitcase. They have school all day, then homework from six until eleven. There's no time left to be creative. The hardest part for me is when my thirteen-year-old is complaining about the workload. I agree with him. I'm supposed to be responsible and support the teacher. But it's like, "You're right, son. This is bullshit.""

"If we're born in God's image, then God knows how we can fuck up. And he knows that you really didn't mean it."

"It’s very uncomfortable to hear them used when I don’t agree with what’s being said. But I recognize that those songs have entered into a bigger life, a life all their own. They belong to the audience. How they’re used isn’t always something I can control."

"It's alright if you love me, It's alright if you don't. I'm not afraid of you runnin' away, Honey I get the feeling you won't."

"There is no sense in pretending, Your eyes give you away. Something inside you is feeling like I do, We've said all there is to say."

"Well she was an American girl, raised on promises. She couldn't help thinkin' that there was a little more to life somewhere else. After all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to. Yeah, and if she had to die tryin', she had one little promise she was gonna keep."

"And for one desperate moment There he crept back in her memory. God it's so painful, something that's so close Is still so far out of reach."

"Little miss queen of hearts you're a strange thing. Why you wanna stay so vague? I'm wandering through this mess you've made To see what I can save."

"I need to know(I need to know) I need to know(I need to know) If you think you're gonna leave, Then you better say so."

"She's gonna listen to her heart. It's gonna tell her what to do. She might need a lot of loving, But she don't need you."

"Restless sleep, twisted dreams Moving targets, silent screams. Restless city, restless street Restless you, restless me."

"My baby is a rock n' roller."

"Somewhere, somehow somebody Must have kicked you around some. Tell me why you wanna lay there And revel in your abandon. Listen it don't make no difference to me baby, Everybody's had to fight to be free. You see you don't have to live like a refugee"

"You know, sometimes, I don't know why, But this old town just seems so hopeless. I ain't really sure, but it seems I remember the good times Were just a little bit more in focus."

"It just seems so useless to have to work so hard, And nothin' ever really seems to come from it."

"I just catch myself wonderin', waitin', worryin' bout some silly little things that don't add up to nothin'."

"And I'd show you stars you never could see Baby, it couldn't have been that easy to forget about me."

"Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes. Even the losers keep a little bit of pride. They get lucky sometimes."

"I was talkin' with a friend of mine, Said a woman done hurt his pride. Told him that she loved him so, then Turned around and let him go. Then he said "you'd better watch your step" Or you're gonna get hurt yourself. Someone's gonna tell you lies Cut you down to size..."

"Louisiana rain now is falling just like tears. Running down my face washing out the years. Louisiana rain is soaking through my shoes. I may never be the same when I reach Baton Rouge."

"Oh baby, don't it feel like heaven right now, Don't it feel like something from a dream."

"The waiting is the hardest part. Every day you see one more card. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part."

"She's a woman in love And he's gonna break her heart to pieces. She don't want to see. She's a woman in love, but it's not me."

"Somewhere deep in the middle of the night, Lovers hold each other tight. Whisper in their anxious ears, Words of love that disappear."

"I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire. And I've had to live with some hard promises. I've crawled through the briars, I'm an insider."

"Good love is hard to find. You got lucky, babe. You got lucky, babe, when I found you."

"Well I fought for you; I fought too hard. To do it all again babe, It's gone too far."

"I don't believe the good times are over. I don't believe the thrill is all gone. Real love is a man's salvation; The weak ones fall, the strong carry on."

"Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow. You know you won't feel this way tomorrow. Well, maybe I'm a little rough around the edges, Inside a little hollow. I get faced with some things sometimes That are so hard to swallow."

"I was born a rebel Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning. Yeah, with one foot in the grave, And one foot on the pedal. I was born a rebel."

"I don't feel you anymore. You darken my door. Whatever you're looking for. Hey don't come around here no more."

"There's a southern accent, where I come from. The young 'uns call it country, the Yankees call it dumb."

"For just a minute there I was dreaming. For just a minute it was all so real. For just a minute she was standing there, with me."

"Yeah and it's over before you know it. It all goes by so fast. Yeah, the bad nights last forever, And the good nights don't ever seem to last"

"Wherever you are tonight, I wish you the best of everything, in the world. And I hope you found Whatever you were looking for."

"Take back your insurance, Baby nothin's guaranteed."

"There were times apart, there were times together. I was pledged to her for worse or better. When it mattered most I let her down. That's the way it goes, it'll all work out."

"'Cause it can feel like perfection, But never all the time. And you don't wanna be alone again. Oh my, my."

"And no I can't find no reason to explain the way that I feel. I remember things being more clearer, at one time things were more real."

"All the vampires walkin' through the valley Move west down Ventura Boulevard. And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows All the good girls are home with broken hearts."

"I wanna glide down over Mulholland. I wanna write her name in the sky. Gonna free fall out into nothing. Gonna leave this world for a while."

"Well I won't back down, No I won't back down. You could stand me up at the gates of hell, But I won't back down."

"No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down Gonna stand my ground, And I won't back down."

"Well I know what's right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin' me around But I'll stand my ground And I won't back down."

"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down; I had the radio on, I was drivin'. The trees went by, me and Del were singin', Little runaway, I was flyin'.Yeah runnin' down a dream That never would come to me. Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads. I'm runnin' down a dream."

"I felt so good, like anything was possible. I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes. The last three days the rain was unstoppable. And it was always cold, no sunshine."

"But not me, baby, I've got you to save me. Aw, yer so bad. Best thing I've ever had. In a world gone mad, Yer so bad."

"I remember her standing in the tall grass and cattails Away from the windows at the end of the day. Watching the men from the landing in the tall hats & coat-tails. She'd never look different, but something would change."

"I'm learning to fly, But I ain't got wings. Coming down Is the hardest thing."

"Well some say life Will beat you down, And break your heart, Steal your crown.So it started out For God-knows-where. I guess I'll know When I get there."

"I don't want to end up In a room all alone Don't want to end up someone That I don't even know."

"Into the great wide open, Under them skies of blue. Out in the great wide open, A rebel without a clue."

"In the dark of the sun will you save me a place? Give me hope, give me comfort, get me to a better place?"

"Here am I a fallen arrow. My load is wide, my street is narrow. My skin is thicker, my heart is tougher. I don't mind workin', but I'm scared to suffer. You know? You know?"

"Well she grew up hard, and she grew up fast In the age of television. And she made a vow to have it all; It became her new religion."

"You and I will meet again When we're least expecting it. One day in some far off place I will recognize your face. I won't say good-bye my friend, For you and I will meet again."

"I want her more than diamonds, I want her more than gold. I want her more than anything Anyone could hold."

"Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain. I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again."

"Oh, my, my. Oh, hell, yes. Honey, put on that party dress. Buy me a drink, sing me a song. Take me as I come 'cause I can't stay long."

"You belong among the wildflowers. You belong in a boat out at sea. you belong with your love on your arm. You belong somewhere you feel free."

"But let me get to the point, let's roll another joint, And turn the radio loud, I'm too alone to be proud. You don't know how it feels, You don't know how it feels, to be me."

"People come, people go. Some grow young, some grow cold."

"Think of me what you will, I've got a little space to fill."

"It's time to move on, time to get going What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. But under my feet, baby, grass is growing. It's time to move on, it' s time to get going."

"I'll be the boy in the corduroy pants. You be the girl at the high school dance."

"It's good to be king, If just for a while. To be there in velvet, yea to give 'em a smile. It's good to get high, and never comedown. It's good to be king of your own little town."

"Yeah, the world would swing if I were king. Can I help it if I still dream time to time?"

"It's good to be king and have your own way, Get a feeling of peace at the end of the day."

"It's good to be king and have your own world It helps to make friends, it's good to meet girls. A sweet little queen who can't run away; It's good to be king, whatever it pays."

"Excuse me if I Have some place in my mind Where I go time to time."

"I remember feeling this way, You can lose it without knowing. You wake up and you don't notice Which way the wind is blowing"

"If we don't get to a higher place and Find somebody, can help somebody, Might be nobody no more."

"I'm so tired of being tired. Sure as night will follow day, Most things I worry about Never happen anyway."

"You follow your feelings, you follow your dreams; You follow the leader into the trees. And what's in there waiting, neither one of us knows. You gotta keep one eye open the further you go."

"Some days are diamonds. Some days are rocks."

"Baby, you've got a heart so big, It could crush this town. But I can't hold out forever. Even walls fall down."

"I saw an angel, I saw my fate. I can only thank God it was not too late."

"Now I'm walkin' this street on my own, but she's with me wherever I go."

"I hope you never need no one, Hope you treasure your independence. I hope you never fall in love With someone like you."

"No more songs tonight, I'm drivin' to the break of day. No more words tonight, We've got enough to throw away."

"We're overdue for a dream come true. Long time, nothing new. We're overdue for a dream come true."

"I've got someone who loves me tonight. I've got over a thousand dollars in the bank, And I'm all right."

"Look deep in the eyes of love And find out what you were looking for."

"Redemption comes to those who wait, Forgiveness is the key."

"And I don't want to question or even celebrate All the joy you took and then gave back too late."

"And I don't want to mean anything to you, I don't want to tempt you to be true."

"They say be careful who you believe, Be careful who you trust. Did you smile when you pulled the trigger That dropped me in the dust?"

"Oh my love if I reveal Every secret I've concealed, How many thoughts would you steal, How much of my pain would you feel?"

"One more night, God I've had to fight To keep my line of sight on what's real One more day I fear I've lost my way I don't know how to say what I feel."

"There goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play, And says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey. There goes your freedom of choice; There goes the last human voice. There goes the last DJ."

"As we celebrate mediocrity, All the boys upstairs want to see How much you'll pay for What you used to get for free."

"There was no use in pretending, No magic left to hear. All the music gave me Was a craving for light beer."

"I keep waking up all by myself, With a blue jay in my brain. Flappin' his wings, making me sing, it was just about to rain."

"There was Rock 'N' Roll across the dial. When I think of her, it makes me smile."

"But if you shoot at everyone you see, Can't be my friend 'cause you might shoot at me."

"I can't save you from yourself, you gotta want it."

"How about a cheer For all those bad girls And all the boys That play that rock and roll? They love it Like you love Jesus. It does the same thing To their souls."

"And you may think it's all over. But there'll be more just like me Who won't give in; Who'll rise again. Can't stop a man from dreaming."

"And it's hard to say Who you are these days. But you run on anyway, Don't you baby?"

"Last time through I hid my tracks. So well I could not get back. Yeah my way was hard to find. Can't sell your soul for peace of mind."

"Always had more dogs than bones."

"You're flirting with time baby Flirting with time, but maybe, Time baby, is catching up with you."

"So if I come to your door, let me sleep on your floor. I'll give you all I have and a little more."

"Create myself down south. Impress all the women. Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens. ear seersucker and white linens."

"I'm gonna give her all my soul. I'm gonna play her Rock 'N' Roll."

"I can work, I can travel, I can sleep anywhere, Cross every border with nothing to declare. You can look back babe, but it's best not to stare."

"She's got nothing to hide, And she hides it so well. Keeps broken dreams To fix up and sell."

"There's rain on the road And the faithful have gone. In a crowd all alone, Walking 'round in a song."

"Well, they raised that horse to be a jumper He was owned by a mid-west bible thumper. His preacher was a Louisiana drummer. Took all winter, to get through the summer."

"He was caught up in a lie he half-believed, Found her hiding high in the family tree. Washed his hands, and put her 'cross his knee. She said "daddy, you've been a mother to me.""

"I'm watching the water Watching the coast Suddenly I know What I want the most And I want to tell you Still I hold back I need some time Get my life on track. I know that look on your face But there's somethin' lucky about this place And there's somethin' good comin' For you and me Somethin' good comin' There has to be."

"I know so well the look on your face And there's somethin' lucky about this place There's somethin' good comin' Just over the hill Somethin' good comin' I know it will And I'm in for the long run Wherever it goes Ridin' the river Wherever it goes."

"Let me show you how to drive me crazy, Let me show you how to make me feel so good, Let me show you how to take me to the edge of the stars and back again. You've gotta show me how to drive you crazy, You've gotta show me all the things you wanna happen to you, We've gotta tell each other everything, we always wanted someone to do."

"It's all we ever wanted And all we'll ever need And now it's slipping through our fingers Faster than the speed of night."

"I have travelled across the universe through the years to find her. Sometimes going all the way is just a start..."

"I've been called over the top. How silly. If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side."

"The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling Way down in the valley tonight. There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye And a blade shining oh so bright. There's evil in the air And there's thunder in the sky And a killer's on the bloodshot streets."

"Oh baby you're the only thing in this whole world That's pure and good and right And wherever you are and wherever you go There's always gonna be some light."

"Like a bat out of Hell I'll be gone when the morning comes. But when the day is done And the sun goes down And the moonlight's shining through Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven I'll come crawling on back to you."

"Nothing ever grows in this rotten old hole And everything is stunted and lost And nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls And nothing's ever worth the cost. And I know that I'm damned if I never get out And maybe I'm damned if I do But with every other beat I got left in my heart You know I'd rather be damned with you."

"Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun All torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell And the last thing I see is my heart, Still beating, Breaking out of my body And flying away Like a bat out of Hell."

"I never had a girl Looking any better than you did And all the kids at school They were wishing they were me that night."

"It never felt so good, it never felt so right And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife."

"Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night I can see paradise by the dashboard light."

"Ain't no doubt about it We were doubly blessed Cause we were barely seventeen And we were barely dressed."

"Stop right there! I gotta know right now! Before we go any further — Do you love me? Will you love me forever?"

"Baby, baby let me sleep on it Let me sleep on it And I'll give you my answer in the morning..."

"So now I'm praying for the end of time To hurry up and arrive Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive. I'll never break my promise or forget my vow But God only knows what I can do right now. I'm praying for the end of time It's all that I can do Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!"

"Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by. Turn around Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes. Turn around bright eyes. Every now and then I fall apart."

"I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. I really need you tonight Forever's gonna start tonight Forever's gonna start tonight."

"Once upon a time I was falling in love But now I'm only falling apart There's nothing I can do A total eclipse of the heart Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there's only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart."

"I know just how to fake it And I know just how to scheme I know just when to face the truth And then I know just when to dream. And I know just where to touch you And I know just what to prove I know when to pull you closer And I know when to let you loose. And I know the night is fading And I know the time's gonna fly And I'm never gonna tell you everything I gotta tell you But I know I've got to give it a try. And I know the roads to riches And I know the ways to fame I know all the rules and then I know how to break'em And then I always know the name of the game But I don't know how to leave you And I'll never let you fall And I don't know how you do it Making love out of nothing at all."

"Every time I see you, all the rays of the sun Are streaming through the waves in your hair And every star in the sky is taking aim at your eyes Like a spotlight."

"You can take the darkness from the deep of the night And turn it to a beacon burning endlessly bright I gotta follow it 'cause everything I know Well, it's nothing 'till I give it to you."

"I'm never gonna make it without you Do you really wanna see me crawl ? And I'm never gonna make it like you do Making love out of nothing at all."

"The sea is whipping the sky The sky is whipping the sea You can hide away forever from the storm But you'll never hide away from me."

"The icy cold will cut us like a knife in the dark And we may lose everything in the wind But the Northern Lights are burning And they're giving off sparks."

"I know that I'm gonna be like this forever I'm never gonna be what I should And you think that I'll be bad for just a little while But I know that I'll be bad for good."

"For the good of believing in a life after birth For the good of your body so bright For the good of the search for some heaven on earth For the good of one hell of a night, for the good of one hell of a night."

"I'll never forget the way you feel right now — Oh no — no way — I would do anything for love But I won't do that."

"But it was long ago and it was far away, Oh god, it seems so very far. And if life is just a highway Then the soul is just a car.And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are."

"And we’ll never be as young as we are right now"

"Could you look at animal in the eyes and say to it "my appetite is more important than your suffering"? I hope not."

"a long time ago only kings had rights. then rights were extended to property-owning white men. then all men. then wymyn [sic]. then children. then the mentally retarded. now we're agonizing over the extension of basic rights to homosexuals and animals. we need to finally accept that all sentient creatures are deserving of basic rights."

"Better a loving single parent family than a 'conventional' family wherein the parents hate each other and the father is a demagogue."

"I got a phone call from Ricky Martin's management asking me if I'd like to do something with him in Florida around the winter music conference. My answer is as follows: 'I would consider doing something with Ricky Martin if and only if he publicly apologizes for performing at George W's inauguration and if he confirms that when he danced next to George W. Bush at the inauguration he could smell brimstone and that George W. Bush is in fact the spawn of Satan. So if Ricky Martin goes on national television to confirm that George W. is the spawn of Satan then I will perform with him. Otherwise no deal. And only if we can do a cover of 'In a Gadda-da-vida', but The Simpsons version, 'In the garden of Eden' (to which reverend Lovejoy responds ""that sounds like rock and or roll""). And, by the way, I'm a pretty easygoing young-ish person, so if you ever see me walking down the street just stop me and say hello. We're all in the same boat, right? of course you'll have to make it past my phalanx of security guards who are all ex-NFL linebackers, and the cadre of dobermans, and the perma-moat that I wear that's filled with electric eels and vicious sea monkeys. So if you see me just come and say hi. I'm normal."

"Ozzy Osbourne used to snort ants. Led Zeppelin had sex with hookers on private planes. And I start an on-tour book club. Because one can only snort so many ants and have so much sex before one starts to long for the comfort and companionship of a good book."

"Why can't a Democrat get fired up about protecting the environment and enacting gun control legislation just as right wing republicans get fired up about making sure that children have access to assault weapons and banning 'The catcher in the rye' and 'Harry Potter'?"

"I'm actually kind of impressed by Iraq's patience right now... I mean, look at it objectively. They've opened their doors to un inspectors, they're being bombed by british and american troops, american forces are massing at their borders, american diplomats are actively looking to assinate [sic] Saddam Hussein, etc. It almost seems like Bush is doing everything he can to taunt Saddam Hussein. Not just if you step over this line I will hit you, but if you step over this line while I put rats on your back and put butter on the floor and make fun of your mom and move the line then I will hit you, in fact I'll hit you even if you just stand there and do nothing. It's painfully clear that iraq should not be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction. But it also seems painfully clear that the bush administration have no intention of finding a peaceful resolution to the situation in Iraq."

"It will be interesting to see what the long term fruits of our national apathy will be, 'cos so far they've been pretty foul."

"One simple word: ugh. Is something still considered a conspiracy if it's played out right under our noses?"

"For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you're an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion.Then you go to an anti-immigration website chat room and ask, "What's all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?""

"Call me a nerd if you like, but I do find it hard to leave home without my laptop and a good book."

"You are a liar. You are inept. You are probably the worst president that the United States has ever had to endure. You are not welcome in NYC."

"Put me on the train, send me back to my home Couldn't live without you when I tried to roam Put me by the window, let me see outside Looking at the places where all my family died"

"He was searching Blindly night and day This life, there must be more Breaking beauty, Just to stay awake His heart was like a stone"

"And on the last day He walked out in the sun He only just discovered the sun On the last day And on the last day When all his work was done He only just discovered the sun On the last day All this rapture Right here all along In scraps he tore away All this color In his final breath Exhaled the dark and gray"

"Mainly the fact that I love animals and don’t want to be involved in anything that causes or contributes to animal suffering. Also, I never really liked meat that much, unless it neither looked [n]or tasted like meat. Like taco filling. But, mainly because I love animals and don’t want them to suffer. Death is unavoidable, suffering is avoidable."

"It's weird when you open up Billboard because you see your name next to 50 Cent and Madonna. I mean, 50 Cent who I grew up on for the last month."

"We'll just drink and go on."

"She's not that attractive. I mean, she was hard to look at at first, but I figured, rough around the edges, but she can sing good."

"We have faith in the people who support us. If they really like us, they're going to want to be cool enough to buy our music, and realize that if they don't, the record label gets our first-born child."

"We're actually high on the Christian charts, and I'm like, 'What the f*** are we even doing there?'"

"As far as spiritually - the message we as a band want to convey more than anything is simple - God is Love."

"I want to explain my environment to those who don't come any closer to it than the records they buy or the images they see on television. People want the truth. Even if they can't handle it, they want it. I let you know that I survived nine bullets not to sell records, but because it's the truth. Every time I sit down for an interview, I'm asked, "Well, 50, how did it feel to get shot nine times?" But those stories don't hold the weight, the pain, or the hope of my experience. It just can't. This is my mindset and these are the things that go on. This is why I say the rhymes that I say. This is what happened when I was trying to get rich before I died in Southside Queens."

"The mis-perception is gangster 50. That's the biggest misconception. Because, I can be those things that people – I have a reputation. My past is my shadow, it follows me everywhere I go. Well, all those things come from when I had no other choice. They put my back against the wall. I do what I gotta do. Because hip-hop has no requirements, you deal with people that have the least intelligence on the planet. Some of the people that compare themselves to me, compare themselves to me because they rap and I rap. They can't even read the contracts that they sign to be a rapper, to do the deal."

"I came from the bottom of the bottom. It's hard for a lot of people to comprehend my story – a lot of people just don't get me because they haven't experienced it. I came from the bottom and I have risen up and I have changed but I have never forgotten."

"I can't believe my grandmother's making me take out the garbage. I'm rich. Fuck this, I'm going home. I don't need this shit."

"I had his poster on my wall. He had me moonwalking around my bedroom. I'd love to have written any Michael Jackson song, so maybe start with one of the greatest."

"I've got the sickest vendetta when it comes to the cheddar... You play with my paper, you're going to meet my Beretta... She looks good, but I know she's after my cheddar."

"Go ahead, switch the style up. If niggas hate, then let them hate and watch the money pile up."

"They say I walk around like I've got an 'S' on my chest. No, that's a semi-auto and a vest on my chest."

"The Lord's blessings leave me lyrically-inclined. Shit, I ain't even got to try to shine!"

"Keep thinking I'm candy; until your fucking skull gets popped."

"When that window rolls down and that A.K. comes out? You can squeeze your little handgun, until you run out."

"God's on your side? Shit, I'm alright with that. Because we're going to reload the clips and come right back."

"It's a fact, homey. You go against me? You're fucked."

"There'll be no white flags, and no peace talk."

"I am what I am; you can like it or love it. It feels good to blow fifty grand and think nothing of it."

"Look baby, this is simple. You can't see? You're fucking with me? You're fucking with a P.I.M.P.!"

"I need you to pray for me; I need you to care for me. I need you to want me to win. I need to know where I'm heading, because I know where I've been."

"I've got to make it to heaven; for going through hell."

"Sometimes, I sit back and look at life from a different angle. Don't know if I'm God's child, or I'm Satan's angel."

"In 2002, if you asked me to make a wish? I simply would've wished that my music would be a hit."

"Fronting on me will shorten your life-span."

"That watch is nice! That's what you bought for me?"

"Being broke is against my religion."

"Get rich or die tryin'."

"People want the truth. Even if they can't handle it, they want it. They may want to look at it as a story or music so they can distance themselves from it, but they want it. That's why people watch the news every night. There's nothing good on the news. They'll throw in a little "good news" near the end, like something about a cat being saved from a tree. But before you hear about that cat, you're going to learn that someone got shot and killed, an earthquake killed a couple of hundred people, and that whatever war is going on at the time is still going on and going hard. And you still watch. Why? Because you want the truth. You'll complain, but you'll watch. Every night. The news always gets good ratings."

"Have a baby by me, baby, be a millionaire."

"Took two months, but 50 got it done."

"If you are having girl problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one, you think - this guy is talking about women, but I am not. I am not talking about women at all. In the first verse I am talking about the industry, magazines and radio. I am using that as a metaphor. And in the second verse I am talking about a K9, which is a female dog, which is a bitch. And then in the third verse I am talking about a guy trying to punk me. So I am not talking about a female at no time in that song. But if you just hear the record, 99 problems but a bitch ain't one, you'll think that I am talking about about women, but I am not, at no point in the song."

"Jay Hov about to change my name to Jay Peso but in a meantime called me William H though on a platinum Yamaha got the engine gunning throwing it up like liquor on an empty stomach."

"There's heaven, then there's hell niggas One day your cruising in your 7 next day your sweatin forgettin your lies Alibis ain't matchin up, bullshit catchin up Hit with the rico, they repo your vehico' Everything was all good just a week ago 'Bout to start bitching ain't you? Ready to start snitching ain't you? I'll forgive your weak ass, hustling just ain't you Aside from the fast cars; honey's that shake they ass at bars you know you wouldn't be involved with the underworld dealers, carriers of Mac Miller East coast bodiers, west coast cap peelers Little monkey niggas turn gorillas"

"For nine six, the only mc wit a flu Yeah I rhyme sick I be what you tryin to do Made a fortune off Peru, expedite, china white heron Nigga please like short sleeves I bear arms."

"Hand gettin the mic. Forgettin all I ever knew, convenient amnesia. I suggest you call my lawyer, I know the procedure Lock my body, can't trap my mind easily, explains why we adapt to crime I'd rather die enormous than live dormant, that's how we on it."

"Whoever said illegal was the easy way out couldn't understand The mechanics and the workings of the underworld, granted Nine to five is how to survive, I ain't trying to survive I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot Life's ills poison my body I used to say Fuck mic skills, I never prayed to God, I prayed to Gotti That's right it's wicked, that's life, I live it Ain't asking for forgiveness for my sins"

"Even if it ain't sunny, hey, I ain't complaining I'm in the rain doing a buck 40, hydroplaning, what, shorty? (Where you disappear to, son?) Maintaining Putting myself in a position most of these rappers ain't in I'm living, the ill street blues got you hunger painin' Nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose, you still singing, fool I'm thorough, in every borough, my name be ringing"

"They say you can't turn a bad girl good But once a good girl's gone bad, she's gone forever"

"Hov' is back, life stories told through rap Niggas acting like I sold you crack Like I told you sell drugs; No, Hov did that so hopefully you won't have to go through that."

"I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell I am a hustler, baby, I'll sell water to a well"

"6 oohie, jewels dripping big tooly I ball for real: y'all niggas is Sam Bowie And with the third pick, I made the earth sick M.J., him Jay, fade away perfect."

"Niggas pray and pray on my downfall But every time I hit the ground I bounce up like round ball."

"On repeat, the CD of B.I.G.'s 'Me and My Bitch' Watching Bonnie and Clyde, pretending to be that shit Empty gun in your hand saying, 'Let me see that clip' Shopping sprees, pull out your Visa quick A nigga had very bad credit, you helped me lease that whip You helped me get the keys to that V dot 6 We was so happy poor but when we got rich That's when our signals got crossed, and we got flipped."

"Motherfuckers say that I'm foolish I only talk about jewels Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it? See I'm influenced by the ghetto you ruined That same dude you gave nothing, I made something doing."

"Good-bye to the game all the spoils, the adrenaline rush Your blood boils, you in a spot knowin' cops could rush you in the drop, you so easy to touch No two days are alike, except the 1st and 15th pretty much And trust, is a word you seldom hear from us Hustlers, we don't sleep, we rest one eye up And a drought could define a man when the well dries up You learn the worth of water Without work you thirst 'til you die, yup!"

"Music business hate me ‘cause the industry ain't make me Hustlers and boosters embrace me and the music I be making I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars They criticized me for it, yet they all yell "holla" If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be lyrically Talib Kweli Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense But I did 5 mill' – I ain't been rhyming like Common since When your cents got that much in common And you been hustling since your inception Fuck perception! Go with what makes sense Since I know what I'm up against We as rappers must decide what's most important And I can't help the poor if I'm one of them So I got rich and gave back, to me that's the win/win So next time you see the homie and his rims spin Just know my mind is working just like them (rims, that is)"

"Now you know yo' ass is Willie when they got you in the mag for like half a billy, and yo' ass ain't lily white that mean that shit you write must be illy Either that or your flow is silly - it's both I don't mean to boast, but damn if I don't brag Them crackers gon' act like I ain't on they ass The Martha Stewart, that's far from Jewish Far from a Harvard student, just had the balls to do it"

"I'm not a biter, I'm a writer for myself and others / I say a B.I.G. verse, I'm only biggin' up my brother / Biggin' up my borough, I'm big enough to do it / I'm that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish / So them rings and things you sing about, bring 'em out / It's hard to yell when the bar-rell's in your mouth"

"Pop died, didn't cry, didn't know him that well / Between him doin' heroin and me doin' crack sales / With that in the eggshell, standin' at the tabernacle / Rather the church, pretendin' to be hurt - wouldn't work / So a smirk was all on my face / Like damn, that man's face is just like my face / So pop, I forgive you for all the shit that I lived through / It wasn't all your fault homey, you got caught"

"If skills sold / Truth be told / I'd probably be / Lyricly / Talib Kweli / Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense / (But i did five Mil) / I ain't been rhymin like Common since -- When your sense got that much in common / And you been hustlin since / Your inception / Fuck perception / Go with what makes sense / Since / I know what I'm up against / We as rappers must decide what's most impor-tant"

"I never asked for nothin' I don't demand of myself / Honesty, loyalty, friends and then wealth / Death before dishonor and I tell you what else / I tighten my belt 'fore I beg for help / Foolish pride is what held me together through the years / I wasn't felt which is why I ain't never played myself / I just play the hand I'm dealt, I can't say I've never knelt / Before God and asked for better cards at times to no avail / But I never sat back feelin sorry for myself / If you don't give me heaven I'll raise hell ('Til it's heaven)"

"If you're havin' girl problems I feel bad for you son / I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one."

"I’m already the GOAT, the next stop is the billie"

"If you kill me you're famous, If I kill you, I’m brainless, What’s a nigga to do?"

"I’ve got demons in my past so I’ve got daughters on the way, If the prophecy is correct then the child should have to pay, For the sins of the father so I barter my tomorrows against my yesterday’s In hopes that she’ll be okay"

"No compass comes with this life, just eyes, so to map it out you must look inside, sure books could guide you but your heart defines you, chica"

"Rumor has it "The Blueprint" classic Couldn't even be stopped by Bin Laden So September 11th marks the era forever of a revolutionary Che Gueverra"

"A wise man told me don't argue with fools Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who"

"I'm still here mon frere I know the cross I bear, They like, that's why they call you Hov? I'm like yea I'm like air, little shots go through me, won't tear One tissue no tears, no tissue not an issue"

"I heard motherfuckers saying they made Hov Made Hov say, "Ok so, make another Hov""

"While I'm watchin every nigga watchin me closely my shit is butter for the bread they wanna toast me I keep my head, both of them where they supposed to be Hoes'll get you sidetracked then clap from closed feet"

"But reality bites and this is her life / He wasn't really her husband though he called her wife / It was just this night, when the moon was full and the stars were just right and her dress was real tight / He had her sounding like Lisa Lisa / "Wonder if I take you home, will you still love me after this night" / Mike was the hard head from around the way / That she wanted all her life / Cause she wanted all the hype / She used to hold on tight when he wheelied on the bike / He was a Willie all her life / He wasn't really the one to like / There was a dude name Chi, who would really treat her right / He wanted to run to the country to escape the city life / But Isis, liked this, Broadway life / She loved the Gucci sneakers / The Red, Green and White / Hanging out the window when she first seen him fight / So turned on that she had to shower twice*"

"I guess it's just the need to be heard / I need niggas to say / I can't believe your words / I'm just an addict / Addicted to music / Thoughts is sporadic / I gotta un-confuse it / Sorta like a Rubik's Cube is / Every albums' a color / But I fuck up the other / Color / (laughs) I guess I'm more like / A bitch with a belly but her ass is right / (laughs) Y'all don't understand me still / I never enjoy my success but my family will / And I'm alright with that / So the rap Jerry Rice is back / To fulfill a need / Though I lead the league / I pray everyday I travel at God Speed / Not a minute slower cause the minute you Hova / Everybody praying for your spinach to slow up / It's sad but it's true / But nigga's ass gone turn blue / Holding' ya breath, cause the force that's controlling my step / Won't let me lose it till I'm undisputed / Until I'm one with the music / Till I'm dead and gone in search of the perfect song* -"

"This ain't no tall order, this is nothin to me Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week"

"("No one on the corner") Got a bop like this Can't wear skinny jeans cause my knots don't fit No one on the corner got a pocket like this So I rock Roc jeans cause my knots so thick You can pay for school, but you can't buy class"

"With the same sword they knight you, they gon' good night you with Shit, that's only half if they like you That ain't even the half what they might do Don't believe me, ask Michael See Martin, see Malcolm See Biggie, see Pac, see success and its outcome See Jesus, see Judas See Caesar, see Brutus, see success is like suicide Suicide, it's a suicide If you succeed, prepare to be crucified Media meddles, niggas sue you, you settle Every step you take, they remind you you're ghetto So it's tough being Bobby Brown To be Bobby then, you have to be Bobby now And the question is, "Is to have had and lost Better than not having at all?"

"Thank God for Cool Herc Without this shit I probably would’ve got murked Shout outs to Grandmaster Flash and the cash And even Jaz bum ass"

"If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade Three dice Cee-lo, three Card Molly Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire State that's"

"If you want to make more than Jay-Z, go do more than Jay-Z."

"My favorite sport is Scrabble."

"If I could be a vegetable, I'd be a pumpkin. It's realistically the only vegetable you can use as a weapon, or in any manner of defense."

"Females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures in the whole world. And I think that we are gorgeous no matter what size we are."

"I've never met him. It was mind-blowing. I couldn't quite believe it. He's a person that's seen so many things and been a part of music for so long. For him to give a shit about me is pretty exciting. I like it."

"It feels so good to know that it’s going to go across the country and this cast, let me tell you, is out of control. They’re so good."

"I love, as an artist, bringing my energy to other artists. That’s really a fulfilling feeling. So, I’ll be fairy godmothering. You never know where you’ll see me."

"It’s strange that we don’t think of women as producers like Quincy [Jones] or Dre or [Swizz Beatz], but female producers have always powered the industry: Patrice Rushen, Missy Elliott, Linda Perry, Grimes, Solange, and so many more."

"To live fully is to recognize the beauty of the now, unburdened by the past or future."

"Can give ourselves flowers and roses at any time. The affirmation is embrace your journey. Your body is evolving with you."

"Our beliefs produce emotions that drive our actions. It's true that you get what you believe. Own your strengths and know your value!"

"Like being in the mother brain of soul music. This is absolute artistic fusion from top to bottom, and I don't think there's anyone else in the world that I could do that with right now."

"There's nothing about that girl I don't like."

"I want to be the condensation on the glass. I want to be that phenomenon that takes place between hot and cold."

"He’s like Gérard Depardieu, another strong, physical man who can break your heart with sensitivity. He has this creepiness, but a sympathetic attractiveness, too."

"A young tenor player was complaining to me that Coleman Hawkins made him nervous. Man, I told him Hawkins was supposed to make him nervous! Hawkins has been making other sax players nervous for forty years!"

"I keep reverting (to Duke Ellington), he to me is the greatest ever and my favorite jazz philosopher, as such."

"There's no future without the past and anybody who doesn't really understand where jazz has come from has no right to try to direct where it's going."

"Julian Adderley's nickname "Cannonball" was derived from "cannibal," which he was dubbed in high school because of his large appetite. But the alto player also had a voracious hunger for music, which showed in his inventive improvisations, especially on Miles Davis's watershed album Kind of Blue and Adderley's remarkable Blue Note release Somethin' Else."

"I'm not a drummer anymore. On my gravestone, if there is one, if anyone writes anything about me besides hopefully being a dad, it would be that I sang in my band when I was in my 20s. So I was like, "Yeah, I should probably focus on this a little more," so I just practiced a lot."

"What you want if you're asking that question is a specific time in your life to come back to you, and that will never happen. You will never be 15 years old again. I could write, verbatim, another Take This To Your Grave, and you won't feel the same way. It's not going to mean anything to you because it wouldn't mean anything to me."

"Sometimes people associate getting big with selling out, which is funny because that's not something you necessarily have choice in. That's not a matter that is entirely up to you and at the same time, who hasn't sold out? If you've heard of a specific artist, they're big enough--they got to you. Where do you draw the line between what's big and what's too big?"

"I don't mind if someone thinks I'm a sell out. I go to bed happy knowing I do what I do and I'm not doing anything for reasons of money, and if I were trying to pick up chicks, I'm doing a horrible job. And if I wanted to drive awesome cars, I'm doing a really bad job there too."

"If you're trying to get a lot of money and attention and cars and just stuff like that, being in a band is a really bad way to do it, because it takes a lot of work, it's constant work, it's very grueling, and you don't really have time to spend money. So that would probably not even make my top 10 list of ways to make a lot of money, because records aren't selling anymore. The richest musician in America still doesn't even come close to a mid-level athlete."

"I've heard a lot of really awful, negative things said about Pete, and it's like, “Dude, you don't even have a clue how honest and real that guy is” for the amount of crap that people talk about him. Pete said it, and it's true, they make you into a wrestling character. And it's also like reality TV editing. It's really easy to cut somebody in rolling their eyes when that might not have even happened next to the thing that it's being shown next to."

"There was a weird moment where—I was still a drummer, I always saw myself as a drummer—and we got nominated for a Grammy, that was really crazy, and I was sitting there and Stevie Wonder was on stage and I remember thinking "Wow, I really need to take [singing] more seriously!""

"There's something really personal about your voice, where if people talk shit on your guitar, "Ugh, he played out of tune," etc., you can, in your head, blame it on something else, but when you fuck up with your singing, that's part of you [...] So I guess I'm an insecure enough dude that I just went back and really studied and tried to sing better."

"Pete's my best friend, I was the best man at his wedding, I love that man to death. I'd take a bullet for him."

"There's so many accusations that are so ridiculous about Pete Wentz that are taken as the gospel—people just assume that he posted pictures of his penis on the internet. That is the stupidest fucking thing thing I've ever heard. Why on earth would you ever do that?"

"I think Joe's underappreciated, I think Andy's underappreciated, I think Pete's underappreciated, I don't think people know how good he is. I think Neal [Avron]'s underappreciated, but if anything, I feel overappreciated. I think Patrick Stump gets enough attention."

"I collect movies, I still buy records constantly. I collect musical instruments and most of my time I spend making music, it's pretty much what I do 90% of the time I'm home. Aside from just normal stuff, I walk the dog, I hang out with my girlfriend, get dinner. Pretty mellow stuff."

"Right now I'm in Hollywood— I don't like Hollywood, it's not really my style. But I've found my own little niche here where it's not bad. It's one of those things where I've been on an extended work trip here for 2 years. I still technically live in Chicago and I'm dying to get back. That's one of the big things for me, I go back to Chicago when I want to hang out. I'm weirdly very proud of my city, and I hope, God willing, I die there."

"I think a producer should be like water, and whatever the shape of the glass is, he or she should fill that. If they need you to be the engineer guy--typically I have an engineer--I work at that stuff. If they need you to be a songwriting help guy, I work on that. If they need you to be a vocal melody guy, I work at that, etc. I kind of look at whatever a band needs out of me then I try to give it to them."

"I think one of the things if you look at minimalism or expressionism, there's various movements in modern composition that I think you can see really natural relations in pop music, so I mean I always look to that in pop music."

"Reich and John Cage were pretty big influences on this record (Folie A Deux) in weird ways in that you wouldn't necessarily hear any of it - nothing ends up sounding like either of them, but I think just methodology and things like that ended up on the record in various ways."

"I hear all sorts of things slung at us, one of my favorites being the "boy-band" accusation. I'm like, 'Boy band? I'm fat! If we were a boy band, I'd look good, I'd dance and I'd be charming - so what the fuck are you talking about?' I write songs, that's all I do."

"I get really annoyed with photo shoots and interviews and handshakes. I’m a musician; God forbid I actually have time to make music."

"He's not cocky because of Fall Out Boy, he's cocky because he's Pete Wentz."

"Quiet IS the new loud."

"Yeah, I've been writing a bunch of new stuff, but it's all secret. In fact, I may or may not have been writing stuff this entire interview."

"Whoever is in charge of my Wikipedia, all right, whoever you are - the major, most egregious thing in there isn't that, you know, apparently I'm bisexual and have like, twenty kids and that I learned everything I know from a sixteen-year-old who probably wrote that in himself, but the most egregious of all the errors is that it says I am a massive David Bowie fan, which is true, but it is a gross omission to leave out my obsession with Prince. Absolutely. So whoever you are, throw that in there. Go for it. You know what? Make me eighty feet tall. And, you know, make me a transsexual. But put in Prince."

"Joe Trohman: (referring to Pete and Patrick) You guys should just make lo- You guys should get married. Patrick: We are."

"Pete Wentz: Every action movie has to have a gadget guy. You hate being the gadget guy, huh? You're a good gadget guy, you wear glasses. Patrick: (throws glasses on the floor) Now I'm a HORRIBLE gadget guy!"

"We're standing outside of Peet's Coffee. I've never been here before, but I'm gonna pretend like I have. I love you, Peet's. So good memories."

"I did my civic duty. Haha I'm driving a Civic! Whoa!"

"(Points to guide arrows on street) See these guide arrows? Fuck you, guide arrows! Tell me to go that way? Fuck you."

"Nintendo DS makes me forget that I don't have any friends."

"Patrick: One of my favorite rumors about myself is that I am 31, which is just about 10 years off, so... Pete: He's 41, you motherfuckers."

"I hate barbeque sauce. Little known fact about me. Can't stand it."

"Before lunch, and ultimately recess, I need you to know - you're going to die."

"Carpool to save gas. 'Cause I know you're in grade school and driving is like, what you do."

"I'm sure it's gotta be a great job 'cause rock stars are known for their punctuality and politeness, so..."

"Yeah, I'm one of those guys--I'm either totally on time and--and everything's good, or I just--I just didn't know what happened, you know, and I just totally don't show up. Like not like late, like, I didn't know--my problem is that sometimes I'm real bad at getting information and retaining it, so...I dunno...Sometimes it's more forgetting than late."

"Don't just look at her ass, eat it."

"Calm before the storm - fuck it; MEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. MEOW."

"Hey, does your mother sew? BOOM! Get her to sew that."

"Come to think of it, I'm gonna- I'm gonna make him bald, and make him- and make him sweat acid. And I think I'm gonna give him weird bladder problems, and romantic problems..Y'know what?! THE WHOLE THING!"

"Know somethin'... I got a range. I got a range like no motherfucker knows."

"I already said that fucking thing, you missed it. Where were you on that one, O'Keefe? Eyes on the prize. Focus!"

"My badge my witn- oh shh... *hums* Pete:*makes weird noise* oh shhh!"

"Woah! Nope... *screams* Boo..."

"What's so funny about I don't get it..."

"I mean you never heard of the menlinium falcon is the shit, but made the Kessel Run in and under 12 parsecs"

"Hi I'm Patrick. Today we're going to look at how long it takes for spilt Coke to sink into a carpet. [plays Jeopardy music] Note that it's still fizzy."

"I'm probably the only guy in the world that likes to eat black licorice."

"Hi, I'm Patrick Stump. And I'm wearing Pete's pants."

"These are the dude version. They couldn't possibly be your pants!"

"Everything was plugged in and should’ve been working, but it gave me a communication error. I got like a cave man and got so mad at it. I was completely fed up. I’m not an engineer, I’m not a computer whiz. I don’t know anything about electronics. All I know is that I want this thing to make noise, I want to write music, and it’s not working."

"I mean, if I had a piccolo in front of me I would probably figure out how to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ or something."

"I don't know, we played a show for like, ten kids, but those ten kids were just insane. It's really quantity, not quality, and that's what I really -- (Pete cuts him off) Pete: It's quality, not quantity. You said it backwards. I don't want you to look like a dumbass... on film."

"This one's for all the homies who couldn't make it to the party!"

"We're meant for each other 'cause we smell bad."

"There are some things in life that make you happy, and make you like your life. Then there are some things in life that you witness, that make you not like your life as much. I think that's one of them. I'm sorry, Juan."

"I started playing music when I was really young. I didn't start off on guitar because I couldn't fit my hands around the neck and fret board. So I did the drums. And back then, all I did was hit things."

"I used to work in a record store. I'm kind of a record nerd."

"Fall Out Boy are a lot more influenced by pop these days, but no matter the era, Patrick Stump has always possessed an inimitable style. Influenced by the Get Up Kids and Saves the Day, he uses his soulful, gigantic voice to increase the drama and atmosphere, which is aided by Pete Wentz’s evocative lyricism. It all adds an abundance of swagger, personality, and theatricality to his impressive vocal runs."

"Stump’s belts are as iconic as the band’s biblically long song titles."

"You know, [Jojo] right now, the most important thing in my life is to make sure you understand that, first of all, I thank God I’m alive today, and I mean that. You see, I spent too many years of my life thinking that the big party was the whole thing. It took me quite a while to find out that the real deal is to be able to be enough of a person on your own to know when somebody loves and cares about you. You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other — our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That’s to help each other, not hurt each other. Sometimes, to help them, we've got to help ourselves, so that we’ll know that they’re around in the first place. You see, it’s a big world out there with enough pain and misery in it, without me going around and helping it out by hurting myself, and consequently, those that care about me. What I’m trying to get across to you is: Please take care of yourself and those that you love, because that’s what we are here for, that’s all we’ve got, and that is what we can take with us."

"I hit rock bottom, but thank God my bottom wasn't death."

"I am stranded, caught in the crossfire."

"Walkin' the Tightrope, steppin' on my friends Walkin' the tight rope, it was a shame and a sin. Walkin the tight rope between wrong and right. Walkin the tight-rope both day and night."

"Up and down that road in our worn out shoes. Talkin' 'bout good things and singin' the blues. You went your way and I stayed behind. We both knew it was just a matter of time. You're liv-in out dreams of you on top. My mind is achin' and, Lord it won't stop. That's how it happened livin' life by the drop."

"You got me flippin' like a flag on a pole."

"Yeah I love my baby, heart and soul Love like ours won't never grow old She's my sweet little thang, she's my pride and joy She's my sweet little baby, I'm her little lover boy"

"Stevie Ray Vaughan did to music what Michael Jordan did for basketball. Stevie brought blues alive at a crucial moment, as far as I'm concerned."

"I don't think Stevie ever knew how incredible he really was."

"I was driving, and "Let's Dance" came on the radio. I stopped my car and said, 'I have to know who this guitar player is today. Not tomorrow, but today.' That has only happened to me three or four times ever, and probably not for anyone in between Duane Allman and Stevie."

"The first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan was seeing "Let's Dance" on MTV, and I was jumping out of my seat screaming, "Who the hell is playing guitar?"

"Stevie Ray Vaughan played blues like a man possessed. The perfect combination of chops, taste, conviction, tone and showmanship, Vaughan and his ’59 Fender Stratocaster exposed a whole new generation of listeners to the blues and, in turn, Stevie’s own influences: Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy."

"How you gonna win when you ain't right within?"

"If everyone is a product of this society, who will say the things that need to be said, and do the things that need to be done, without compromise? Truth will never start out popular in a world more concerned with marketability than righteousness. It will initially suffer ridicule and even violence — yet ultimately it is undeniable. All of humanity is living in a dream world, but suffering real consequences."

"It's emotional warfare telling the people we love, the most, the truth about ourselves."

"From the moment I first heard Lauryn Hill's song about becoming a mother, I knew that I would name my child Zion. "Now the joy of my world is in Zion / Now the joy of my world is in Zion," she sang. I wept out loud the first time I heard the song. It touched me to my soul."

"You can be a jazz player and be respected by musicians, but the rest of the world doesn’t care. [...] We’re going to play a game: name a jazz player that means something."

"We can't be The Beatles. I can't shine their shoes. I can't sing as well as Paul or John. I can't write those kind of songs. But they would die in my armour and my eight-inch platform heels, and Paul can't spit fire, so there you have it."

"Elvis is the king of rock and roll, who made white kids shake there shackle."

"Being a Jew, you realize your strongest weapon is your mind."

"I think Prince was heads, hands and feet about all the rest of them, I thought he left (Michael) Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly, I'll grant you … but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death."

"The most important thing in life is to be a selfish asshole. Do what you want, piss off everyone and stop hanging with the guys because they're not going to get you money or sex."

""Earth has never been in better shape…I know — climate change and a polarised political thing — but there are no more world wars. I mean, imagine what London looked like 60 years ago. This is the best of times. Unemployment in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 50 years — 5-0…More people are working. More people are making more money. Unions are more powerful." (2019)"

"My mother is probably the wisest person I've ever known. She's not schooled, she's not well read. But she has a philosophy of life that makes well-read people seem like morons."

"My skin is more beautiful than yours. I would be quite more popular in jail if I so chose."

"The notion is that if you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs."

"You know why I'm pulling your leg? Because I can't touch it from where I am."

"You can't argue with facts and figures. Either people want it, in which case they pay for it, or it's two guys sitting around at the Plaza having a discussion, which means nothing. I mean, Titanic. I wasn't crazy about the movie. But you know what? I'm gonna shut up, because the people have spoken. End of story!"

"KISS is the number-one American band in gold-record sales. In the world, only the Beatles and the Stones are ahead of us. Every other band should be wiping my ass. The line forms over there to the left."

"Prostitute yourself. As far as I'm concerned, that's even braver than waiting for the public to catch on."

"Anybody who picks up a guitar and tells you that there's some inner message that they're trying to convey . . . it's nonsense. They're not being honest. The reason they're doing this is they wanna get lots of chicks and they don't want to work for a living."

"People say, "I want to get laid a lot and make lots of money." That's not the right order."

"A whore, in my estimation, has more credibility than a wife, and I'll tell you why. A wife is supposed to marry you for love. A whore is not there for love, she's there to service you. Now, the difference between them is a whore, before she does her work, will tell you exactly what it is. She'll tell you, "Blow job? This'll cost you seventy-five dollars. This is not love, and after I'm done I never want to see you again." Full disclosure is what they call it in court. A wife will tell you shit. A wife will tell you nothing. She's about to marry you. If you get divorced, she's going to take 50 percent of your gross pretax dollars and try to get more. Now, before you get married, if you dare bring up the notion, "By the way, let's just be completely honest with each other, what happens if we break up?" she will cry and tell you, "That's so unromantic." You know who's more credible? The whore."

""You can't buy love with money." Only a poor person says that."

"You shall not covet thy neighbor's wife? Well, how about if she goddamn covets me? What do you think about that?"

"“I think I know it all, relatively speaking.”"

"My mother was 14 when she was in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. My mother’s alive and well, but only because of America. Without America’s military, the world would be in deep… fill-in-the-blank. I’m forever grateful for that."

"I’ve known Donald (Trump) for a few decades, and what you can say without argument is that he’s a good father. His kids have turned out really well. There’s nothing bad you can say about that."

"Like any large organization, there are going to be some bad people. Many people go to church; not every priest is a good guy. But you . Wounded Warrior is an important organization, and all the various vet groups are important because, shamefully, we don’t have an amendment to the Constitution that guarantees if you volunteer to serve your country, and risk life and limb, that you’re even going to get a job, so that you can feed your family. It’s pathetic. ‘Hey, thanks a lot for risking your life, and you’ve been wounded. Good luck out there!’ The men and women of our military may not expect to get rich and famous, but at least give them a job for God’s sake, so they can feed their family!"

"The best philanthropy is anonymous charity. When you’re doing it for the right reasons, and not to tell everyone how nice you are. That’s self-aggrandizement. That’s also OK: if you want credit, that’s OK. But the higher giving is anonymous giving."

"What is soul? I don't know! Soul is a hamhock in your cornflakes... Soul is a joint rolled in toilet paper."

"Don't terrorize. Organize. Don't burn. Give kids a chance to learn … The real answer to race problems in this country is education. Not burning and killing. Be ready. Be qualified. Own something. Be somebody. That's Black Power."

"Manhood is what we profess, and what we try to get across."

"A colored is a very frightened-to-death Afro-American. A Negro is one that makes it in the system, and he wants to be white. A nigger, he's loud and boisterous, wants to be seen. Nobody likes a nigger. A black man has pride. He wants to build, he wants to make his race mean something. Wants to have a culture and art forms. And he's not prejudiced. I am a black American man. Now you go ahead and print it."

"Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all."

"It doesn't matter how you travel it, it's the same road. It doesn't get any easier when you get bigger, it gets harder. And it will kill you if you let it.""

"Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that."

"When I'm on stage, I'm trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Just like church does. People don't go to church to find trouble, they go there to lose it."

"To make it in life, you and your wife need to be in the same business. That has been my problem all along. My wives didn't know what I was doing. I would come back home from the road to a stranger. That's no good."

"I would warn against anyone marrying a person with more than a ten-year age difference. It almost never works. It is difficult to find things to talk about, to use similar reference points, and to operate at the same speed of life. Another problem is that both sides usually don't want the same things at the same time."

"This is an issue couples have to be straight on and agree on before they walk down that aisle; otherwise there is no way their marriage will survive."

"I'm the most sampled and stolen. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, too … I got a song about that … But I'm never gonna release it. Don't want a war with the rappers. If it wasn't good, they wouldn't steal it."

"I'm going away tonight."

"Try me. Try me. And your love will always be true. Oh I need you (I need you). Hold me. Hold me. I want you right here by my side. Hold me. Hold me. And your love we won't hide."

"Come here sister... Papa's in the swing. He ain't too hip... about that new breed babe. He ain't no drag, Papa's got a brand new bag."

"When I hold you in my arms, I know that I can't do no wrong. And when I hold you in my arms, My love can't do me no harm.And I feel nice, like sugar and spice I feel nice, like sugar and spice. So nice, so nice, well I got you."

"This is a mans world. This is a mans world. But it would be nothing, nothing Without a women or a girl."

"When you kiss me, And ya miss me. You hold me tight, Make everything all right. I break out - in a cold sweat heh!"

"Our love is kind of stalled, baby. But it ain't about the sex. I'd trade the roses and the negligees If we could just connect. I go deeper when you look into my eyes. There's a place where neither one of us can hide. And it's up to us to reinvent the game. Love it when you call my name."

"Mama, come here quick, Bring me that lickin' stick. Mama, come here quick, Bring me that lickin' stick. People standin', Standin' in a trance. Sister out in the backyard Doin' the outside dance."

"Look a'here, some people say we got a lot of malice Some say it's a lotta nerve I say we won't quit moving Til we get what we deserve. We've been 'buked and we've been scourned We've been treated bad, talked about As just as sure as you're born But just as sure as it take Two eyes to make a pair, huh Brother, we can't quit until we get our share.Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud."

"Get up, Get on up. Stay on the scene. Get on up, Like a Sex Machine. Get on up, Get up. Shake your arm, Then use your form. Stay on the scene, like a Sex Machine. You gotta have the feeling, Sure as you're born."

"Watch me … watch me! I got it! Watch me … I got it. HEY!I got somethin' that makes me wanna shout. I got somethin' that tells me what it's all about. Huh, I got soul and I'm super bad!"

"The American black person knows something which nobody else in the world knows. To have been where we were, to have paid the price we have paid, to have survived, and to have shaken up the world the way we have is a rare journey. No one else has made it but us. There is a reason that people are listening to James Brown, Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin all over the world, and not to somebody from Moscow, Turkey, or England. And the reason is not in our crotch but in our heart, our soul. It's something the world denied and lied about, energy they labeled savage, inferior, and insignificant. But it has been proven that no matter what they labeled it, they cannot do without it."

"Everything we're singing about is true, and even when you take away all the glitz, it's still true in the darkest, ugliest and most hopeless places."

"As soon as you're willing to humble yourself and say, God, please help — then you can find out that His strength really is perfect, that He really does care for you, that He does really want to meet your need."

"Let us remember that this scene [the Nativity] represents so much more than just a touching story or a nostalgic holiday fairytale. It is, in fact, a reminder of the most amazing reality: That God came, and God spoke. Peace on earth, God is with us. And the God who spoke still speaks. And the God who came still comes. This is the true Miracle of Christmas – that as we stand here tonight in our real world with our real lives full of problems and questions, past hurts and future hopes, God is with us."

"There’s obviously always danger in making music or art for art’s sake. Even as Christians we can be guilty of that, being more about the art than the Artist who gave us this gift."

"Wherever we are, God's in that moment, God's speaking to us, and if we've just got our ears open and our antennas up, there's no lack of inspiration. He's not silent. We just have to be listening."

"If I had a hammer, I'd build a city on stilts so my feet would stay dry when God's wine glass tilts. If I had a shovel, I'd dig a hole in the dirt and I'll be hiding when his drunken stupor lands upon earth"

"I think we're all a bunch of weirdos on a quest to belong. The songs are echolocation up in impregnable fog. That's why it's odd to see a pile of imperfections and flaws ascend a pedestal to patronize the rest of the cogs."

"Life's not a bitch, life is a beautiful woman, You only call her a bitch 'cause she won't let you get that pussy, Maybe she didn't feel y'all shared any similar interests, Or maybe you're just an asshole who couldn't sweet-talk the princess,"

"It's from a video game, idiot! (or possibly "It's from a video game idiot!")"

"It makes me laugh. The part I don't understand, the dude is trying to act like I went to his house and took it from his computer. I don't know him from a can of paint. I'm 15 years deep. That's how you attack a king? You attack moi? Come on, man. You got to come correct. You the laughing stock. People are like, "You can't be serious.""

"Sample and stole is two different things. Stole is like I walked in your house, watched you make it, stole your Pro Tools ... Sample is like you heard it somewhere, and you just sampled. Maybe you didn't know who it was by because it don't have the credits listed."

"…I still have a bunch of childlike [energy] in me. I still feel young and vibrant. I don’t ever want to lose that. I still feel that way. I’m 80, but I feel like I’m 30. I really do, physically and emotionally. I was a kid, and I was getting a chance to embark upon a life that I had thought was my impossible dream. Where I grew up, I didn’t think it was going to be possible for me to actually be in show business, to write songs and sing and make records, and all that. But that was my dream. It was what I wanted to do with my life, if possible. And I didn’t think it would be, so no, I wasn’t tripping like that."

"…As far as I’m concerned, Motown was a once-in-a-lifetime musical event. Nothing like that happened before. I seriously doubt anything like that will ever happen again..."

"…If you had a good song, and you were a producer or writer at Motown, you had access to all the artists. It didn’t matter who had the last hit record. If they liked you at all, you had the opportunity. I wanted to write something sweet for David Ruffin to sing, which became “My Girl.” And he sang the shit out of it, so it was contagious. I don’t regret that whatsoever."

"…“Who’s Loving You” is about a person who had somebody they really loved but did that person wrong and took them for granted, so that person left. And they’re sitting around later, grieving, thinking about the wrong that they did to this person, and who’s loving that person now. There’s no way an 11-year-old child could know that. But this dude sang that song like he had written it, like he knew all about it. It became his song. If I sing it somewhere now, if I even sing a part of it, young people in the audience come to me and say, “Why are you singing a Michael Jackson song?”…"

"…it’s disappointing for the people who are still of that frame of mind to be in that place where they think that people are different. The only difference between people is the texture and the color of our skin. If you skinned everybody alive, you wouldn’t know who anyone was. All our hearts are in the same place, our organs, our everything is in the same place. We all have red blood. We’re all human beings. It’s almost 2021. It’s a damn shame that all this time’s gone in life, and people still don’t get that. I’ve wished many times that we would get attacked by some outer-space planet or something like that so we can all come together as earthlings and help each other. See, there’s evil, and there’s good, and people who adopt evil, that’s who they are. It ain’t got shit to do with the color of their skin or where they live. And young people are seeing through that shit…"

"…The concept of the United States of America is the greatest concept in the world. It’s beautiful. It’s a wonderful concept. There’s no place like America. So, for people to come in and try to fuck that up is ridiculous. I’m a Black man, and I’m telling you this: I’ve been all over the world. The only places I haven’t been are Africa, China, and Russia. Here, people say “African American.” Don’t call me no African American. I’m a Black American. [You’re not] going to label me to try to say that I don’t belong in this country when my people have fought and died to establish this country. Black soldiers have fought and died for this country. They were doing it for Mississippi and Georgia and Alabama. I’m a Black American."

"…I don’t think I started [show business], and I know that I’m not going to finish it. I have my place in it, and I’m going to cherish that place. It’s a gift. I’m not going to squander it."

"She's not a bad girl because She made me see, hmmm... How love could be. But she's a bad girl because (bad girl because) She wants to be free, hmmmm... (bad girl because) She wants to be free (bad girl)"

"Ah, they tell me that the river's too deep And it's much too wide for you can't get across to the other side. But they don't know I've got to get there and hold her in my arms Just a one more time like I did before when she was mine all mine. Cause I can hear her saying (come to me baby) I'm going away. I'm going to stay. I'm gonna get to you, no matter what I have to do."

"Just because you've become a young man now, There's still some things that you don't understand now. Before you ask some girl for her hand now, Keep your freedom for as long as you can now.My mama told me...'you better shop around' (Shop, shop around) a-whoa-yeah You better (uh-huh) shop around."

"If ever I have a son in life, I'll call him in one day Sit him down upon my knee and here is what I'll say.You might lose your lover, people do sometime. Oh, but it won't make sense for you to sit around cryin'. Son, don't you know that when you fall in love, Sometimes, you're gonna have the blues. Well it may take years, but you're gonna shed some tears. 'Cause everybody's got to pay some dues, now, now. Everybody's got to pay some dues."

"What's so good about goodbye? All it does is make you cry. Well, if leaving causes grieving, And depart can break you heart,Tell me (what's so good about it) I could have done without it. What's so good about goodbye?"

"I will build you a castle with a tower so high It reaches the moon. I'll gather melodies from birdies that fly And compose you a tune. Give you lovin' warm as Mama's oven. And if that don't do, Then I'll try something new."

"I don't like you But I love you. See that I'm always Thinking of you. Oh, oh, oh, You treat me badly; I love you madly. You've really got a hold on me. You've really got a hold on me, baby."

"You better beware, my friends all told me When they saw that I was falling for you. You better beware they told me that girl ain't gonna be true. She'll have you walking with your head in the air, Have you thinking that she really, really care. Then-a, then she'll let you down, she'll really let you down. She's a girl with no understanding. And when she's getting tired of you hanging around, She'll let you drop and say... have a happy landing (happy landing)."

"No don't you know my daddy told me, Told me right from the start About youth. He said no matter how old a man is, He's partly a boy in his heart. Yeah, and that's the truth."

"Ooo la la la la I did you wrong; my heart went out to play. But in the game I lost you. What a price to pay, hey I'm crying.Ooo baby baby. Ooo baby baby."

"People say I'm the life of the party 'Cause I tell a joke or two. Although I might be laughing loud and hearty, Deep inside I'm blue.So take a good look at my face. You know my smile looks out of place. If you look closer, it's easy to trace The tracks of my tears."

"My girl has gone, and said goodbye. Don't you cry, hold your head up high. Don't give up, give love one more try, 'Cause there's a right girl for every guy."

"Maybe you want to give me kisses sweet, But only for one night with no repeat. Maybe you'd go away and never call, And a taste of honey is worse than none at all (oh little girl) Oh little girl, in that case I don't want no part. (I do believe that) That would only break my heart. Oh, but if you feel like loving me, If you got the notion, I second that emotion."

"Now if there's a smile on my face, It's only there tryin' to fool the public, But when it comes down to foolin' you; Now honey, that's quite a different subject. But don't let my glad expression Give you the wrong impression. Really I'm sad. I'm sadder than sad. You're gone and I'm hurtin' so bad. Like a clown I pretend to be glad."

"Baby, let's cruise away from here. Don't be confused, the way is clear. And if you want it, you got it forever. This is not a one night stand, babe, yeah. So let the music take your mind, whoa. Just release and you will findYou're gonna fly away, glad you're going my way. I love it when we're cruisin' together. The music is playing for love. Cruisin' is made for love. I love it when we're cruisin' together."

"I don't care what they think of me, And I don't care what they say. I don't care what they think if you're leavin'. I'm gonna beg you to stay. I don't care if they start to avoid me. I don't care what they do. I don't care about anything else But bein' with you, Bein' with you."

"I try to say goodbye and I choke Try to walk away and I stumble Though I try to hide it, it's clear My world crumbles when you are not here"

"I saw a rainbow earlier today Lately those rainbows be comin' round like everyday Deep in the struggle I have found the beauty of me God is watchin' and the Devil finally let me be Here in this moment to myself"

"I still Light up like a candle burnin when he calls me up I still Melt down like a candle burnin everytime we touch Oh say what you will He does me wrong and I should be gone I still Be lovin you baby and it's much too much"

"And baby, when I see ya I'm gonna love you all over the place And baby, when I see ya I'm gonna kiss you all over your face"

"Run the creature has come, there's no cover for you no prize When you've won."

"Be. If I could be Jesus for just a day and have it my way, if I Could be perfect, like the light — Jesus for a night and have It my way — if I could be Atop my mountain a phenomenon — when I walk on water I am Complete, at peace and I'd make it so you'd be just like me."

"He was perfect except for the fact that he was an engineer And mothers prefer doctors And lawyers Yet despite this imperfection He was clean-looking and respectable-looking And you'll never find a mother Who doesn't appreciate a natural man"

"Pavlov's Daughter, woke up in the morning, hear the bell ring, and something deep inside of her, makes her want to salivate, so she lays there drooling on her pillow..."

"I'm the king's thirty-second son There's thirty-one others just like me There's thirty-one others on the way There's thirty-one others after that..."

"Thirty-two's still a goddamn number Thirty-two's still counts Gonna make it count"

"Pickle jars are just pickle jars, and pickles are just pickles."

"Ingredients:"

"Water, salt, cucumbers, garlic and"

"Pickling spices"

"Love is the answer to a question I have forgotten, but I know I've been asked. And the answer has got to be love."

"The world's got a nosebleed, it said And we're flooding, but we keep on cutting the trees and the forests! And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV Who claim they will save us, but want to enslave us, and Sweating like demons, they scream through our speakers But we leave the sound on 'cause silence is harder, and No one's the killer and no one's the martyr The world that has made us can no longer contain us And prophets are silent and rotting away."

"On the day that Daniel Cowman stopped existing The world should have ended right then and there At precisely four-fifteen when he stopped existing The world should have ended How could it go on?"

"How could it go on when I don't exist? I don't exist... So now that we've got that straight Doesn't mean that I can fly Doesn't mean I that I can go do whatever I want."

"A man destined to hang Can never drown, A man destined to hang Can never ever drown. A man destined to drown Can never burn..."

"A man destined to fry Can never ever ever die... In any other way but frying. Lucky that I'm dying By hanging and not drowning."

"The flowers you gave me are rotting And still I refuse to throw them away"

"They'll name a city after us And later say it's all our fault…"

"Imagine you go away On a business trip one day And when you come back home Your children have grown And you never made your wife moan"

"People are just people They shouldn't make you nervous The world is everlasting, it's coming and it's going If you don't toss your plastic The streets won't be so plastic And if you kiss somebody then both of you get practice"

"I never loved nobody fully Always one foot on the ground And by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the sounds I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind all these words I hear in my mind all this music And it breaks my heart It breaks my heart..."

"On the radio We heard November Rain That solo's awful long But it's a good refrain"

"This is how it works — You're young until you're not You love until you don't You try until you can't You laugh until you cry You cry until you laugh And everyone must breathe Until their dying breath."

"No, this is how it works — You peer inside yourself You take the things you like And try to love the things you took And then you take that love you made And stick it into some Someone else's heart Pumping someone else's blood And walking arm in arm You hope it don't get harmed But even if it does You'll just do it all again."

"Power to the people We don't want it We want pleasure And the TVs try to rape us And I guess that they're succeeding And we're going to these meetings But we're not doing any meeting And we're trying to be faithful, but we're Cheating, cheating, cheating"

"It's like forgetting the words to your favorite song You can't believe it; you were always singing along It was so easy and the words so sweet You can't remember; you try to move your feet."

"I've got a perfect body But sometimes I forget I've got a perfect body, because my eyelashes catch my sweat Yes they do, they do."

"No one laughs at God in a hospital, No one laughs at God in a war, No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor..."

"No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door And they say "We've got some bad news, sir." No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood But God can be funny At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke Or when the crazies say He hates us And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke God can be funny When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus God can be so hilarious..."

"No one's laughing at God — We're all laughing with God."

"Living in your pre-war apartment Soon to be your post-war apartment"

"Two birds on a wire One tries to fly away And the other watches him close from that wire He says he wants to as well But he is a liar"

"Try it again, breathing's just a rhythm"

"Leaves become most beautiful when they're about to die When they're about to fall from trees When they're about to dry"

"I wear glasses because I need them; I don't wear them to be the fashion victim, I have to have them because I have a stigma in one eye and I'm blind in another. But I make it fun, I make it acceptable to fit in society; I've always worn crazy, goofy glasses, it's just what I do. This is who I am. Love me or leave me."

"I'm not that deep, I'm not that mysterious. Don't try to figure me out. I'm a very open book. What you see is what you get."

"I'm a fighter by nature and nothing will ever change that."

"My will, my faith and my body have been challenged, but make no mistake, my heart is strong and my resolve to fight will never be broken."

"I don't fear death. But I don't like being dangled out there like a piece of meat on a fishing rod to it either. If I'm going to die, take me out now. Don't let me suffer. That's not exactly the way I wanted to go. I don't want to be in limbo, I don't want to know that I might die. The mights don't work with me. I'm too literal."

"I'm a singer who touches millions of people and my words and my knowledge of what I'm learning from cancer can help millions. And if I can help millions, even if I help one person, that's one person more than none."

"At the end of the day I'm maybe clean of cancer right now, but that doesn't mean it won't come back at 100%. So I'm not leaving here going: "Oh my God my life is over, cuz I don't know..." I'm sitting here, I'm happy I'm at Rove, I'm happy I'm in Australia, I'm pleased I finished an album, I'm just grateful. If it comes back I will kick it in the butt as much as I could. But it's not about winning, it's just about fighting, and that's all you got to on this earth. It's just fight for what your right is, and that's to live. (from an interview at The Rove Live, Australia, 2004)"

"I don't have a deep desire to know my father. My brother and sister and I got forgotten about by him, and we haven't spoken to him in a ridiculous amount of years. He never contacted us after he and my mother broke up. [...] I never felt rejected as a kid. We had a fulfilling life with my mum. She was so strong."

"All I can say is we are not promised tomorrow, I know that, you know that. So we gonna make every moment last and just blessed it and appreciate it. (form her speech at Rock in Rio, 2006)"

"When I'm asked where I want to be in five or 10 years time, I say I just want to be alive and healthy."

"I had to perform in Béziers, In France, in a huge arena where they normally hold bullfights. There where a bunch of important people there, I was not that famous yet, so alot was riding on this performance, but the vibe was amazing. So a few songs into the set I yelled very enthusiastically ‘J’adore Béziers” Unfortunatly my French speech is not perfect so it sounded as J'adore baiser! The public did not respond, so I thought, with the wind they probably did not understand it clearly, so alot louder I yelled J'ADORE BAISER!!!! And then a deadly silence. Afterwords someone asked me, ‘doe joe know vot you ave just told all of France?’ Sure, I told’em I love’em….euh not really...man I was dying! But the boss from the French record label said, don’t worry about it, they thought u where amazing, we will sell alot of records here."

"(About Prince) I recently met him, he's a Jehovah's witness, right? The first thing i said to him was "omigaaawdifuckinloveyourmusic". He looked at me with that look of his and said very softly 'uh, you have to pray that you can ban swearing out of your live, otherwise you can never please the lord" Me : I'll fuckin' try!, followed with 'did i fuckin' curse?' in which he responded "yeah, you fuckin' did".(laughs) Okay that last part I made up, but he was very serious about it. So i thought, my god, this is the guy from "Head" and from "Darling Nikki" who is mastrubating in the lobby from a hotel. In his studio he even has a curseing jar, everybody that swear has to put a $50 into it. I was speechless, and let me tell you, that does not happen to me alot. But, he is and stays a genius."

"One time I woke up on the day of a concert with a stiff neck, and not just a regular stiff neck, I was standing croocked, like the hunchback of Notre Dame. I got some shots then, which did not work. They could have easily put the stage croocked that day so it at least would have looked like I was walking normally. I did perform that night, but I remember nothing from it, was so high from the shots. Later I heared from my manager that I was doin never ending talks between songs. The guy’s at the mix table where trying via the monitor to get me to start singing the next song, but I just kept talking ‘wait wait wait, just one more fun thing I want to say…” I was the stand up comic from hell."

"I was walking tru Amsterdam when I heared I’m Outta Love blasting out of an open window. In that moment I rang their doorbell and when those people opened the door I said ‘Roomservice!’ Never I saw people dropping their jaws that much (laughs) I saw their eyes goin from me to their tv that had mtv on, back to me and back to the tv again, you saw they where thinking, how can this woman be in both places in the same time? But once they got over that shock they did not wanna let me go anymore, ‘come in, there is plenty to drink, there is plenty of everything (winks), what do you wanna eat, are u staying over…?’ Sweet people, real cute, only later I realized, oh my god, what if they were just making love to my music, they would have opend the door naked!"

"You don't have to be blond or blue eyes or taller or smaller...just have to be who you need to be, and that's help people become who they are."

"Early detection has saved my life twice. I will continue to battle and lend my voice in any way I can."

"Sometimes I wonder if my purpose on this earth is to be a role model. Look at my challenges as a gift, and my voice as tool."

"(About Elton John) He's my fairy Godfather; literally that's what I call him. [...] Hopefully while I'm in town there'll be a moment I can share my new boobs with him. I have to show him, because he gets to see. Not that he's really caring, but I flashed him my other ones so he has to see these ones too. He has to see the new set."

"You're the soldier girl who tells the other troops who haven't fought the battle what it's like so they can fight it better."

"I'm just as fragile and broken as anyone else at times. We all have to get through our stuff as best we can. Some of us have strong armour, some of us don't. Sometimes my armour has been very strong and sometimes it's been very fragile."

"I think there will always be challenges for women and men. There are always going to be male chauvenists but it's just a matter of women continuing to stand up for their rights and prove their worth. The world would end if women didn't start families, carry children, but that is no reason for them not to work, have careers, exist as a person rather than just a mother."

"I felt very awkward as a teenager. I wanted blue eyes, I wanted to be taller, I wore glasses, I got my chest early and I was very embarrassed about it. I just wasn’t the kind of girl I thought guys would want to date. Though in some ways I was okay with that because I didn’t want to date any boys anyway. I just wanted to be friends with boys, boys were cool with me. Until we were doing a show in school where we all had to wear these catsuits for a dance routine. I walked into the room, all boobs and bum, and the boys never looked at me the same way again. I was mortified. That’s probably when I started wearing my stepfather’s shirts, big and baggy, to cover up. I just wanted to stay a kid."

"There is no rose without a thorn No rain without the storm There is no laughter without tears No wisdom without years In a world gone crazy Torn between the roads that we must choose Win or lose."

"Each day another boy and girl sets foot into this world One reaches out to touch the sky One never learns to fly."

"How many rivers must we cross before we learn that the flood is rising high And the bridges all have burned Each time another dream is washed into the sea It's another piece of you It's another piece of me."

"If every soul should lose its way If every face should lose its name If no one tries to end this game Or find a way to ease the pain Who's gonna stop the rain?"

"Yo trippin' There ain't nothing wrong with the way I sing my song Yo trippin' Why you feel that to be cruel is to be real."

"I'm a freak of nature Freaky, geeky, lucky and weekly, sassefras, so, honey drink me finger licking."

"You can say what you want about me Try to do what you want to me But you can not stop me."

"I paid my dues."

"Now I'm still trusted every day People try to mess with Anastacia Gotta nothing in common cause I handle mine."

"Anytime or only for a while Don't worry Make a wish I'll be there to see your smile."

"Nothing's fair when we lose without a moment to say goodbye."

"Cradle the weight of your life You can survive what lies before you."

"Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind, it keeps on moving Tomorrow is not today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of time."

"I'm sick and tired of always being sick and tired."

"I've had my share of pleasure and I've tasted pain I never thought that I would touch an angel's wing There's a journey in my eyes It's getting hard for me to hide Like the ocean at the sunrise."

"Who wants a love without anger and rage? I Do Who wants a world where a kid can be safe? I Do Who wants to pray for the end of the pain? For the calm at the end of the day? Where there's not always more of the same? I Do."

"Wanna live in a place where the truth still finds a way to rise and advise."

"The pages I've turned are the lessons I've learned."

"Sometimes the things you want are hard to take Sometimes the ones you love are risks that you don't make."

"Freedom lies beneath reality."

"The love that lonely people crave Follows them into their grave Oh…we should never leave them lonely."

"The faded photographs The frames of broken glass The shattered memories Time will soon erase all these souvenirs Falls from a thousand tears But when I wake up you are never there."

"You can tear me apart You can rip me to pieces Try breaking me down But I'll never be beated You can say that you won But I'll never believe it cos I can't be defeated."

"Silence is a deadly poison when you have no words."

"Pieces of a dream unfolding what happened to the fairy tale Words of love are never spoken Things in life aren't always fair I'll protect you and I'll guide you and I'll give you all the love that is mine Just know in time You'll be fine."

"Show me some hope Show me some light Cause I got nothing left in me tonight If I don’t go If I say no Is it the end?"

"If there's no redemption I'll see you in hell."

"Now I know what love is worth In a broken world But I can't get past the hurt Till I give up on these Stupid little things."

"I'd rather be blind if I have to watch us fade."

"I barely recognize myself Sometimes I feel like someone else Don't always have to be perfect And if I stumble on the way I don't know I'm gonna be okay It's alright to get myself dirty."

"They say that time heals the pain Till only love remains."

"Somewhere there's an angel saying stay I need someone to tell me, I'm too hard to break I'm not ready to go just yet."

"Got a message from a wise man No one gets to choose But it's still a secret No one tells us how easily we bruise And while we try to understend Life is making other plans."

"I'm pop-corn I'm a hell storm Yeah, I'm in the hands of faith I’m so bad words Now what you heard?"

"And I've been to darker places That I never thought I'd go And I've learned lots of lessons I can say I'm finally home."

"I can see the light of day Even through the rainy haze."

"I'm dark dark white girl."

"No matter if I'm laughing or crying It ain't gonna stop me from trying The truth is what I have to uncover In this only life."

"The truest words are never wasted I'm letting go just show me how I'm getting closer I can taste it This time, our time."

"Wings of an angel Replace my beautiful scars Well hidden in the dark Time seems to stand still The world is falling apart So heavy on my heart."

"Even with broken wings Even with shattered dreams I'm still gonna try I'm still gonna fly Even with broken wings I can do anything I found a strength I never knew I had in me With these broken wings."

"Is this the light at the end of the tunnel Is this the end, the end of all my trouble Is this the light at the end of the tunnel Or just the light of another oncoming train."

"There's a new sun rising From a lost horizon And the heat that it brings Melts away all the things That has made me stand still Been a long time coming So tired of running I believe there's a reason I came through the season again It's my resurrection."

"All that I've gone through Is what brought me here So I can't regret a single thing, yeah I've had my heart broken I know what it takes to let go and move on I see myself coming And I've never been this strong."

"I'm alright with living on the edge Everything I ever got I got the hard way Wouldn't think of wishing on the shooting star I'm the underdog."

"I thought she was black when I heard her singing. [...] This is so like Tina Turner. Who is this woman sings? And even when I found out she was call Anastacia, I didn't even think she was white. She had the most amazing voice, just the most soulful voice I've heard in so long [...] She is a great live performer [...] I'm Outta Love is one of the greatest dance records of all time."

"Anastacia is someone the world will understand."

"The first time I heard Anastacia's voice I was kind of blown by, because she is kind a little and her voice was so big so powerful, so much power coming from her. It was amazing."

"She rocks, I have to tell you, she rocks."

"She's probably one of the strongest women I've ever met. Through my illness she was there for me as I hope I have been to her through her treatment. She's a really great girl."

"Some performers would stand in a spot light like Edith Piaf, darkness around and a spot light and she would sing... and she would sing very vulnerable. Than you realize "I don't know how this woman has more powerful". And some performers, well, leave out of the box and grab the audience by the throw, you know. What's amazing about Anastacia is she can kind do both."

"I think Anastacia is gonna be a big star, I really do. And she has that distinct voice where, you know, one time you hear it you never forget it."

"She has a lot of what I call star quality and that's something truly hard to describe in words. At top of all that she is just an amazing singer and an amazing performer. She is not just a singer that can only do one style."

"In fact, gory horror movies don't rank on the [list of] movies that I like. Good horror movies are great, but I just like good movies. I don't just watch grade Z garbage. That bores me to death."

"Dig through the ditches, and burn through the witches, I slam in the back of my Dragula."

"I should've been a cowboy. I should've learned to rope and ride. Wearing my six-shooter, riding my pony on a cattle drive Stealing the young girls' hearts Just like Gene and Roy Singing those campfire songs. I should've been a cowboy."

"Oh he ain't worth missin' Oh we should be kissin' Stop all this foolish wishin' He ain't worth missin' I know your head is turnin' I know your heart is burnin' Girl you gotta listen Don't you know he ain't worth missin'"

"I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then I wish I could start this whole thing over again I'm not sayin' it's you could never be true I just don't wanna know how it ends You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands I'd still look like a fool in front of your friends Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then."

"That's my house and that's my car That's my dog in my backyard There's the window to the room Where she lays her pretty headI planted that tree out by the fence Not long after we moved in That's my kids and that's my wife Who's that man, runnin' my life?"

"Yeah I'm in love with the girl in the four-wheel drive Chrome steel bumpers and red step side She has a large time in her large machine Man I wonder how she gets up in that thing It casts a big shadow sittin' in the sun She's got it revved up rockin' ready to run And someday soon I'm gonna climb right up And take a little ride in her big ol' truck."

"Lately I've been lookin' through the windows of my soul And I can see there's not much left to hold Just an empty space surrounded by the pieces of A badly broken heart that's forgotten how to love."

"Day by day, we let love just walk away And I'll be the first to say, I was glad to see it go And day by day, ever since you went away I'm finding I'm still missing you, and I just got to know...Does that blue moon ever shine on you? I wanna hold you close to me, feel just like it used to be. And baby, if you feel like I do, You can come to me."

"Oh I'm just a man, that's the way I was made. I'm not too good at sayin' what you need me to say. It's always right there on the tip of my tongue. It might go unsaid but it won't go undone. So when those three little words come so easy to you, I hope you know what I mean when I say, me too."

"Ooo there's a thin line between dreams and memories I'll be losin' my mind 'til she comes back to me."

"How do you like me now? How do you like me now, Now that I'm on my way? Do you still think I'm crazy, Standin here today? I couldn't make you love me. But I always dreamed about living in your radio. How do you like me now?"

"I run around with hillbilly girls The weekend sits on my hillbilly world You better be ready when the sun goes down That's when country comes to town."

"You shouldn't kiss me like this Unless you mean it like that Cause I'll just close my eyes And I won't know where I'm at. We'll get lost on this dance floor, Spinnin' around And around And around And around."

"Well, I'm not talkin' bout locking down forever, baby. That would be too demanding. I'm just talkin' bout two lonely people Who might reach a little understanding. I'm not talkin' bout knocking out heaven with whether we're wrong or we're right. I'm not talkin' bout hooking up and hanging out, I'm just talkin' bout tonight."

"Now this nation that I love Has fallen under attack A mighty sucker punch came flying in From somewhere in the back Soon as we could see clearly Through our big black eye Man, we lit up your world Like the 4th of July."

"Hey Uncle Sam Put your name at the top of his list And the Statue of Liberty Started shaking her fist. And the eagle will fly Man, it's gonna be hell When you hear Mother Freedom Start ringing her bell And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue."

"Justice will be served And the battle will rage This big dog will fight When you rattle his cage. And you'll be sorry that you messed with The U.S. of A. 'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass, It's the American way."

"Who's your daddy? Who's your baby? Who's your buddy? Who's your friend? And who's the one guy that you come runnin' to When your lovelife starts tumblin'?I got the money if you got the honey Let's cut a deal, let's make a plan Who's your daddy? Who's your baby? Who's your buddy? Who's your man?"

"Grand pappy told my pappy back in my day son A man had to answer for the wicked that he'd done Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree Round up all of them bad boys, hang them high in the street For all the people to seeThat justice is the one thing you should always find You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune And we'll all meet back at the local saloon. We'll raise up our glasses against Evil forces singing Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses."

"I’m gonna rock you baby to sleep I’m gonna make you crazy over me I’m gonna hold you like you’ve never been held before And love you till you tell me you can’t love anymore I’m gonna shake your emotion right down to your soul And then I’m gonna love you all over in and out of control If this is how love is supposed to feel Baby I know I’ve fallen head over heels I’m gonna rock you baby."

"We got winners, we got losers Chain smokers and boozers And we got yuppies, we got bikers We got thirsty hitchhikers. And the girls next door dress up like movie stars. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm I love this bar.We got cowboys, we got truckers Broken-hearted fools and suckers And we got hustlers, we got fighters Early-birds and all-nighters And the veterans talk about their battle scars. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm I love this bar."

"She ain't into wine and roses Beer just makes her turn up her nose and She can't stand the thought of sipping champagne No Cuervo gold margaritas Just ain't enough good burn in tequila She needs somethin' with a little more edge And a little more pain She's my little whiskey girl, she's my little whiskey girl My ragged on the edges girl, ah but I like em rough."

"I don't do it for the money There's bills that I can't pay I don't do it for the glory I just do it anyway. Providing for our future's my responsibility. Yeah I'm real good under pressure Being all that I can be.And I can't call in sick on Mondays When the weekends been too strong I just work straight through the holidays And sometimes all night long You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey, I'm true down to the core."

"And I will always do my duty no matter what the price I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice. Oh, and I don't want to die for you, But if dyin's asked of me, I'll bear that cross with honor, 'Cause freedom don't come free.I'm an American soldier, an American Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand When Liberty's in jeopardy, I will always do what's right I'm out here on the front line Sleep in peace tonight American soldier, I'm an American soldier."

"I've played every beer joint tavern from New York City out to Pasadena Every corn dog fair and rodeo And sold out every basketball arena I like to get down with my boys in Afghanistan and Baghdad city too I am a red, white and blue blood graduate of Honkytonk U."

"I ain't as good as I once was I got a few years on me now. But there was a time back in my prime When I could really lay it down. And if you need some love tonight, Then I might have just enough. I ain't as good as I once was, But I'm as good once as I ever was."

"Well all week long I'm a real nobody, But I just punched out and its paycheck Friday, Weekends here, good God almighty, I'm going to get drunk and be somebody."

"See my baby doll She's my beauty queen She's my movie star Best I ever seen I ain't hooked it up yet But I'm tryin' hard as I can It's just a high maintenance woman Don't want no maintenance man."

"How was I supposed to know? She was slowly letting go? If I was puttin her through her hell, Hell I couldn't tell.She could've given me a sign, Could've opened up my eyes. How was I supposed to see? She never cried in front of me."

"Every dog has its day, dog And today, dog, just ain't yours."

"I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss you my friend Even though it hurts the way it ended up, I'd do it all again So play it sweet in heaven 'cause that's right where you wanna be I'm not cryin' 'cause I feel so sorry for you, I'm cryin' for me."

"Music’s playin’ up and down the block Mostly Christian, Blues, Country, Folk, and Southern Rock It’s our little piece of paradise way out here in the woods There is always somethin’ goin’ on down in the trailerhood."

"[My] publicity agent … went to hear Father Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was 'you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.' And I said 'Wow, that's a colorful phrase!'"

"So you met someone who set you back on your heels - goody, goody You met someone and now you know how it feels - goody, goody"

"I know all the songs that the cowboys know 'bout the big corral where the doggies go, 'Cause I learned them all on the radio. Yippie yi yo kayah"

"From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to St. Joe, wherever the four winds blow I been in some big towns an' heard me some big talk, but there is one thing I know A woman's a two-face, a worrisome thing who'll leave ya to sing the blues in the night."

"I remember too, a distant bell... and stars that fell... like the rain out of the blue."

"When my life is through And the angels ask me to recall The thrill of them all Then I shall tell them I remember you"

"Skylark, Have you seen a valley green with Spring Where my heart can go a-journeying, Over the shadows in the rain To a blossom covered lane? And in your lonely flight, Haven't you heard the music in the night, Wonderful music, Faint as a will-o-the-wisp, Crazy as a loon, Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon."

"You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive E-lim-i-nate the negative And latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with mister inbetween."

"Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer. Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer. Lead us lest too far we wander. Love's sweet voice is calling yonder."

"Cigarette holder, which wigs me, over her shoulder she digs me: Out cattin' that Satin Doll."

"The days of wine and roses laugh and run away like a child at play Through the meadow land toward a closing door A door marked "nevermore" that wasn't there before"

"There's a long goodbye, and it happens every day, when a passerby invites your eye to come away. Even as you smile a quick hello you let her go, you let the moment fly... Too late you turn your head, you know you've said the Long Goodbye."

"We are young, heartache to heartache we stand No promises, no demands Love is a battlefield. We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing Love is a battlefield."

"Don't count on me I engineer on every Move we make from here I'll take the lead You take the pain You see, I engineered This game."

"I was born in Staten Island, New York. But I call my hometown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, because that's basically where I ended up from age eight on. But right after Staten Island... I've lived everywhere from Texas, to Japan for three years, to New Jersey. I'm this traveling girl. My father was in the Army, so I guess I'm an Army brat."

"I think an artist can fit under a few different categories depending on how much you explore your creativity. It can vary from artist to artist from musician to performer to vocalist. I thrive on creativity. So in the long run I want to be an all around entertainer."

"Even when I was little, I knew I was meant to perform. I would watch specials on TV or videos of Janet or Whitney, and I would start crying because I was like 'I want that so bad'."

"We are coming slowly but surely around a corner, not taking the things that we used to."

"I think that whatever size or shape body you have, it's important to embrace it and get down! The female body is something that's so beautiful. I wish women would be proud of their bodies and not dis other women for being proud of theirs!"

""You need to find the power within to make things happen for yourself. When you realize this, you are unstoppable.”"

"It was heartbreaking because I found out he played for your team, not mine."

"To be given the opportunity to help shape new artists' careers and mentor them to see their dreams come to fruition is a task I welcome with open arms."

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream, you've got to get out there and make it happen yourself."

"A reporter once asked me if I ever cried. I wonder if people think I'm just as hard as a rock and have no emotions at all."

"You know, you do need mentors; but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself."

"“I really, deeply believe that dreams do come true. Often, they might not come when you want them. They come in their own time.”"

"“My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.”"

"So I'm not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I'm happy that I have them I think it's good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger."

"Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her - her mike placement, her grace, her style and her class."

"Salutations my niggas, I'm aware that I'm different, you can still keep it hood while you're smoking just listen, it don't matter your race just take a blunt to the face"

"Blood sweat and tears homie I'm made of it"

"I never gave a fuck, I never gave a fuck what niggas thought about me. I mean, I did, but like fuck it. You know what I'm sayin'?"

"I know it's easy to imagine but its easier to just "do" If you can't "do" what you imagine then what is imagination to you?"

"Cause day and night, the lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night, he's all alone through the day and night, the lonely loner seems to free his mind at night"

"And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take but please don't cry, just know that I have made these songs for you, and if I die before I wake I pray the lord my soul to take cause I'm ready for a funeral"

"This is my story, this is my song If you feel it, muthafucka, you can't go wrong to the screw-face niggaz, whatch you on? Get off that, get a goal and focus dawg"

"For even in hell, I still have faith to one day be free with my father at the gates but make no mistakes, I'll show you what time takes to be a success on earth, mixed with all the hate"

"I've got some issues that nobody can see and all of these emotions are pouring out of me I bring them to the light for you it's only right"

"if I fall if I die know I lived it to the fullest, if I fall if I die know I lived and missed some bullets"

"you don't really care about the trials of tomorrow, rather lay awake in a bed full of sorrow"

"You can’t, can’t be, where I,I be Follow me and you’ll see and you’ll see."

"No I'm not no loser, I'll see you in Hell."

"Can't we just all get a bong and tag along."

"Birds seen flying around, you never see them too long on the ground, You want to be one of them..."

"I hope they understand that I really understand That they don't understand"

"I know what it feels like to have a broken nose. And ain't nobody hit you in it. It's really cause that shit that you snorted and put all in it. That time you thought I was finished no I just experimented and it helped me adjust and be ok, with being demented"

"I much prefer making music to talking about it. There's something visceral about instruments and voices that transcends words."

"Sounds are indeed like colors, and my hunger for a truer palette of colors grows day to day."

"I am apt to hire musicians sometimes because I know they will have some good jokes to tell."

"That's what music is about, and those are the types of experiences I value most in looking for the visceral and unidentifiable thing it is that makes music music, and not something else."

"We were recording a song called "I Don't Ever Want To Be Without You." The same Christian record company radio guy called me and asked me if we could change the song's title and lyrics. when I asked why, he said, "Because there are two negative words in the title-don't and without … I'd like some positive ones; can you call the song, 'I Always Want To Be With You?"'"

"It's terribly demeaning to write something that tells its story in its own way and be told it fails because it might scare somebody. My God, must we speak with all the candor of a wax Elvis?"

"I'm not sure what ministry really is, and that whatever it is, God seems to be kind enough to wrap it into our efforts and sometimes wise enough to bestow it in spite of them."

"I told him I just want to write some more songs and put them on tape. I figure the content of the songs and how I choose to answer for myself is my business. He says he is sorry, even cut to the heart, but he cannot and will not sign me, as, alas, I cannot say the things he wanted to hear. I say I am sorry he cannot hear the things I'm trying to say."

"After a ten minute prayer, the gist of which was, "Oh Lord, just sing through Mark tonight and keep him out of the picture altogether," I considered the prospect of lining up a great number of such concerts, then staying at home and sending a cardboard likeness of myself for God to sing through."

"Why pray to a god who would rather speak through say, a stone? Too bad that God made so many people who are interested in music and so few stones who are."

"Life is much more of a compromise than I ever imagined."

"But the music business is no more about truth on the outside of the Christian ghetto than it is on the inside."

"Perhaps we have more in common by virtue of our common humanity than we have differences by virtue of our religions."

"Music is a solace for me now. As I age, contrary to common sense, I am more and more drawn into it and apt to spend more of my waking and some of my sleeping hours thinking about it, or just feeling about it. It is my escape."

"I am increasingly irresponsible, it seems, in that I take on the mantle of Peter Pan and follow the second star to the right directly between a pair of speakers, or to the case that holds my mandolin."

"I wish sometimes that I just didn't have to think about any of this, and could drone away my life. It would be easier."

"Writing brings about a catharsis of my own terror and pity. It is something I have to do."

"When you can see through the fog for an instant, and you understand haltingly and briefly what good is, and how God is connected with that, it cannot help but put a hell of a perspective on things you perceive as problems, and help you discover multiple ways in which you have been numb. For that brief moment you feel that God's in His heaven and all's right with the world."

"Maybe those inclined towards the arts are so spiritually retarded to a degree that we must go through the whole process of cathartic expression just to discover how we really feel."

"Artistic expression might be seen as a Darwinian protection device for the psyche of fragile individuals, for whom sensuous contact with the outside world is too much to bear, and is repressed, and must be brought up and thrust out into the open from time to time at great effort in order for them to simply survive emotionally."

"I must at least tell somebody, even only God and myself, what I have seen and felt."

"Maybe I'm just a selfish maniac who is wasting his time trying to transfer feelings which perhaps no one cares about onto a fretboard and a piece of magnetic tape. Maybe it's the modern petroglyph, or the modern way to write on the wall of your cave: "I was here." Maybe it is a cry to God about how much I hate the bad things and how much I love the good things."

"I guess it will always be that way until the Church learns how to take lessons from culture and from history, and stops... putting labels of "spiritual" and "unspiritual" on things which God never labeled. -Appalachian Melody."

"I don't believe God wants every Christian who plays an instrument to try and form a ministry from it. After all, you don't expect a tire salesman to form a ministry with his expertise on tread design as the basis. -Appalachian Melody."

"Most Christians would say that the music should in some way glorify God. Obviously, one assortment of notes on the scale can't glorify God more than another. Neither can certain assortments of words. -Appalachian Melody."

"A lot of times I wonder what Adam would have written songs about. -Appalachian Melody."

"It is really a kind of a slap in [God's] face to refuse to use the abilities He gave us just because there is danger involved. Just because adultery exists is no reason to avoid marriage. Just because gluttony exists is no reason to quit eating. We shouldn't be anhedonics under the guise of spirituality. -Appalachian Melody."

"In my skeptical days, people who wanted to appear very spiritual were always telling me to forget my questions, to shove them under the rug and go on in "faith." In fact, some of my friends thought my questions were my own devices to dodge the "real issues." They thought I must be morally decadent to voice such questions. -Appalachian Melody."

"I have heard people say that reason leads to agnosticism, but I don't think that is necessarily the case. It was the other way around for me - it led to faith. -Appalachian Melody."

"I think seeds for doubt can be sown when a Christian is taught a narrow perspective in certain areas, and later, when that teaching is challenged by alternatives, the person panics. -Appalachian Melody."

"Did you know that Bertrand Russell dropped all belief in God because he wasn't able to voice his doubts in the company of believers? -Appalachian Melody."

"Until we learn the language of those outside the Church, the language of their hearts and the language of their minds, we will never be able to communicate properly. -Appalachian Melody."

"If every Christian would treat just one other person with real love, I'm sure more would come to faith than do at present, with all our mass harvesting techniques. -Appalachian Melody."

"Regular life, our humanness, often gets pushed aside. -Fingerprint."

"Any system of thought which allows no value to human thought will destroy its own efforts. -Fingerprint."

"Sometimes it seems Christians confuse their human nature with their sinful nature. The former we were created with, the latter we chose. It does us no good to try and escape our humanness and in so doing think we are escaping our sin. -Fingerprint."

"Trying to avoid clichés helps life become fresh again, helps us remember what life is about in the first place. -Fingerprint."

"I feel that music is the art which can best express the emotions which flow within us. It conveys something bigger than it is."

"I'm starting to realize that touring really involves a lot of waiting around doing nothing."

"A song is not just a collection of melodic riffs, it is an emotional statement."

"One of the most common failings [when writing a drum track] is repetition. Nobody wants to hear that same stupid 16-line bass-snare pattern throughout the WHOLE song. Didn't your mother ever teach you that variety is the spice of life?"

"There's a big difference between playing shows for fun, and playing shows because you're in desperate need of the money."

"I think as a musician you really have to have a wide variety of tastes, or else you will unconsciously get into a rut."

"If anything I probably gravitate to things with great melodies/harmonies, and interesting/syncopated beats."

"Some people are like "Oh, I hate guitars." How can you hate a guitar? It makes no sense. It's just an instrument."

"I find a lot of club music extremely boring."

"One of the issues these days is the sheer amount of music out there to be listened to. There are more bands than one could ever hope to explore."

"Ideally, a song should contain both elements of high melodic tension, and low melodic tension. No listener wants to sit through a totally high-energy 180 BPM non-stop 6-minute ride through synth mania unless they are already busy grooving madly on some dance floor in a smoky club somewhere. Also, unless your listener is on heavy sedation, he or she will not enjoy your sparse 18-minute ambient tune which consists of the same languid piano riff repeated over and over again."

"Silicon approaches certain fundamental limits; organic bliss is the soul catcher."

"Once you have a basic grasp of the theories underlying music, you can pretty much pick up any instrument you want."

"I've been fascinated with arcane chord progressions since I was young. The trick is to keep them interesting, while still in the realm of 'normality' (otherwise the listener has no context to appreciate the progressions in)."

"Well anyone can make a 'weird' [chord] progression by randomly picking triads."

"As with any collaboration, you have to find someone that's in your 'mode' of making music."

"Usually musicians have egos and personality quirks which makes it difficult to form collaborative efforts (for long periods of time, anyways)."

"I'm not a big fan of asynchronicity just for its own sake - a lot of people push rhythmic variation so far that the basic pulse of the music gets lost (and the listener is confused)."

"Unfortunately, as technology has improved, that which was 'underground' now heads towards obsolescence."

"I think that the public judges a song on the overall feel, not individual samples. If a sample contributes too heavily to the song, and the sample is recognized, the opinion of the piece goes down."

"It's hard to quantify a 'top ten' list of songs for many reasons. I like many styles of music, and it's difficult to compare radically divergent types of music with each other."

"If I was obsessed with making money off of my music, I wouldn't have released it for free on the internet for the last 5 years."

"I'm much more into 'electronica' (yeah, I know it's cliche these days)."

"A lot of [my] songs have various strange oddities in them - usually this is the result of late-night dementia."

"Sometimes if you polish too much, you rub off the shine."

"Every musician, I guess, wants to alter the world to his or her taste in some fashion... That's part of why I write music."

"I try to avoid categorizing music as much as I can, though. Everyone steals so much from everyone else these days, the lines between genres are very washed-out."

"Stylistic evolution comes from listening to what other people have done and making a Darwinistic modification."

"I'd like to see people try to sample the sound less and try to sample the style a bit more. Some people see this sort of 'copying' as offensive... I'm inclined to think the opposite - all music is built on imitation and expansion."

"Unfortunately Sting's jazz work isn't nearly as inventive as his rock songs."

"I think we'll soon see a new breed of musicians who have both a modern chordal sense (jazz) and a high comfort level with synthesizers and new breeds of sounds (from the electronica/techno/dj scene)."

"Music is nothing but ratios and harmonic math, anyways."

"A lot of my tracked music was written when I was very young, relatively speaking. I was very optimistic, I had finally discovered some sort of public musical outlet, it was generally a very happy time. So, the music of that time sort of reflects that, I think? By the time I started the Alpha Conspiracy project, I was older, a bit more sophisticated (and, well, cynical), and so the music got more complex."

"We started out in the middle ages creating music which had certain desirable physical properties (for example, a major chord sounds "nice" because the frequencies are in integer ratios to each other). And then as society evolved, we created these emotional contexts for certain instruments and progressions. Major-chord arpeggios sound "happy", minor chords sound "sad", chromatic scales can sound "scary", et cetera. In the 20th century, film soundtracks reinforced this point as people associated certain kinds of music with certain visual and emotional experiences. It's a giant feedback loop, really; once you grow up in a given culture, it leaves this musical fingerprint on you which colors your experiences."

"To impact someone emotionally, [a musical piece] has to contain "interesting" melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic content, and what defines "interesting" is up to the listener."

"You could argue that there's maybe some mathematical interest in a Bach fugue, say, but the only thing that music does really well is "move" people -- make them feel something."

"So, if you played a C major chord to pretty much any person on the planet, they'd say that it sounds "harmonious" (or pleasing, or happy, etc, etc). But now when you want to put chords and melodies in an ordering and make a larger piece called a "song", then that is a much more difficult process, and gets very subjective. At that point, it's not just the chords, it's the lyrics, rhythms, instrumentation, tempo, intensity, any number of other things that goes into a song... so many variables that it's almost impossible to predict how a song will affect a given person."

"Certainly there are songs out there that are massively popular, and you can use some reverse analysis to see how they're put together, but it's difficult to reliably engineer a "hit". Add to this the constantly swirling winds of cultural taste, and you can see that the music industry is more akin to playing the lottery than anything else. Having some talent or taste can give you a bit of an edge, but it's still a huge roulette wheel.."

"Well, when music "moves" someone, it doesn't necessarily have to be in a positive direction. Some people certainly get moved by darker music, and there are all sorts of emotions which music can create that are interesting -- aggression, foreboding, anger, fear. Not everyone wants to feel happy all the time :)"

"If someone only ever listens to, say, Nickelback, their opinion [about music taste] is valid but largely meaningless since they don't bring any depth to the discussion :)"

"I think there are some objective [musical] qualities... how complex something is, how melodic, how diverse the tonality is, et cetera. But I could also make a piece of music that contains all of those and yet isn't "good" from a subjective viewpoint. For example, take Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Beatles "Yesterday", and Underworld's "Born Slippy", and play them all on top of each other at the same time. Great music in their own right, but terrible sounding together."

"Imagine presenting a Nirvana or BT track to someone from the 1850's, they would probably see it as noise and not much else. Society as a whole has a much more nuanced and wide view of what music can be now. It still usually contains various rhythmic, melodic, and vocal components, but they can be combined in so many interesting ways now."

"The usual problem with progressive rock is that the band can get so wrapped up in their own fantasy land that their music becomes completely inaccessible. "Wanky", if you will."

"I have a love for cheesy music. I don't want to list any bands and embarrass myself ;D"

"I think [Britney Spears] is a perfect example of an artificial construct -- someone with a decent voice and a very marketable image, that producers and business people turned into a pop star. Unfortunately, I think it took a toll on her, mentally, and I feel bad for the trouble that success has brought onto her. However, her music is pretty disposable, and she doesn't have the intelligence and cultural impact of someone like, say, Madonna."

"The problem these days is again just the sheer amount of music available, and that music isn't as important an experience in people's lives in the 21st century as it was previously."

"If someone gave me a million dollars to run a music label, I would focus on creating a specific artistic point of view, and creating some channel to build a fanbase. Warp Records was a great example of a label that had a particular style, and many people would buy records just because the artists were associated with the label."

"I love philosophy. It's fascinating to try to discover how perception, or experience, or memory works. I've always been a diehard relativist at heart, and I find it very interesting to read other people's philosophical ideas and how they see the world through their particular lens."

"I think much of the conflict in the world is directly the result of people's varying interpretations of reality, or perhaps you could term it the "distortions" in their lenses. The best one can do is to try to consume as much knowledge as possible, both from your experiences, and from the words of others, in order to try to form a complete picture of the world."

"A human is a complicated organic/electrical system, which is immersed in a culture. Try raising a monkey like a human, it won't work, you need the human's certain brain characteristics (including self-reflection) in order to create a truly intelligent creature. The brain processes inputs and perception in very particular ways, and I think until we understand the underlying processes better, there is no way to really simulate it in software. Computers will continue to be good at simplistic analysis, and raw processing power, but the subtlety of emotions is something intrinsic to the human organism and culture."

"Religion is a simplistic answer that society has created in order to make people feel better, but there is little evidence as to its validity. There are thousands of religions in the world, each with their own "correct" answers, and each contradicting each other. For now the most sensible explanation to me is that we are the result of a lucky combination of cosmic factors, we're the "mold" that has grown on this particular planet and in a universe as vast as ours, it's expected that somewhere this would happen."

"There may not be a high-level purpose for humanity, but that doesn't mean we can't find inspiration in the world. I think there is a combination of psychological and environmental factors that combine to create various urges in humanity -- most importantly the urge to create, to contribute something to the world, to express your personal worldview and see how the world responds. Art doesn't happen in a vacuum, and if it were only for personal gain then nobody would ever release music to the public. The process changes you, and also changes the world itself, creating ripples of inspiration which flow between the artist and the listener."

"Somewhere there's a happy harbor far from the storm. Out where the sun shines there is someone I'm meant to adore, and I know the day I find her, I'll smile once more."

"I knew I was doing things different but at the same time I was doing things that were very natural for me … I wasn’t trying to break any rules. But I wrote the way I heard things."

"[Huh]I can't turn you loose now. If I do I'm gonna loose my life. [Ooh]I can't turn you loose now. If I do I'm gonna loose my life. I can't turn you loose to nobody I love you baby, yes I do. Give shakin' mama, I told ya I'm in love with only you. [Gotta] Baby do it baby why don't ya I'll give ya everything you want."

"These arms of mine, They are lonely. Lonely and feeling blue. These arms of mine, They are yearning. Yearning from wanting you. And if you would let them hold you, Oh how grateful I will be."

"Ole man trouble Go find you someone else to pick on. I live my life now you see. Ole man trouble, Please stay away from me, now.Oh I look like I'm down in my luck. Please send faith to help pick me up. I've lived this way so many years Ole man trouble, Please wash away all my fears."

"What you want, Honey you've got it. And what you need, Baby you've got it.All I'm asking Is for a little respect when I come home."

"There were times and you want to be free My love is growing stronger, as you become a habit to me. Oh I've been loving you a little too long I don't wanna stop now, oh. With you my life, Has been so wonderful. I can't stop now."

"You call me Mr. Pitiful; Baby that's my name now, oh. They call me Mr. Pitiful; That's how I got my fame. But people just don`t understand, now What makes a man feel so blue, now Ooh, they call me Mr. Pitiful; Cause I lost someone just like you, now."

"Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa I keep singing them sad sad songs, y'all. Sad songs is all I know. I keep singing them sad sad songs, y'all. Sad songs is all I know. It has a sweet melody tonight Anybody can sing it any old time. What's in your heart puts you in a groove And when you sing this song, It'll make you're whole body move."

"Sittin' in the mornin' sun, I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes. Watchin' the ships roll in; And I watch 'em roll away again. Sittin' on the dock of the bay, Watchin' the tide roll away. Sittin' on the dock of the bay, Wastin' time."

"So I guess I'll remain the same Sittin' here restin' my bones. Wish this loneliness would leave me alone. For 2,000 miles I roamed Just to make this dock my home. Sittin' on the dock of the bay Watchin' the tide roll away. Sittin' on the dock of the bay, Wastin' time."

"As Otis Reading once said: "Try a little tenderness." He understands much better than most sociologists do."

"Respect is something Otis achieved for himself in a way few people do. Otis sang "Respect when I come home." And Otis has come home."

"Sit on a park wall Ask all the right questions "Why are the horses racing taxis in the winter?""

"Every dollar counts And every morning hurts We mostly work to live Until we live to work"

"But, wait, Oh, it's much too late Oh, and I cannot be walking home Until I've found my love."

"I think ur a contra, And I think that you’ve lied. Don’t call me a contra Till you’ve tried."

"His Honor drove southward seeking exotica, Down to the pueblo huts of New Mexico, Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas, Oh, Oh, Oh..."

"a writer once asked what I'd say if i ever met my biggest hater. I paused, thought deeply and said, "probably 'suk a dog dik, motherfuker'""

"that story is 93% true"

"#1000daysof1d congratulations. may you reign for 1000 years. your humble servant, ezra"

"7 min or less - ur not late, 7-10 "sorry", 10-20 "SO sorry!", 20-30 "i am truly ashamed", over 30 min late - fake ur own death"

"I am the blues I am the blues The whole world knows I've been mistreated and misused."

"According to Biblical history and all of the history of the world, the blues was built in man from the beginning. The first thing that came out of man is the blues because, according to the Scriptures, when God made man, man was lonesome and blue."

"That's the reason I always say about music, the blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. Without the roots, you have no fruits so it's better keeping the roots alive because it means better fruits from now on."

"The blues is the roots; everything else is the fruits."

"Some people think they've got religion, they've got the blues."

"My love, There's only you in my life The only thing that's right. My first love, (yeah) You're every breath that I take You're every step I make."

"Your eyes, your eyes They tell me how much you care Ooh yes, you will always be My endless love."

"Two hearts, Two hearts that beat as one Our lives have just begun."

"And love and, love I'll be a fool For you, I'm sure. You know I don't mind..."

"You mean the world to me Oh I know I've found in you My endless love."

"I wanna be high, so high. I wanna be free to know The things I do are right. I wanna be free, Just me, babe! That's why I'm easy. I'm easy like Sunday morning."

"Thanks for the times That you've given me. The memories are all in my mind. And now that we've come To the end of our rainbow, There's something I must say out loud. You're once, twice Three times a lady."

"Sail on down the line, About half a mile or so. And I don't really wanna know ah Where you're going. Maybe once or twice you see Time after time I tried Hold on to what we got. But now you're going And I don't mind."

"We played the games that people play We made our mistakes along the way. Somehow I know deep in my heart You needed me."

"I've been through so many changes in my life woman It's a wonder I ain't lost my mind And I ain't never said how much I need you sugar But I sho' need you by my side.My love, just thinking about you baby Just blows my mind."

"Girl, tell me only this: That I'll have your heart for always. And you want me by your side, Whispering the words "I'll always love you.""

"I need you, and with your love I'm free And truly, you know you're alright with me."

"You are the sun, You are the rain That makes my life this foolish game. You need to know I love you so. And I'd do it all again and again."

"Well, my friends, the time has come To raise the roof and have some fun. Throw away the work to be done. Let the music play on."

"People dancing all in the street See the rhythm all in their feet Life is good, wild and sweet. Let the music play on (play on, play on) Feel it in your heart And feel it in your soul Let the music take control."

"Honey you came along and captured my heart Now my love is somewhere lost in your kiss When I'm all alone it's you that I miss Girl, a love like yours is hard to resist."

"Stuck on you. I've got this feeling down Deep in my soul That I just can't lose. Guess, I'm on my way. Needed a friend And the way I feel now I guess I'll be with you till the end Guess I'm on my way Mighty glad you stayed."

"We were running with the night; Playing in the shadows. Just you and I, Till the morning light."

"Hello! Is it me you're looking for? I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile. You're all I've ever wanted And my arms are open wide. 'Cause you know just what to say. And you know just what to do. And I want to tell you so much; I love you."

"What is happening here? Something is going on That's not quite clear. Somebody turn on the light, We're gonna have a party. It's starting tonight.Oh, what a feeling! When we're dancing on the ceiling."

"You know sometimes I sit and wonder Just how this world would be If we had all the people laughing And everybody living in harmony. We'd have to say se la se la. Talking to the people se la, se la."

"You are more than now; You are for always. I can see in you My dreams come true. Don't you ever go away.You make me feel like There's nothing I can't do. And when I hold you, I only want to say I love you."

"Here we are out here, me and you. Reaching out to each other Is all that we can do. Here we stand trying not to fall. There's no need to worry, Love will conquer all."

"I had a dream I had an awesome dream: People in the park playing games in the dark. And what they played was a masquerade. And from behind of walls of doubt a voice was crying out.Say you, say me. Say it for always, that's the way it should be. Say you, say me. Say it together, naturally."

"It's time to start believing — Oh yes. Believing who you are: You are a shining star."

"Hey, hey, what I'm sayin' is - Do it to me one more time. Oh, give you one more chance, This heart of mine. Do it to me one more time, baby. Can't get enough of your love!"

"The laughter came When the tears stopped falling. Now all I do is just call your name (When I say lover) You walked in and my heart discovered That my life would never be the same. Oh, you are my destiny. You are my one and only. You gave that joy to me When my whole life was lonely."

"I'm not a very religious person. I have no concept of what a God is; it may be the man on the silver mountain. My image of the man on the silver mountain is a guy with flowing robes and lightning coming from his fingertips, kind of a mytholigal figure like Zeus. The song is more of a plea from the fallen and to the fallen that there is hope, I will make you holy again. Ask me and I will do something for you."

"It correlates itself with the way almost all of the people in this country believed in Richard Nixon up until the time he decided he was going to take a leap off the tower and fell flat on his ass and became just a little lump of blood and putty. That was my way of saying that the common man will always rise above the leader who oppresses them."

"We always seem to begin or end in Philadelphia, it's the best place to start and the best place to stop. You're fantastic. My favorite place. Thank you!"

"You know, music was given to us to color our world, and some people like blue, some people like green, some people like the combination of both. It's just a matter of personal taste. I don't think that it matters what you do or what your main interest is. I think music especially should be enjoyed and liked in its entirety by everyone."

"All Wagner, Ring, whatever. [...] The whole Valkyrie thing was cool, 'cause it was so tied into metal. I like Wagner's strength, just the pureness of it. I like a couple of Mozart things, but mainly Wagner."

"But I think it's a hell of a book. I think Whoever put it together did quite an interesting job, but I think that it was ... I think that things were put in there to capture a group of people so they would follow a religion."

"The dancer is the free spirit unfettered by chains and not confined by four walls. Noone seems to care much for those they can't control."

"I am not an Atheist or an anti-God person but my beliefs are that you do not have to go to a place to worship, you don't have to go to a house to do that and that God resides in you and me and so does the Devil and heaven and hell is where we live on this earth. If the God that everyone prays to is such a wonderful God he wouldn't have people suffering so horribly as they are."

"Lyrically I like to use themes that make the listener use his or her imagination, and to give a little of the lessons I've learned in my own life. The best subjects are always people, who never fail to amaze me by their unpredictability."

"That was obvious that there are people in this world who always going to try and take advantage of you — and do take advantage of you. Those kings and queens are the people who think that they are so important, who want to take advantage of you, and that makes your life Heaven and Hell. Promises that you're going to get [is] the Heaven part, and Hell [is] when they don't come real."

"I brought melody and classicalness and a great amount of musicality to this band. Ozzy began it, and he deserves all the accolades he can get because he helped invent this kind of music. What he did was absolutely right for what it was, but music grew at that point, and I think it grew beyond what Ozzy was capable of giving an audience from a musical standpoint."

"I'm lucky that I am a very hard person and strong within my beliefs, so that this hasn't really been a problem for me, y'know, I just get cancer, I'll kick the hell outta you."

"I refuse to be beaten in any way, shape or form, so I'm gonna beat this too."

"But life's not a wheel With chains made of steel, So bless me."

"Where was your star? Was it far, was it far? When did we leave? We believed, we believed, we believed (...)"

"All my life, it seems Just a crazy dream Reaching for somebody's star, Like an open door That you've passed before, But you never had the key."

"Summer nights are colder now, They've taken down the fair, And all the lights have died somehow, Or were they ever there?"

"Love is a never ending smile."

"The world is full of kings and queens Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams, It's heaven and hell, oh well."

"We made the mountains shake With laughter as we played, Hiding in our corner of the world. Then we did the demon dance And rushed to nevermore, Threw away the key and locked the door."

"If there isn't light when no one sees Then how can I know what you might believe?"

"I'll smash your face in, But with a smile, All together you'll never Be stronger than me."

"It's the same old song, You've gotta be somewhere at sometime, And they never let you fly. It's like broken glass, You get cut before you see it, So open up your eyes."

"When I see lightning — you know it always brings me down 'Cause it's free and I see that it's me Who's lost and never found."

"Each day you hear the sand as it moves and whispers, Come and sail on my golden sea, Maybe one day you'll be just like me, And that's free."

"Don't look behind 'Cause a tear that never dries Can only make you blind."

"Whenever you dream, You're holding the key, It opens the door To let you be free."

"There's perfect harmony In the rising and the falling of the sea. And as we sail along, I never fail to be astounded by The things we'll do for promises And a song."

"Most dreams are made of glass, You throw just one stone, And then there goes your last window."

"Maybe if we cry together, Maybe if we cry as one, The tears that fall could kill the fire And keep everyone From Atom and Evil."

"Let me go! I've seen religion, But the light has left me blind. Take me back! I must have the Bible Black."

"Ronnie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had some fantastic times together. Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it's truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years. His music will live on forever."

"I can't remember exactly when I heard Ronnie's voice, but I do know that the first time I did hear it, it was just like an electric shock, a bolt of lightning, because this voice had so much power and so much character and so much energy and so much of everything that makes a great singer. (...) If ever a man was a rock god, for me, it will always be Ronnie James Dio."

"He's a great musician, and that's one of the things about him that people probably don't realize. Yes, obviously, he was one of the greatest singers of all time, but he knew music. He played trumpet, he was a bass player as well, he could play guitar, and he had a great musical mind and a great musical catalog inside of him. He had so much to draw on that musically he was very, very, very, very capable. And just great instincts. As a musician, there was never any question that he was able to stand on his own with anybody."

"Ronnie was so enthusiastic, and he could play instruments which Ozzy couldn't play, so it was easy to communicate with him, and for him to communicate musically with us. That enthusiasm gives us all a kick up the bum."

"Women are the real architects of society."

"You don't have to be smart to act — look at the outgoing president of the United States."

"I love men! I think men are the coolest, but you don't really need them to live. My mom said to me, 'You know, sweetheart, one day you should settle down and marry a rich man. I said, "Mom, I am a rich man.""

"Follow this you bitches."

"Try to be in as many relationships as you can."

"I love having boyfriends. A girl can wait for the right man to come along – but in the meantime that doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones."

"Don’t buy into the idea that women aren’t strong enough to do anything they want on their own."

""WTF is MDNA?"

"You don’t pay bucks to stand and look at someone. They’ve got to deliver something...And I’ve worked my whole life to keep my strength in my body. There are 20-year-old girls who can’t do what I do."

"You know, we had such a strange relationship. The day we got our divorce, he grabbed me, bent me backwards and kissed me, and we were hysterical. I couldn’t keep angry with him for some reason. I had a lot of anger, but I couldn’t stay angry."

"I love standing on the stage and singing. The feeling you have in your body when you sing."

"A lot of the biggest entertainers are shy. I’ve always been shy. But once I’m on stage and get hold of an audience, I know I can bring the room together as one. No matter how many thousands of people, I can bring it to where they are all friends. If you have a heartbreak or a sickness, for 90 minutes I can make you forget."

"Beyoncé: "I love that in the seventies Cher and Diana Ross looked like superstars and never played it safe. When they were onstage, they gave you drama—and I love drama.""

"Christina Aguilera:"

"Debbie Harry: "[On meeting Cher in the corridor of the BBC] She just walked past me and said, 'You go, girl!' All I could say was, 'Wow.' It was like a blessing from the pope!""

"Gregg Allman, ex-husband: "I was really glad that she never asked me what I thought of her singing, because I'm sorry, but she's not a very good singer. When she talks, she has the sexiest-sounding voice, and I tried to tell her that that's the way she ought to let it out when she sings. If she sang like she talked, good God. I guess Bono must have been on her every move, because he saw the gold mine in her. Without her, he would have been nothing[.]""

"Gwen Stefani: "[Cher] proved there's nothing she cannot do. She's a role model for showing us how to be strong and true to ourselves [and] a woman who is truly the definition of the word Icon.""

"Lady Gaga: "[On the outfit Cher wears in the music video for the song "If I Could Turn Back Time"] I dress like that! That's my everyday look. Maybe just sort of subliminally when I was younger, without even realizing it, one day I knew that [Cher] was the kind of woman I would become.""

"Pink: "[On writing for Cher's Closer to the Truth album] It's such an honor. I finally feel like a songwriter. And I'm such a fan.""

"Rob Halford of Judas Priest: "She has the most beautiful voice with a unique, rich texture that sets her apart. There's only one Cher—in her voice, her image, her humanitarianism, and her philanthropy. Her incredible longevity in music, coupled with the staying power she’s demonstrated, is truly remarkable. To remain an icon with such influence and respect is no small feat. She’s an extraordinary woman. I've always wanted to sit down with her, share a cup of tea or a meal, and just talk about life. She's so sincere, sweet, and genuine in everything she does.""

"Shania Twain: "She is the most diverse artist ever. I loved watching her go through all these evolutions in her life. She's funny. She's great at everything she does.""

"Tori Amos: "Cher has been able to show people that as she ages, she’s still sexy and sensual.""

"Drew Barrymore: "She's strong and comedic and incredibly brave, but shows vulnerability. I think she's the epitome of rock & roll.""

"Meryl Streep:"

"Nicolas Cage:"

"Olympia Dukakis: "I think she's been through so much, and she’s been very aware of people controlling her, so that she's really on guard. I think that’s what working in this business taught her.""

"Peter Bogdanovich: "[Cher] doesn't like men. That's why she's named Cher: She dropped her father's name ... She can't act. She won Best Actress at Cannes because I shot her very well. And she can't sustain a scene ... So I shot a lot of close-ups of her because she's very good in close-ups. Her eyes have the sadness of the world. You get to know her, you find out it's self-pity, but still, it translates well in movies. I shot more close-ups of her than I think in any picture I ever made ... Cher doesn't like me ... because I didn't like her. She was always looking like someone was cheating her ... But finally, after about seven weeks of this, we started getting to like each other ... and then when I sued the studio, she sided with the studio, of course. That was that.""

"Sarah Paulson: "I smelt Cher. I smelt the back of Cher's head ... Because I really love Cher; I think a lot of people love her for her music which I do, but I think she's one of the great actresses, I really do. So I was in her presence and I really wanted to go up to her but I was too nervous, so instead I went to the back of her and sort of pushed my nose between her hairs, parted it, and just hung out there for the count of, 'One-one thousand, two-one thousand'. She was about to turn around so I jumped and went back.""

"Whoopi Goldberg: "Elvis. Sinatra. Cher. There have been a handful of entertainers who are instantly recognizable by just one name. She not only marches to the beat of her own drum honey, she is a one woman band. In a word—she's Cher.""

"Zendaya: "Thank you, Cher. Thank you for being an advocate, for being an ally, for painting the way for so many humans of all kinds to live in and speak their truth and to have the courage to be as daring and as open-hearted as you. Cher once said, 'You should never be inhibited by what people expect you to do.' And those are words I hope we can all learn to live by.""

"Bob Mackie:"

"Marc Jacobs: "[Working with Cher] has been a dream of mine for a very, very long time. [Growing up,] other boys were out fascinated by other things, [but] I was like, no, I'd really much rather see what Cher's wearing this week.""

"I've got pains in my head Dead on my feet My pantry's empty I ain't eaten for a weekHard times - ooh I feel so bad When I lost my baby, I lost everything I had"

"I'm going to Kansas City Kansas City, here I come I'm going to Kansas City Kansas City, here I come They got a crazy way of lovin' there And I'm gonna get me someI'm gonna be standing on the corner Twelfth Street and Vine I'm gonna be standing on the corner Twelfth Street and Vine With my Kansas City baby And a bottle of Kansas City wine"

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog Quit snoopin' 'round my door You ain't nothin' but a hound dog Quit snoopin' 'round my door You can wag your tail But I ain't gonna feed you no more"

"One day while I was eatin' beans at Smokey Joe's Cafe Just sittin' diggin' all the scenes at Smokey Joe's Cafe A chick came walkin' through the door That I had never seen before At least I never saw her down at Smokey Joe's Cafe And I started shakin' When she sat right down next to me"

"The warden said, "come out with your hands up in the air If you don't stop this riot, you're all gonna get the chair" Scarface Jones said, "It's too late to quit Pass the dynamite, 'cause the fuse is lit""

"Treat me like a fool Treat me mean and cruel But love me Break my faithful heart Tear it all apart But love meIf you ever go Darlin', I'll be oh so lonely I'll be sad and blue Crying over you dear only"

"Well, I got a girl and Ruby is her name She don't love me but I love her just the same Ruby, Ruby, how I want ya Like a ghost I'm-a gonna haunt ya Ruby, Ruby, when will you be mine?"

"I saw her standin' on the corner A yellow ribbon in her hair I couldn't keep myself from shoutin' Look-a there...Young Blood Young Blood Young Blood I can't get you out of my mind"

"Well, now, if I have to swim a river, You know I will. And a if I have to climb a mountain, You know I will. And a if she's a hiding up On a blueberry hill, Am I gonna find her, child? You know I will. 'Cause I've been searchin'. Oh, yeah, searchin'. My goodness, searchin' every which a-way."

"The warden threw a party in the county jail The prison band was there and they began to wail The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds singLet's rock Everybody, let's rock Everybody in the whole cell block Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock"

"Lucky lips are always kissing Lucky lips are never blue Lucky lips will always find a pair Of lips that will be true I don't need a four-leaf clover Rabbit's foot or good luck charm With lucky lips, I'll always have A fellow in my arms"

"Well, it's Christmas time, pretty baby And the snow is falling down Well, it's Christmas time, pretty baby And the snow is falling down You be a real good little girl, 'cause Santa Claus is back in town"

"Pick up the papers from the trash. Cans and bottles you can cash. We'll better just recycle, or We're not gonna rock 'n' roll no more Yakety Yak, Take it Back.Don't be no square. Don't be no chump. Don't make this Earth a garbage dump. This planet's screaming "NO MORE FUNK!". There's no more room for no more junk. Yakety Yak, Take it Back.Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back.Kids, you don't have to go to school To teach your folks this simple rule. If it's a drink, or just a snack, Well, when it's empty, take it back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back.Who says you can't fight City Hall? Just write a letter. Make a call. Sign a petition. And, what's more, Make 'em get it at your door. Yakety Yak, Take it Back.Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back. Yakety Yak, Take it Back."

"Don't, don't," that's what you say Each time that I hold you this way When I feel like this and I want to kiss you Baby, don't say "don't"

"I never looked for trouble, but I never ran I don't take no orders from no kind of man I'm only made out of flesh, blood, and bone But if you're gonna start a rumble, don't you try it all alone'Cause I'm evil My middle name is Misery Yes, I'm evil So don't you mess around with me"

"Charlie Brown Charlie Brown He's a clown That Charlie Brown He's gonna get caught Just you wait and see Why is everybody always pickin' on me?"

"I plopped down in my easy chair and turned on Channel Two A bad gunslinger called Salty Sam was a-chasin' poor Sweet Sue He trapped her in the old sawmill and said with an evil laugh "If you don't gimme the deed to your ranch, I'll saw you all in half"And then he grabbed her And then? He tied her up And then? He turned on the buzz saw And then? And then? Eh-eh!And then along came Jones…"

"She comes on like a rose But everybody knows She'll get you in dutch You can look, but you better not touchPoison Ivy, Poison Ivy, Late at night while your sleepin' Poison Ivy comes a-creepin' around"

"I wanna know if she loved me. Did she really love me? Was she just playing me for a fool?I wonder why she left me. Why did she leave me so all alone? So all alone.I was gonna tell her that I loved her And that I need her Beside my side to be my guide."

"I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth She's got a pad down at Thirty-Fourth and Vine Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number NineI told her that I was a flop with chicks I've been this way since 1956 She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign She said, "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine""

"When the night has come and the land is dark And the moon is the only light we'll see No, I won't be afraid, oh I won't be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by meSo darling, darling stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh, stand - stand by me, stand by me."

"There is a rose in Spanish Harlem A red rose up in Spanish Harlem With eyes as black as coal That look down in my soul And start a fire there and then I lose control I have to beg your pardon I'm going to pick that rose And watch her as she grows In my garden"

"I can wash out forty-four pairs of socks an' have 'em hangin' out on the line I can starch an' iron two dozens shirts before you can count from one to nine I can scoop up a great big dipper full of lard from the drippin's can Throw it in the skillet, go out an' do my shopping, and be back before it melts in the pan'Cause I'm a woman W-O-M-A-N I'll say it again"

"I said, "Take it easy, baby, I worked all day And my feet feel just like lead You got my shirt tails flyin' all over the place And the sweat poppin' out of my head"She said, "Hey, Bossa Nova baby, keep on workin' 'Cause this ain't no time to quit" She said, "Go, Bossa Nova baby keep on dancin' I'm about to have myself a fit""

"Her hair is soft and her eyes are oh so blue She's all the things a girl should be, but she's not you She knows just how to make me laugh when I feel blue She's everything a man could want, but she's not you"

"They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway They say there's always magic in the air But when you're walkin' down that street And you ain't had enough to eat The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere"

"We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out. I'm goin' to Jackson, I'm gonna mess around. Yeah, I'm goin' to Jackson, Look out Jackson town."

"Is that all there is? Is that all there is? If that's all there is, my friends Then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is"

"You Gon' go crazy nigga tryin to count my money"

"The bitch been good to me"

"Niggas who've tried, I bust they sides"

"I'm a young hot street flame they call me Sweet James or call me Sir Jones"

"I don't wanna do this no mo', but this the only thing that I know."

"And we jolly green giants cuz we smoke so much broccoli"

"Move Bitch!"

"No gold or platt I was simply red from the years i been holdin' back"

"Comin' to Shady Park is like a freak show, there's some respectable women, and there some freak hoes"

"Watch out for the medallions, my diamonds is reckless, feels like a midget is hangin' from my necklace."

"Ridin' up in them GTO's and 4-4-2's, Grand Prix's, S.S's, causes we so so cool"

"Ridin' Regals all them Lacs, Benz, Bells, Verts, Skylarks, Motorcycles, ATV's with the works"

"Sittin' here guess I didn't make bail, Got time an' a story to tell."

"Chyna Black is like an open road, Tells me stories, releases my soul."

"Cornbread, fish and collard greens. I got what ya need, if you want it."

"Cruisin' down the street in my six-fo' jockin' da bitches slappin da hoes."

"Cause the boyz in da hood are always hard, Keep fuckin with us and we'll pull yo' card knowin nothin in life but to be legit don't quote me boy cause I said shit."

"Perched up high on a rooftop, like a bird I'm having evil thoughts, A black hood covers my face as death flows through my mind at its own pace."

"The boy had to pay the piper, so they all stay in fear of the neighborhood sniper"

"Pets are family and they should be treated as such. I think the most important thing people should know [is to treat] your dog how you’d like to be treated. Your dog is going to love you as much as you love [him or her]."

"I could put you in a condo, all the way up in Toronto"

"I could put you in a log cabin, in Wiskansin"

"It's five O'Clock in the morning and I want ya and ya want me, Don't ya?"

"I have everything I want. I really can't think of any ambitions or things to strive for. I don't want to leave the house, I'm happy at home, I really am. I am."

"I've been living in New York for about seven years and a lot of the people that I started singing with don't sing any more, don't write any more. So the fact that I can still do that that's kind of a gift, that's what I sort of stay focused on."

"If you consider the definition of authenticity, it's saying something and actually doing it. I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic."

"Being human is difficult. Some people make it more difficult than others. I was one of those people."

"When I found somebody who I fell in love with, it made me feel different than I felt the rest of the day. It was electrifying. That's what inspired the 'Off to the Races' melodies. That's one of the times when you're feeling electrified by someone else and they make you happy to be alive."

"I have a personal ambition to live my life honestly and honor the true love that I’ve had and also the people I’ve had around me. I want to stay hopeful, even though I get scared about why we’re even alive at all."

"I wanted to be part of a high-class scene of musicians. It was half-inspired because I didn't have many friends, and I was hoping that I would meet people and fall in love and start a community around me, the way they used to do in the '60s."

"If all that I was actually going to be allowed to have by the media was money, loads of money, then fuck it … What I actually wanted was something quiet and simple: a writer's community and respect."

"There is a high fantasy element in the music, but I’m incredibly plugged into what’s going on politically, socially and pretty much in every way except pop-culturally. I’ve had a very real life, and there have been a lot of things that took a lot of strength and wherewithal to figure out… things I’m still figuring out. That’s probably why the music has such an element of escapism to it"

"When you’re an introvert like me and you’ve been lonely for a while, and then you find someone who understands you, you become really attached to them. It’s a real release."

"My best friends are rappers my boyfriends have been rappers. My dearest friends have been from all over the place, so before you make comments again about a WOC/POC issue, I’m not the one storming the capital, I’m literally changing the world by putting my life and thoughts and love out there on the table 24 seven. Respect it."

"Music is my religion."

"The rules were always there. There was always one rule; don't break the golden rule, which is if someone says that they love your music, so they love you and you're amazing; you're not amazing. You're not amazing. It's not you, they don't know you, you know? It's not that way. So don't believe that. I don't believe that about myself, and I don't believe when someone likes me too much or hates me too much. I don't believe they know what they're talking about."

"I am not a perfectionist at all. I love failure. I love mistakes. I love the bizarre. I love characters. I love missing teeth. I love beauty because your eyes are off-center. And how can you notice that in the buzz of the city? So I like the emptiness."

"I think now is the best thing that you’ll ever get, and that’s all you’ll ever get."

"Music is never wrong. You might not like it, but it’s never wrong. It's such a great way of explaining stuff."

"Whenever someone says, 'We're all one,' I've always been like 'No we're not, and that's what's great, so stop saying that or everyone's gonna start believing you.' But yeah, as we all look at the same projection on the wall, we do become one, and I started to realize the horror of that. And I make no attempt to try to alter it from being that; my thing is more about trying to apply some principles of magic—how to walk between the raindrops—and take advantage of a situation like that, because it’s the only choice you have."

"My years of reading P.T. Barnum is finally coming into play. [snaps fingers] This notion of saying nothing, of keeping a secret, and doing it in a way that's not elitist but that's like, You wanna come in here and hear? [whispers] We have a secret. That's all that I can tell you. But you're involved. You know?"

"Music is the best way that I know to say the things that are difficult to say in English. Words get in the way sometimes."

"I get scared all the time. I try not to let it have any impact on the decision of whether to do it or not. I think you can separate yourself from your fears. You know what you should do, and it’s just scary to do it. But I’d hate to let the fact that I’m scared to do it make me not do it. It ends up defining you."

"Well, I come from a long, long line of smartasses. Smartass is allergic to dumbass. It’s actually a physical allergy, as in you’re repulsed by dumbasses."

"Yeah, I can make all the tequila in a bottle disappear. It’s a talent. Nothing comes easy and talent is something you get but, if you don’t develop it, it becomes like an apple; you keep taking bites of it until it’s gone. So you have to plant the seeds. Then you have the orchard. And then you have Jonestown.’"

"My favorite music is hooky, quirky, arty, dark, surprising, heavy, groovy, soft, emotional but not emo. It wears a sweater because it’s cold, not because it's stylistically there."

"I THINK OF INTERSCOPE AND ALL THESE LABELS AS THE BIGGEST FUCKING IDIOTS ON THE PLANET. And print that in capitals, because they can’t do anything to me."

"And the fact of the matter is that everyone should play music because it's such a beautiful gift. It's my religion. But maybe not everyone should play it in front of me. It's okay to play music in your rocking chair or whatever."

"I'm also beyond pissed, as in not pissed, because I kinda figure they just don’t know better by now. It’s like when a dog shits in the house, you can hit 'em with a paper but they really don’t know what the fuck happened. How can retarded kids know to not throw a Frisbee at the forehead of another retarded kid?"

"I think that provided us to do it this time, because it's like okay, we've cleared that air, you know, we're friends and we respect that he's the best rock drummer in the world, you know. You can be as good, but you’re not better than Dave Grohl."

"...but I'm also a father, a husband and a raging alcoholic..."

"It's like catching a fish, you know what I mean? It's the fish that's beautiful, not the fisherman. And I think whoever hasn't understood that attitude in Queens is not here any more. And if I ever think the fisherman's better than the fish, I hope someone fuckin' fires me too."

"In Kyuss and Queens, we allow people to tape our shows, whether it's audio, video or both. You're doing that tonight, but you're no different than someone who buys the ticket. Because the exchanging of music is what should happen. It's one of the only things I like about The Grateful Dead, it's "do you want a tape from '67 on June 2nd? You can get one". I probably wouldn't like the music on the tape, but it's still possible. My problem is that people sell our live shows for too much money. They should be the cost of the video and shipping. And in turn, MP3 take a record that I've spent money and time and put so much love into, take it, and just give it away. But they make the money. MP3 and Napster, they make tons of money, but they say "Oh, it's about free exchange!", but that just sounds like just another jack-off thief in the dark, that doesn't have guts enough to admit what they're doing. I had someone say something interesting to me in Canada, "Well, would you rather have the label fuck you over, or the fans fuck you over?". And I just said, "Neither!". And when it gets posed to me in such a way I sit there and think, "You know, what am I doing? Maybe I should skip through the countryside, playing flute (?)". Because MP3 certainly is like [stabbing sound and motion]. If you're an unsigned band, then it really helps, but then, you know? I don't wanna censor anyone, and I'm no one's daddy, I'm not going to monitor the internet, but I think there's a moral side to it too; I don't steal from you, you don't steal from me. Seems fair, you know?"

"But the truth is, I don't have ADD. I have OKHY: OK, hell yeah."

"Risk nothing, get nothing. If you wanna be famous, then it's OK if the music is fake, because fame isn't real."

"But I like to be a real man because I have a son and a daughter and they should know what that's like. It's OK to not be macho. But it's not OK to be a pussy."

"You can't upstroke yourself into toughness."

"(In response to the question; "What are you going to tell a ten year old who wants to play guitar?") For me that's easy; when you expect anything from music, you expect too much. So you play for yourself, you play to enjoy it and you make the most of it for you, period. You don't - I never thought I would be doing this now. I feel so lucky to be doing this now - I can't believe this is what I do all the time. I know I'm not the greatest guitar player in the world, but I just love it. And I hope that's the only reason I'm here, you know? Because I think - I honestly think that that's enough."

"[In response to the question "This record will probably be bigger than the last one, which was bigger than the one before, and so on. How big do you want to be?"] Man, I don't really give a shit. I mean... you know, let me just break it down; I love to play, I'm from a small town in the desert, I never thought I would be here and I just wanna play, man. I don't care if it's big or small, you know? Like, Nick is gone and that affects me the most, because I didn't want it to be that way. And some people are going to be like "Well, I don't like it now!" and to them I say fucking goodbye. This is goodbye. Let me be the first to say it, goodbye. Because all I'm doing is just wanting to just play. I just love to play music, and I like people, you know. And there's all kinds of things that get... shoved into that along the way, but that's not alright with me, you know? So, I want to say most of all, like, I'm just going to just show up and play. I'll let everyone else deal with that because I've already dealt with the hard part, you go ahead and deal with the easy part, whether you want to listen or not. And either way; I understand. Because, when it comes to the Queens, whatever everyone else is dealing with, I've dealt with it already, man. So I'll either be drinking with people after the show or not and it's going to be five, five thousand, five million, or five - I don't give a shit. Because I'm really proud of this record and I put a lot into it, I put what I am into it and after that I can't control it. It's not up to me, it's up to you, you know? And I'm okay with that because when I left the studio I knew I loved this stuff and I got to save my friendship, and both of that is a victory, you know? And the rest is up to you, and I'm okay with that too. So let's get it on."

"[On "grunge"] Music's music, and the weird thing is Brant [Bjork] has said this before; Soundgarden and those bands and Nirvana, those are great bands, but they did not create rock and roll. This whole "grunge" bullshit that everyone's talking about. "Oh my gosh, it's amazing!", they did not create rock and roll! It is rock and roll music. It's good rock and roll, that's all it is. They did not start something, they don't corner the market on anything. [...] I think it's a shame, because it's a great media tool and it worked. Like, whoever thought of the word "grunge" should be rich by now because it's a great media trip, you know? But it's just all good rock and roll; Soundgarden, Nirvana, all these bands are just good rock and roll bands. People spend too much time categorizing what everything is. Just throw it on your turntable, throw it on you CD player or whatever you have and listen to it. Don't worry about what it is - no one cares, it doesn't matter anymore, you know? That's what should have happened, it shouldn't matter anymore what you are. There's so many, like, "fusion" everything and whatever that it shouldn't matter anymore, you know?"

""Punk fusion"… "metal", "alternative"… "grindcore". What the hell is all that stuff?"

"New Zealand interviewer: What's it like for you guys, has it been "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll", that stuff?"

"Never heckle Joshua Michael Homme III."

"Hey you, with the stupid fuckin' tattoo. This ain't a place to fight, you dipshit. You wanna fight, go to a gay bar. Go to a fuckin' gay bar if you wanna fight, you understand? 'Cause I will fuck you in the ass. Ik pak je klootzak, ik pak je vieze lul! Got me? You better, or you'll get me. Alright, this song goes out that that asshole. Everybody party and have a good time, fuck that dick. Let's do this."

"(in response to someone shouting "I miss Nick (Oliveri)") Well, if you miss Nick, you can go out to the parking lot and go fuck yourself. Maybe you should get started immediately. And maybe if you're really lucky, he'll beat the shit out of you too. Because that's what he likes to do to girls, so maybe you can go miss him, I dunno... Do you feel satisfied about making you comment now? Are you happy that everyone looked at you and know what you look like? See that, Jesus Christ. Yeah, I remember my first beer too."

"This is my fuckin' stage!"

"(during "Feel Good Hit of the Summer") I wanna tell you something. I'm never gonna give you up, I'm never gonna let you down. I'm never gonna run around and desert you."

"(during "Feel Good Hit of the Summer") They tried to put me in rehab too, but that shit didn't work. Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol. Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol. Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol. (song pauses) I cannot be killed by anything."

"'Frayed not. (in response to a question on whether he considers The Fray an influence after they listed him as an influence)"

"Dave (Catching) played lap steel, a little guitar, keys and did a lot of drinking."

"This song is actually about when I got arrested for about 30 minutes in Mexico, and as we were just about to cross into Tijuana, we were just about to cross the "Bridge of Freedom", which I always thought was an ironic name for the bridge into Tijuana, or the one coming back for that matter. And this woman was selling these crucifixes before you got to the bridge, and she looked at me and said "You're in for trouble", and I just scoffed and laughed and was like "You don't live forever" and I thought "Jeez, what's up with the weird old woman?". And then later that night I was sitting in this police car in Tijuana and they just beat the crap out of this other guy, not that I was with, and I was like "Am I next?". I had bought this fake gold chain because my dad had said "If you go to Tijuana, have some fake jewellery to barter with". I traded with them - they just wanted cash. But I felt so sick in the back of the police car that I was like "If I throw up in here I'm dead"."

"Josh (footage): Y'all ready to see Foo Fighters?"

"Alain Johannes: How come everything's red though? Is it a red light or..."

"You're solid gold, I'll see you in hell."

"The more you've found, the less you've been around."

"There's no one here And people everywhere You're on you're own."

"Laughing is easy, I would if I could."

"You live 'till you die."

"It's all my head, I know Or so they tell me so."

"Close your eyes, and see the skies are falling."

"I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate."

"You don't find your way, the way finds you."

"Open up your mouth, touch your lips to mine, That we may make a kiss that can pierce through death and survive."

"From the moment you said, "Why haven't you kissed me yet" I knew I'd wipe that paint from your lips."

"You say bigger's better, but bigger's bigger."

"It's just like diamonds in shit."

"Never again will I repeat myself Enough is never enough Never again will I repeat myself."

"It's truly a lie, I counterfeit myself."

"If ignorance is bliss, then I'm in heaven now."

"I don't care if it hurts, just so long as it's real."

"I'm gonna suture up my future."

"If life but a dream, then WAKE ME!'"

"Silence is closer We're passing ships in the night."

"Time wounds all the heals, as we fade out of view."

"I want God to come and take me home, 'cause I'm all alone in this crowd."

"Does anyone ever get this right? I feel no love."

"I survived I speak, I breathe I'm incomplete I'm alive, hooray! You're wrong again, 'cause I feel no love."

"I blow my load over the status-quo, here we go."

"Pieces were stolen from me Or dare I say, given away."

"It's only falling in love because you've hit the ground."

"With my toes on the edge, it's such a lovely view."

"Not everything that goes around comes back around, you know."

"Holding on too long is just a fear of letting go."

"One thing that is clear, it's all downhill from here."

"You can have a lot of fun in a New York minute. But there's some things you can't do inside those city limits. Ain't no closing time, ain't no cover charge. Just country boys and girls gettin' down on the farm."

"I'm down here in Mexico, sick as a dog. My head is poundin' in this border town fog. Down to my last dime and comin' apart at the seams. I've messed up in Mexico, livin' on refried dreams."

"I like it, I love it, I want some more of it. I try so hard, I can't rise above it. Don't know what it is 'bout that little gal's lovin', but I like it, I love it, I want some more of it."

"Just to see you smile, I'd do anything. That you wanted me to when all is said and done. I'd never count the cost. It's worth all that's lost. Just to see you smile."

"I'm gonna live where the green grass grows, watch my corn pop up in rows. Every night, be tucked in close to you. Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed. Point our rocking chairs towards the west. Plan our dreams where the peaceful river flows. Where the green grass grows."

"I had a barbecue stain on my white T-shirt. She was killin' me in that mini-skirt. Skipping rocks on the river by the railroad tracks. She had a suntan line and red lipstick. I work so hard for that first kiss and a heart don't forget, something like that."

"You're more than another, there could never be another. To make you feel the way you do. Ohh, we just get closer. I'd fall in love all over. Every time I look at you. I don't know where I'd be, without you here with me. Life with you makes perfect sense, my best friend."

"The urge to run, the restlessness. The heart of stone I sometimes get. The things I've done for foolish pride. The me that's never satisfied. That face that's in the mirror. When I don't like what I see. I guess that's just the cowboy in me."

"Now it feels like no one ever left me out in the rain, cold words still remain unspoken. And I never got lost, spent years in the dark. You're here, now my heart's unbroken. When I see you smile, fill my soul again, and I'm unbroken."

"She's my kind of rain, hey, hey-hey. Like love from a drunken sky-aye-yai-yai. Confetti falling down on mine. She's my kind of rain."

"I may be a real bad boy, but baby, I'm a real good man."

"And all I wanna do is let it be and be with you and watch the wind blow by. And all I wanna see is you and me go on forever like the clear blue sky. Slowly, there's only you and I. And all I wanna do is watch the wind blow by."

"I went skydiving, I went rocky mountain climbling, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Blue Manchu. And I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying. And he said "Someday, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.""

"Back when a hoe was a hoe. Coke was a coke. And crack's what you were doing. When you were cracking jokes. Back when a screw was a screw. The wind was all that blew. And when you said I'm down with that. Well, it meant you had the flu. I miss back when. I miss back when. I miss back when."

"One, two, three like a bird I sing, 'cause you given me the most beautiful set of wings. I'm so glad you're here today, 'cause tomorrow I might have to go and fly away. Fly away, fly away, fly away, fly away."

"Girl, you don't know what you're puttin' through. It's a business doing pleasure, a business doing pleasure with you."

"Smooth as the hickory wind that blows from Memphis down to Apalachicola. It's "Hi, y'all, did you eat well? Come on in, I'm sure glad to know ya." Don't let this old gold cross and this Allman Brothers t-shirt throw ya. It's cicadas making noise with the Southern voice."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I wanna go crazy, you can go crazy too. Ooh, ooh, ooh, I wanna go crazy, I wanna go crazy with you. Everybody sayin' "Woah, how sweet it is. Woah." Yeah, it felt good on my lips."

"I ain't no angel, I still got a few more dances with the devil. I'm cleaning up my act little by little. I'm getting there. I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see. I ain't as good as I'm gonna get, but I'm better than I used to be."

"She slides in and you rode down Main Street, you turn right when that red light turns green. Sun sets now, you're half way to heaven. She picks a song, you turn it up to 11, you say "Do you wanna?" and she says "Hell yeah." So you hit the party, all your buddies are jealous. Someday, you'll be looking back on your life at the memories, this is gonna be one of those nights."

"Kisses sweeter than Tupelo honey. Little bit crazy like New Orleans. Memphis blue and Daytona sunny. Soft as cotton in some cut-off jeans. Don't you know, ain't nothing in the whole wide world like a Southern girl."

"Meanwhile back at mama's. The porch light's on, come in if you wanna. Supper's on the stove and beer's in the fridge. Red sun sinkin' out low on the ridge. Games on the tube and daddy smokes cigarettes. Whiskey keeps his whistle wet. Funny the things you thought you'd never miss. In a world gone crazy as this."

"I don't ever wanna wake up, looking into someone else's eyes. Another voice calling me baby on the other end of the phone. A new girl putting on her makeup before dinner on Friday night. No, I don't ever wanna know. Oh, oh. No other shotgun rider, beside me, singin' to the radio. Oh, oh. Oh, oh."

"It ain't like midnight and cigarette smoke. It ain't like watered down whiskey and coke. I guess some things just don't mix like you hope. Like me and you. And diamond rings and old barstools."

"'Cause when you got love, like we got love. I'm holding on to heaven, holding onto you. When you got one, like I got one. Anyway you looking, it's a hell of a view. Don't know where we're gonna be, but I know we're be sitting on top of the world. So keep hanging onto me. Yeah, don't you wanna be sitting on top of the world? Top of the world."

"Hold the door, say please, say thank you. Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie. I know you got mountains to climb, but always stay humble and kind. When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you. When the work you put in is realized. Let yourself feel the pride, but always stay humble and kind."

"I'll always be a fan of ol' stray dogs and guitars playin'. One room churches, back road walks and front porch swingin'. Sunset skies, bonfire nights, I love the simple things. That's how I'll always be."

"Girl, you can tell everybody Yeah, you can tell everybody Go ahead and tell everybody Reveal the man, I'm the man, I'm the man Yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am Reveal the man, I'm the man, I'm the man"

"I believe every lie that I ever told Paid for every heart that I ever stoll I paid my cause and I didn't fold Well, it ain't that hard when you got soul (This is my world) Somewhere I heard that life is a test I been though the worst but still I give my best yeah"

"Success doesn't change you; fame does."

"You've got to know who you are before you step into this business, because if you're trying to find it, you'll probably wind up being somebody else, that you probably don't even like."

"You can fool people. You can fool anybody any time of the day, but you can't fool yourself. At night, when you go home, you've got to be straight up with you."

"“I broke my heart for every gain, to taste the sweet I faced the pain.”"

""I finally faced the fact that it isn’t a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems.”"

"I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe."

"Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do. It's my decision. So the biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy. And that's how I have to deal with it."

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

"It’s an increasingly rare case for a solo artist to see exponential success from back to back decades, and Whitney Houston was certainly that exception."

"One hundred years from now Beatles songs may be so well known that every child will learn them as nursery rhymes, and most people will have forgotten who wrote them. They will have become sufficiently entrenched in popular culture that it will seem as if they've always existed, like Oh Susannah, This Land Is Your Land, and Frère Jacques."

"Music changed more between 1963 and 1969 than it has in the 37 years since, with the Beatles among the architects of that change."

"Paul McCartney may be the closest thing our generation has produced to Franz Schubert -- a master of melody, writing tunes anyone can sing, songs that seem to have been there all along. Most people don't realize that "Ave Maria" and "Serenade" were written by Schubert (or that his "Moment Musical in F" so resembles "Martha My Dear"). McCartney writes with similar universality. His "Yesterday" has been recorded by more musicians than any other song in history. Its stepwise melody is deceptively complex, drawing from outside the diatonic scale so smoothly that anyone can sing it, yet few theorists can agree on exactly what it is that McCartney has done."

"Music moves us because it serves as a metaphor for emotional life. It has peaks and valleys of tension and release. It mimics the dynamics of our emotional life."

"The story of your brain on music is the story of an exquisite orchestration of brain regions, involving both the oldest and newest parts of the human brain, and regions as far apart as the cerebellum in the back of the head and the frontal lobes just behind your eyes. It involves a precision choreography... between logical prediction systems and emotional reward systems. ...it reminds us of other music we have heard, and it activates memory traces of emotional times of our lives. Your brain on music is all about... connections."

"Studies of violin players by Thomas Elbert have shown that the region of the brain responsible for moving the left hand... increases in size as a result of practice."

"The emerging picture from... studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of master associated with being a world-class expert—in anything."

"Memory strength is also a function of how much we care about the experience. ...If I'm playing an instrument I like, and whose sound pleases me in and of itself... caring leads to attention, and together they lead to measurable neurochemical changes. Dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with emotional regulation, alertness, and mood, is released, and the dopaminergic system aids in encoding the memory trace."

"Mozart had extensive training from his father, who was widely considered the greatest living music teacher in all of Europe at the time."

"We can say that speaking French "runs in families," but I don't know anyone who would claim that speaking French is genetic."

"On average, successful people have had many more failures that unsuccessful people."

"So much of the research on musical expertise has looked for accomplishment in the wrong place, in the facility of the fingers rather than the expressiveness of emotion."

"Joni uses a lot of alternate tunings; that is, instead of tuning the guitar in the customary way, she tunes the strings to pitches of her own choosing. ...Joni will talk compellingly and passionately about alternate tunings for hours, comparing them to different colors that van Gogh used in his paintings."

"Joni's genius is that she creates chords that are ambiguous, chords that have two or more different roots. ...Joni's music is as close to impressionist visual art as anything I've heard. ...harmonic complexity born out of her strict insistence that the music not be anchored in a single harmonic interpretation."

"Memory for playing a musical piece... involves a process very much like that for music listening... through establishing standard schemas and expectation. In addition, musicians use chunking... tying information together into groups, and remembering the group as a whole rather than individual pieces."

"The Harvard neuroscientist Gottfried Schlaug has shown that the front portion of the corpus callosum is significantly larger in musicians than in nonmusicians, and particularly for musicians who began their training early. ...Schlaug found that musicians tended to have larger cerebellums than nonmusicians, and an increased concentration of gray matter... responsible for information processing, as opposed to white matter, which is responsible for information transmission."

"Consonant intervals and dissonant intervals are processed via separate mechanisms in the auditory cortex."

"Contour refers to the pattern of musical pitch in a melody—the sequence of ups or downs that the melody takes—regardless of the size of the interval."

"Myelin is a fatty substance that coats the axons, speeding up synaptic transmission. Myelanation... is generally completed by age twenty. Multiple sclerosis is one of several degenerative diseases that can affect the myelin sheath..."

"The brain's synapses are programmed to grow for a number of years, making new connections. After that time, there is a shift toward pruning, to get rid of unneeded connections. ...Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize itself. ...the amount of reorganization that can occur in most adults is vastly less than can occur in children and adolescents."

"When a musical piece is too simple we tend not to like it, finding it trivial. When it is too complex, we tend not to like it, finding it unpredictable—we don't perceive it to be grounded in anything familiar. Music, or any art form... has to strike the right balance between simplicity and complexity..."

"The power of art is that it can connect us to one another, and to larger truths about what it means to be alive and what it means to be human."

"I think we will see personalized music stations in the next few years... controlled by computer algorithms... I think it will be important that... listeners have an "adventuresomeness" knob that will control the mix of old and new, or the mix of how far out the new music is from what they usually listen to."

"A gene that promotes nurturing behavior postcopulation could... spread throughout the population, to the extent that the offspring of people with the nurturing gene fare better, as a group, in the competition for resources and mates."

"Miller and his colleague Marty Haselton at UCLA have shown that creativity trumps wealth, at least in human females."

"Musical instruments are among the oldest human-made artifacts we have found. ...Music predates agriculture in the history of our species."

"The best estimates are that it takes a minimum of fifty thousand years for an adaptation to show up in the human genome. This is called evolutionary lag... Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a very different lifestyle..."

"It is only in the last five hundred years that music has become a spectator activity—the thought of a musical concert in which a class of "experts" performed for an appreciative audience was virtually unknown throughout our history as a species. And it has only been in the last hundred years or so that the ties between musical sound and human movement have been minimized."

"Collective music making... may have historically served to promote feelings of group togetherness and synchrony, and may have been an exercise for other social acts..."

"The argument is that there may be a cluster of genes that influences both outgoingness and musicality. If this were true, we would expect to find that deviations in one ability co-occur with deviations in the other, as we do in WS and ASD."

"Music may be the activity that prepared our pre-human ancestors for speech communication and for the very cognitive, representational flexibility necessary to become humans."

"For language to be generative, children must not be learning by rote. Music is also generative. For every musical phrase I hear, I can always add a note... to generate a new musical phrase."

"Cosmides and Tooby argue that music's function in the developing child is to help prepare its mind for a number of complex cognitive and social activities, exercising the brain so that it will be ready for the demands placed on it by language and social interaction. ...Mother-infant interactions involving music almost always entail both singing and rhythmic movement..."

"During the first six months or so of life... the infant brain is unable to clearly distinguish the source of sensory inputs; vision, hearing, and touch meld into a unitary perceptual representation. ...inputs from the various sensory receptors may connect to many different parts of the brain, pending pruning that will occur later in life. As Simon Baron-Cohen has described it, with all this sensory cross talk, the infant lives in a state of complete psychodelic splendor (without the aid of drugs)."

"The coming together of rhythm and melody bridges our cerebellum and our cerebral cortex."

"In songbirds, it is generally the male of the species that sings, and for some species, the larger the repertoire, the more likely it is to attract a mate."

"Music's evolutionary origin is established because it is present across all humans; it has been around for a long time; it involves specialized brain structures... and it is analogous to music making in other species."

"Musical novelty attracts attention and overcomes boredom, increasing memorability."

"Primates, some birds, and humans have mirror neurons... that fire both when performing an action and when observing someone else performing... We've found mirror neurons in Broca's area, a part... involved in speaking, and learning to speak. ...our mirror neurons may be firing when we see or hear musicians perform ... in preparation for being able to mirror or echo them back as part of a signaling system."

"The multiple reinforcing cues of a good song—rhythm, melody, contour—cause music to stick in our heads. That is the reason why many ancient myths, epics, and even the Old Testament were set to music in preparation for being passed down by oral tradition across generations."

"As a tool for the activation of specific thoughts, music is as good as language. The combination of the two—as best exemplified in the love song—is the best courtship of all."

"Anyone who wants to understand human nature, the interaction between brain and culture, between evolution and society, has to take a close look at the role that music has held in the lives of humans."

"Music has been a shaping force... music has been there to guide the development of human nature."

"Music... is... a core element of our species, an activity that paved the way for more complex behaviors such as language, large-scale cooperative undertakings, and the passing down of important information from one generation to the next."

"The six types of song that have shaped human nature—friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion, and love songs—I've come to think are obvious..."

"We may have had music before we had a word for it."

"Human process music using both absolute and relational processing... we attend to the actual pitches and duration we hear in music, as well as their relative values. This dual mode of processing is rare among species... These modes of processing and the brain mechanisms that gave rise to them were necessary for the development of language, music, poetry, and art."

"The point of art is to emphasize some elements at the expense of others."

"Music combines the temporal aspects of film and dance with the spatial aspects of painting and sculpture, where pitch space (or frequency space) takes the place of three-dimensional physical space... frequency maps in the auditory cortex... function much the way that spatial maps do in the visual cortex."

"Creative brains became more attractive during centuries of sexual selection because they could solve a wider range of unanticipatable problems. ...Humans who just happened to find creativity attractive may have hitched their reproductive wagons to musicians and artists, and... conferred a survival advantage on their offspring."

"The spiritual and emotional aspects of art are perhaps their most important qualities."

"Both poetry and lyrics and all visual arts draw their power from their ability to express abstractions of reality. ...that is a feature of the musical brain."

"Prior to the invention of writing, our ancestors had to rely on memory, sketches, or music to encode and preserve important information."

"Memory is fallible... not because of storage limitations so much as retrieval limitations."

"Fondness for stories is just one of many artifacts, side effects of the way our brains work."

"It's not just that we remember things wrongly, but we don't even know we're remembering them wrongly, doggedly insisting that the inaccuracies are in fact true."

"Thinking about one memory tends to activate other memories. ...If you are trying to retrieve a particular memory, the flood of memories can cause competition... leaving you with a traffic jam of neural nodes... leaving you with nothing."

"Evolution doesn't design things... The brain is... like a big, old house with piecemeal renovations done on every floor, and less like new construction."

"The information age has off-loaded a great deal of work previously done by people we could call information specialists onto all of the rest of us."

"An organized mind leads effortlessly to good decision-making."

"Most of us have adopted a strategy to get along called satisficing, a term coined by... Herbert Simon... to describe not getting the very best option but one that was good enough. ...Satisficing is one of the foundations of productive human behavior ...we don't waste time trying to find improvements that are not going to make a significant difference in our happiness or satisfaction."

"Recent research in social psychology has shown that happy people are not people who have more; rather, they are people who are happy with what they already have. Happy people engage in satisficing all of the time, even if they don’t know it."

"In 1976, the average supermarket stocked 9,000 unique products; today that number has ballooned to 40,000 of them, yet the average person gets 80%–85% of their needs in only 150 different supermarket items. That means that we need to ignore 39,850 items in the store."

"The most fundamental principle of the organized mind, the one most critical to keeping us from forgetting or losing things, is to shift the burden of organizing from our brains to the external world."

"You’d think people would realize they’re bad at multitasking and would quit. But a cognitive illusion sets in, fueled in part by a dopamine-adrenaline feedback loop, in which multitaskers think they are doing great."

"Out of 30,000 edible plants thought to exist on earth, just eleven account for 93% of all that humans eat: oats, corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, yucca (also called tapioca or cassava), sorghum, millet, beans, barley, and rye."

"Former secretary of state George Shultz, reflecting on forty years of United States foreign policy from 1970 to the present, said, “When I think about all the money we spent on bombs and munitions, and our failures in Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world . . . Instead of advancing our agenda using force, we should have instead built schools and hospitals in these countries, improving the lives of their children. By now, those children would have grown into positions of influence, and they would be grateful to us instead of hating us."

"Multitasking is a myth. ...What's actually happening in the brain is sequential tasking. ...the brain is rapidly shifting ...so quickly and seamlessly that you don't really notice... What you end up with is attention that's been fractionated into little... bits and you're not able to actually sustain attention on any one thing. ...You're not saving time. You're wasting time."

"The brain is very good at self-delusion."

"A good rule of thumb is every couple of hours take fifteen minutes off. Naps are also very helpful, short naps. Even a ten or fifteen minute nap in the middle of the day can be the equivalent of an hour and a half of extra sleep the night before, and it can raise your effective IQ by ten points."

"This mind wandering mode turns out to be very different from the task engagement mode, because it's where thoughts that are loosely connected seamlessly flow into one another like in a dream. ...And you begin to see connections between things that you didn't see as connected before. ...non-linear kinds of thinking ...This is the mode of thinking where your most creative acts are likely to occur and where problem solving is apt to occur."

"Yo, this one here, goes out to all my players out there man, you know."

"Nobody wants to see us together, but it don't matter. No, because I got you babe."

"As life goes on I'm starting to learn more and more about responsibility."

"It's been so long that I haven't seen your face I try to be strong."

"When I see you I run out of words to say I wouldn't leave you, Cause you're that type of girl to make me stay."

"Marching into the woods in the darkness I'm Robin Hood breaking your fortress Light it up start the fire, gonna strike you Step aside cause I’m on my way to Rome, yeah I'm made of stone I walk the road alone Fighting for my throne Woah oh"

"Hear the beat of the drums Woah oh You better run run Woah oh Hear the beat of the drums Woah oh Cause I'm a warrior, I'm a warrior Cause I'm a warrior"

"Will you remember my name or at the end of the night is it all a game Or will you hold on to my hand together forever we will stand Or the sun will rise and you’ve had your prize And you don’t even know the color of my eyes"

"Tonight I’m gonna make you mine Oh wait, that’s not supposed to be my line I’m waiting on you to make your move Boy I know that you think your smooth Show me what you got cause I got a lot Come on set your trap I want to get caught"

"You’re falling all over me I’m losing myself in your mystery I’m afraid of loving you, I’m afraid of losing me I’m over my head and I’m seeing red But I’m waiting right here for you in my bed"

"Took a walk and passed your house late last night, All the shades were pulled and drawn way down tight. From within, the dim light cast two silhouettes on the shade."

"You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge."

"Apart from Dr. Dre’s countless collaborative works, his own records throughout the ‘90s solidified him as one of the rap genre’s single most important and influential artists."

"Don't call it a comeback I've been here for years."

"After having my daughter, I made a conscious effort to regain control of my health and my body. But I didn't want to do a crash diet. I was a mom now. I needed to change my ways and set an example for my child. … A year later (around November 2013), my husband and I decided we wanted to try a completely plant-based diet … And so the journey began that helped me get into the best shape of my life. Little did I know the long-lasting effects it would have. I thought, like with most diets, I would feel deprived and hate food, that I would miss out on restaurants and celebrations, that I would get headaches and be irritable, etc. I was wrong about all of that. It took a few days to adjust, but what I discovered was increased energy, better sleep, weight loss, improved digestion, clarity, and an incredibly positive feeling for my actions and the effects it would have on those around me and the environment."

"We have to care about our bodies and what we put in them. Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health—take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. The world will see you the way you see you, and treat you the way you treat yourself."

"Anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe. But let's be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things."

"I'm not bossy. I'm the boss."

"“I just wanna encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent.”"

"“Rumi, who’s on the album, our youngest daughter, she was watching [at home], and I forgot to thank her so I get to thank her now. Thank you, Rumi.”"

"“When I look out there, I see myself.”"

"“I’d like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful three children who are at home watching.”"

"“Thank you so much. I’m trying not to be too emotional, and I’m trying to just receive this night.”"

"We are at the precipice of an incredible shift, the brink of history. I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world where we’re not divided. Our past, our present, our future, merge to meet us here."

"It’s time to sing a new song. A song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of downfall, discord, despair, no longer resonate. Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment right now. It’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song? Because I am. So let’s do this!"

"After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look."

"During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be, To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real."

"Whenever I’m ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my a– off until I have it, But right now, my little FUPA and I feel like we are meant to be."

"I’ve been through hell and back, and I’m grateful for every scar, I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her. I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful."

"I’ve spent so many years trying to better myself and improve whatever I’ve done that I’m at a point where I no longer need to compete with myself. I have no interest in searching backwards. The past is the past. I feel many aspects of that younger, less evolved Beyoncé could never f*** with the woman I am today. Haaa!"

"In the past, I spent too much time on diets, with the misconception that self-care meant exercising and being overly conscious of my body. My health, the way I feel when I wake up in the morning, my peace of mind, the number of times I smile, what I’m feeding my mind and my body—those are the things that I’ve been focusing on. Mental health is self-care too."

"“I want to show that you can have fun and have purpose, be respectful and speak your mind. You can be both elegant and a provocateur. You can be curvy and still be a fashion icon. I wish this freedom for every person. I have paid my dues and followed every rule for decades, so now I can break the rules that need to be broken. My wish for the future is to continue to do everything everyone thinks I can’t do."

"One of my most satisfying moments as a mom is when I found Blue one day soaking in the bath with her eyes closed, using blends I created and taking time for herself to decompress and be at peace."

"I have made an extreme effort to stay true to my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace."

"I try to only tour when my kids are out of school. I always dreamt of a life where I could see the world with my family and expose them to different languages, architecture and lifestyles."

"Raising three kids isn't easy. The older they get, the more they become their own individuals with unique needs, hobbies and social lives, My twins are God-sent. Parenting constantly teaches you about yourself. It takes a lot of prayer and patience. I love it. It's grounding and fulfilling."

"They come to my office after school, and they are in the studio with me. They are in dance rehearsals. It's natural that they would learn my choreography."

"(In one of your essays in the book, from 2012, you write about Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez and say they are "[d]oing no more than supporting and promoting patriarchal and capitalist goals." Do you still feel this way about them, even as they—Beyoncé especially—are often held up as feminist icons?) AC: I do, but I know that I would have a lot of women of color of younger generations argue with me about that. I come from a generation of radical feminism; we believed in not using your body for financial gain and that sexualization fed into violence against women. I know that dates me. The performances that both Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé give are highly sexually charged, and they've made a lot of money off of a lot of men by sexualizing themselves as exotic beauties. Both of them have dyed their hair blonde, straightened it, weaved it, which feeds into a fantasy about women and women of color. I come from a very different perspective, and I don't believe that anything in terms of personal gain or materialism is really helping the rest of the world. If you make that much money, instead of buying a humongous mansion, go back to your community and start community projects and talk to your legislators about changing some of the laws [that mean] young men of color who have felonies because [they dealt] drugs as teenagers can no longer integrate into society. Moving away from Beyoncé and J-Lo—I'm sure they do a lot of good deeds—I'm very lucky I have a roof over my head. I can eat healthy food, my children have coats in cold weather, they have an education. I don't think a human being needs much more beyond that."

"Someone else asks Davis if Beyoncé is a terrorist. The audience giggles, but the question is serious. During a panel discussion on liberating the Black female body earlier this year, feminist activist bell hooks described Beyoncé as a terrorist and antifeminist who was "colluding in the construction of herself as a slave." In an emollient reply, Davis said that she liked the fact that Beyoncé had sampled Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech on feminism on her album. The following day, I ask Davis more about it. "Whatever problems I have with Beyoncé, I think it is so misleading and irresponsible to use that word in connection with her. It has been used to criminalize struggles for liberation. But we don't use the words terror and terrorism to describe US history and the racism of the pre-civil rights era.""

"Back in 1967,Tiger Beat magazine asked me what my ambition was for my career. I said I want to become a really good Mexican singer. But it wasn’t noticed or validated"

"You gave us Rupert Murdoch ,thanks a lot you guys, take him back."

"For all families, participation in music and the arts, can help people reclaim and achieve the American dream."

"I can sing in my brain…I sing in my brain all the time. It’s not quite the same as doing it physically. There’s a physical feeling in singing that’s just like skiing down a hill. Except better, because I’m not a very good skier."

"I feel if I were to organize it correctly I would try to sing like a Mexican and think like a German. You know what I mean? I get it mixed up."

"The thing I’ve always thought about music is that it’s not competitive, it’s cooperative. I thought that was a really good example. We chose the songs because all three of us loved them so much we were afraid we’d get sick if we didn’t record them. Then we’d choose the arrangement by who was going to sing lead, by who sounded best…"

"…I was singing on the sort of the flat, lower part of my voice. I didn't have all the color and the breath and the sort of airy halo that comes. There's a lot of different textures that you can dial in and out on an unconscious level when you're singing. And you just bring in these colors and textures, and they all express emotion in some way or another. And I didn't have that with me. I was - I thought of myself as a painter that was painting with a limited palette, so I thought, well, I got some darks and lights here. And I've got some maybe some umber, you know? And I can put that in, and I just have to make a really strong drawing, make the image as bold as I can. And that's what I was trying to do with this song."

"It's always like that when you record: You always think that you can do a better [job]. You know, the whole thing with recording is you have to know when to turn off the tape machine and just stop recording because you want to keep fixing, fixing, fixing, you know? In those days, we didn't fix anything."

"The culture supports serial monogamy, and I think I had plenty of that, and I think I was reasonably monogamous in a serial way. But I'm not a good compromiser. I think I don't have the knack for that kind of compromise. I admire people's marriages, and I think it's a wonderful thing to have, but I don't think it's the only way to live…"

"She was trying to soften the blow of the word Mexican…That’s typical of what happens. Mexican Americans are always made to feel invisible."

"People didn’t have a clue I was Mexican unless they grew up with me…I heard plenty of it…I’d straighten them out fast."

"I was bored with rock’n’roll…And I was tired of singing fast songs. I’m a ballad singer. And I like drama and nuance. This music has richer poetic images and more interesting rhythms."

"There is a lot of German and French influence there…The music uses accordions and German-style brass bands, reinterpreted in a Mexican style. I like to say that Mexicans took German and French music and made it sexy."

"I get especially angry when I see how people are treated when they come up here looking for work, especially the farm workers…I challenge any prep school white boy to spend an hour picking strawberries in the full sun where you’re bent over and somebody sprays pesticide on you. And without them, we can’t eat."

"My background in music came from me playing drums and piano as a young child. My grandmother was a pianist and I was influenced by her and my parents were playing rock records which influenced my drumming. I was a fan of film scores, rock, classical, jazz, and hip-hop in my early years and tried to learn as much about each of those genres as possible. I began writing music in a serious way in my teen years while I was playing in various bands and orchestras."

"I have an inner gage when I feel it’s too much, then I just don’t do a particular film. I’m lucky that I get more offers than I can possibly take. But I always want the phone to be ringing, because I want to do this for the rest of my life. I don’t plan on slowing down, but I certainly have to say “no” more and more. I consider myself very lucky to make a living at this. It’s almost bizarre for any musician to turn down work as much as they to have to keep themselves sane. I know what my limit is. And I keep myself at that limit."

"You gotta go do research on the way they treat like fucking chickens, man. Those chickens go through fucking torture before they’re processed and shit, have all sorts of fucking steroids injected in them and everything."

"Twenty years ago I thought: "What's the difference between eating a bloody steak and killing my dog, slitting him open and roasting him?" I've always loved animals but it was around the late 80s that I realised I had to go vegetarian. A lot of things converged in my life then – musically, emotionally – but mainly it was my love of animals and spending so much time touring that made me decide I had to change my diet. In the Runaways we used to eat a ton of junk food. So something had to give."

"Basically, the whole thing of the project is to take it back to my old sound, the old DJ Paul sound. Before Three 6 Mafia when I was just DJ Paul and it was just me and my brother Lord Infamous. It was like a mix of songs and it was either me or members of my crew and some of it would be my signature “Crunkstrumentals” which would be instrumentals with crunk chants and sampled hooks and this and that on it. I brought those back a little bit on my last album Yots (Year Of The Six) Pt. 2 that dropped last quarter of last year, 2016. So, there will be more of those on there, like I said it’s just the original OG Paul sound that’s what the fans been asking for and I see that what a lot of people are back into these days, there using that old three six sounds and a lot of people are sampling it and clear samples from me. They sampled the creator it takes the king to bring it back himself. I never left it alone, to be honest with you, but I just didn’t do full albums of it. It would just be a track on my albums or mixtapes, not a single but this whole Volume 17 mixtape is going to be like that."

"It's an updated version of what's being talked about or danced to today but still with my classic grit to it. Good part about it is the 1990s are back so this was da best time to do it. A lot of artist samplin' Three 6 now, our music was before its time."

"I'm just producing and writing for all my new artists I signed, Weirdo King and my nephews The Seed of 6ix. Also been writing a lot of EDM for kids. Doing more cooking videos and TV."

"Man, I really ain’t have no downtime since the fucking 90’s but I don’t really work fast but I don’t really work slow. So I have been around a lot of producers, some of the top producers in the business and I’ve seen producers go in, I’m talking about producers that have hit songs right now on the radio. I’ve seen some of these producers get up and make 100 beats a week, and out of these 100 beats they make a week, you know 400 a month, maybe one of them will end up on their own artists project. That was never the case with me. If I went into the studio and made 5 beats week all five of those at least four of those would be on the album and three of them would be singles. I just work different, when I go in I hit hard, I strike right on the nose right off the top and I don’t have to live in the studio like you see some artists doing even though I live in the studio but I just be doing other stuff."

"I haven’t had any down time, my last album just came out the end of last year so that wasn’t even 6 months ago the album that I did with Yelawolf, the Yots (Year Of The Six) Pt. 2 album. I didn’t go straight into this project I went straight into producing projects for some other people. Stuff for Riff Raff, stuff for Jon Connor, Dr. Dre’s new artist, some stuff for my new artist Weirdo Westwood King and a lot of other people, then I just decided to go into my project. Actually, some fans decided it for me, I wasn’t even going to make a rap project this year, I had been writing EDM songs for a lot of kids. I got about four of those that’s coming out, one of them already came out with this guy named Kennedy Jones, it’s called “Never Not.” So I had been writing these EDM songs for these kids and I was just going to stick to that because that’s fun and easier, but all the fans were like “Ahh man you should bring out that straight underground shit man a Volume 17 for Summer 17. They kind of talked me into doing it. So I was like well yeah it’s time to bring it back at least before I take a break on it and go straight to producing other folks for a minute, in 1/2 year or a year I should at least hit them with some straight underground joints to hold them off for a minute. My last album wasn’t straight underground joints it had all kind of stuff on it because it came out through me and Yelawolf."

"I’m always interested in finding ways to innovate … . It’s a blend; it’s not a point focus."

"There are relatively few ideas that you can do just by yourself."

"There’s going to be reversals. You have to be ready, to be philosophical about that."

"I simply wanted to advance the field of artificial intelligence so that computers could do what they do best (organize and analyze information) to help people do what they do best, those inspired leaps of intuition that fuel original ideas and breakthroughs."

"I’m trying to transmit the visions of creativity and build institutions that are incredibly catalytic to their fields."

"It's very challenging to carve back market share."

"Others might have found us eccentric, but I didn’t care. I had discovered my calling. I was a programmer."

"What we did was unprecedented, but what is less well understood is that we had no choice."

"My style was to absorb all the data I could to make the best-informed decision possible, sometimes to the point of over-analysis."

"Our great string of successes had married my vision to his unmatched aptitude for business."

"In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it."

"He wanted to do a different brand of science, tackle bigger questions."

"At his core, he’s still very much an engineer."

"I like big butts, and I cannot lie."

"My anaconda don't want none unless you've got buns, hon."

"Dial 1-900-MIXALOT."

"Honestly, ever since I found this way of eating I have endless amounts of energy. I can go all day, and after it all I never find myself getting tired. No matter what kind of shows I have done, or workouts I do on top of it, I still have to force myself to sleep at night. … Right from the first time that I started to really eat vegan I could feel how much it was affecting me. John Salley … always told me how the players who ate that way outperformed the others. I started to see that results for myself as well."

"Travis Barker has a creativity to create a signature sound and represent himself by specific beats that anyone might play and say, “That’s a Travis beat." And there's his overall creativity behind the kit, using different parts of drums the typical drummer wouldn’t think of incorporating with a style most would stay more straight forward on. His aesthetic is to create such a visual representation behind the kit as a drummer and bring the back of the stage to the front spotlight and to take it to new heights."

"Every challenge along the way With courage I will face I will battle every day To claim my rightful place Come with me, the time is right There's no better team Arm in arm we'll win the fight It's always been our dream"

"I wanna be the very best Like no one ever was"

"For the time bombs ticking and the heads they hang, All the gangs gettin' money and the heads they bang - bang. Wild mustangs, the porno flicks, All my homies in the county in cell block six. The grits when there ain't enough eggs to cook, And to D.B. Cooper and the money he took. You can look for answers but that ain't fun, Now get in the pit and try to love someone."

"Well I'm packin' up my game and I'mma head out west Where real women come equipped with scripts and fake breasts. Find a nest in the Hills, chill like Flynt, Buy an old drop-top find a spot to pimp. And I'mma Kid Rock it up and down ya' block With a bottle of scotch and watch lots a crotch. Buy a yacht with a flag sayin' "Chillin' the Most", Then rock that bitch up and down the coast. Give a toast to the sun, drink with the stars, Get thrown in the mix and get tossed outta bars."

"I once was lost, but now I'm just blind."

"I ain't no G, I'm just a regular failure; I ain't straight outta Compton, I'm straight out the trailer. Cuss like a sailor, drink like a Mick; my only words of wisdom are just <>."

"I like AC/DC and ZZ Top, Bocephus, Beasties, and the Kings of Rock, Skynyrd, Seger, Limp, Korn, the Stones, David Allen Coe, and No Show Jones. Yeah! Pass that bottle around, Got the rock from Detroit and soul from Motown. The underground stoned fuckin' pimp With tracks that mack and slap back the whack. Never gayed away, I don't play with ass, But watch me rock with Liberace flash. Punk rock the Clash, boy bands are trash, I like Johnny Cash and Grandmaster Flash."

"I'm an American Bad Ass, watch me kick, You can roll with Rock or you can suck my dick. I'm a porno flick, I'm like Amazing Grace, I'm gonna fuck some hoes after I rock this place."

"The black cat is back, in original form, The legible, credible, inevitable storm. Way past the normal, still misbehaving, Finger in the air and the flag still waving. Don't come, don't test the boss Because I got this sewn like Betsy Ross. You can floss and front, you can taunt and tease, But you can't fuck wit rhymes like these."

"Up and down that lonely road of faith, I have been there Unprepared for the storms and the tides that rise. I've realized one thing, how much I love you, And it hurts to see, see you crying. I believe we can make it through the winds of change."

"Living my life in a slow hell, Different girl every night at the hotel. I ain't seen the sunshine in three damn days. Been fueling up on cocaine and whiskey; Wish I had a good girl to miss me. Lord, I wonder if I'll ever change my ways."

"I put your picture away; Sat down and cried today. I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her."

"I called you last night in the hotel; Everyone knows, but they won't tell. But their half-hearted smiles tell me something just ain't right. I've been waiting on you for a long time, Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine. I ain't heard from you in three damn nights."

"And when the sunshine showed Her face I felt like I was ready to die. Went lookin' for a place to hide, A hole I could crawl inside. Long lines, Whiskey bottles, And the same old song. I smell death in the air And I know it won't be long."

"Maybe I have been on the road too long, Living my life through these songs. I guess loving a music man Really wasn't in your plans. Does it matter if I'm sorry again? And why should I apologize> You knew all along this was my life. You know my ins and outs, All my fears and doubts. It's the life I love, But it's you I can't live without."

"Stop pointing fingers and take some blame, Pull your future away from the flame. Open up your mind and start to live. Stop short changing your neighbors, Living off hand outs and favors, and maybe Give a little bit more than you got to give. Simplify, testify, identify, rectify."

"It was 1989, my thoughts were short, my hair was long, Caught somewhere between a boy and man. She was seventeen and she was far from in-between. It was summertime in Northern Michigan."

"And we were trying different things, We were smoking funny things, Making love out by the lake to our favorite song. Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow, Singing "Sweet Home Alabama" all summer long. Singing "Sweet Home Alabama" all summer long."

"And now these days when I drive through a small town, I turn my stereo up and roll my windows down. ’Cause it reminds me of my first kiss And those days that I always miss. Tom Petty on the radio, Going steady with nowhere to go. No money, just time to spend, An old Chevy and a couple friends. Oh how I wish that I could go back in time Just to love you again."

"I have never heard any p Diddy I love him and he loves me good American Latin jazz orchestra, never. You can know lots of music, but the clave is something you can’t learn anywhere. I go to universities all over the place for Latin jazz workshops and I see that. They don’t even know what a drum is."

"When things get solved in Cuba, the Cuban musicians will scare a lot of musicians from here. I always tell everybody: As soon as the Cubans come, a lot of people are going to have to go back to school all over again. In Cuba it’s different--there they really study music. If you are a musician in Cuba, that’s all you do. Brazilians also play a lot of jazz, but I think Cubans are the more advanced in both jazz technique and rhythm."

"My kids now, they speak very little Spanish. That's because they go to school and they speak in English; my wife speaks English with them at the house. When I was growing up, my parents insisted that we speak and read Spanish. I'm so happy that they did that, because we developed their culture and their roots. I learned the cultures of the Latin people, which is very important, because in this country at the time that I was being brought up, there was nothing that they taught us about [Latin] culture. America-only history you learn..."

"The people love our Latin American music. Sometimes they don't understand our lyrics, but they love our rhythms, and that's what's important in Latin American music—in our music from the Caribbean or Brazil or wherever. The percussion is what really makes the music exciting."

"Dare I hesitate to say that creativity might be in jeopardy because one of the key components of being creative is boredom and silence and isolation."

"…Hip-hop is an instant gratification, winners and losers circle, and often those who are losing give up after three or four, five years. I’m probably trendier now as a 42-year-old than I’ve ever been…"

"I still don’t know if I am truly creative...At times I feel like I’m a way better student than I am teacher or maker."

"I jumped in the river and there’s piranhas and sharks, but I have a 500-foot lead on them."

"A lot of us are afraid that we’ll get found out as normal. The reason why bodyguards and velvet ropes really exist is mainly because a lot of celebrities don’t want you to know how normal and regular they are…"

"Wake up and smell the coffee Is your cup half full or empty?"

"You'll never know until you try it You don't have to keep it quiet And I know it makes you nervous But I promise you, it's worth it To show 'em everything you kept inside Don't hide, don't hide Too shy to say, but I hope you stay Don't hide away Come out and play"

"I was working at this club in downtown L.A. from four to eight at night, just Eddie Rubin, the drummer, and I. We didn’t even have a bass player down there. Then we’d pack up, get on the freeway, drive up to L.A., go to the Whisky, set up, grab some food, and play from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. It was pretty rough work, but it was fun and we were into it. We knew we had something going and there was a big buzz. It was pretty exciting."

"We gotta grow with the times, things have got to change. You know, sometimes the old rules don't apply anymore. And now...you know, we need some new rules."

"I know paper straws are better for the environment and I’m all for that. But for the love of everything that is under the sun, can we agree that paper straws actually SUCK more than the person using them? We gotta do better than this!"

"I enjoy DJing and watching people having fun, but now, I am throwing my music in the mix, and to watch people enjoy themselves and let go to something you created, is an out of this world feeling."

"The type of artist I am now is so much more focused, verses before, things were all over the place. I was chasing “what was hot” or what I thought the “next sound” was in music. But I was disregarding how I truly felt about the music. Now all that just background noise to me, and I’m all about expressing who I am."

"When I find myself not knowing what to do, that’s when I do nothing and wait until I can hear that voice again, and suddenly, things are clicking again, and I am in that FLOW!"

"I got that white girl No-scrimnate Chocolate lemon red velvet I eat all the cake They outside hating Cause they can't get in The whole city's out We maxed it to ten."

"And you... You pull my heart off the shelf, I wanna lose myself. And you.... It can't be nobody else, I wanna lose myself You make me wanna lose myself."

"They say you ain't gotta go home But you, you gotta get out of here.(Yeah) But the energies on right now… And there's some thing in this atmosphere. So party on disregard it. The night is over, lights are on, But party on and disregard it. The night is over lights are on, But party on, it's an after party."

"You are welcome in my mind Follow me we're going deeper To a place thats hard to find Tell me, can you keep a secret I know I know Something you dont know I know how to shake To turn you on Dont put on the breaks Lemme keep it rolling Can you keep it going?"

"Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart. I just don't think it'd understand. And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, he might blow up and kill this man."

"Basically, my whole life is a competition with my dad to see who's cooler. He's still winning, but I'm almost there."

": From SoundCloud to Success with Post Malone: Noisey Raps, 2017"

"Now there's no point in placing the blame And you should know I'd suffer the same"

"As far as I’m concerned, Motown was a once-in-a-lifetime musical event. Nothing like that happened before. I seriously doubt anything like that will ever happen again..."

"[C]ritics usually disparage Motown as watered-down blues or lesser soul music, but they ignore the essence of Motown’s urbane soulfulness. ... What people respond to in a Motown song, after the rhythm, wit, and piquancy, is the sound — the ethos — of the love of freedom. Only in America could a company like Motown Records exist."

"Music is like food. It is necessary for me to stay alive. It is a fundamental part of being a human being. It is sustenance, full of different flavors, full of culture and beauty... I also just really love food, so, this is my analogy, I guess."

""We’re all living double lives: There’s the skin we wear on the surface, and then the one we keep to ourselves – the part of us that indulges in curiosities and fantasies we wouldn’t dare admit to the world, let alone ourselves."

"I enjoy strategizing and planning releases as packages, not just throwing them out willy nilly. But honestly, in today's music culture, every form of expression becomes valid if you give it your authentic effort."

"Hot take: this is probably not the first time it’s Rapist v. Rapist for president"

"Men will tell you what you are From the day you are born ‘til the day when your heart stops beating They give you their names"

"He don’t know how the devil comes Right out under the midday sun How he hungers for a way to make control How he’d throw my body down How I’ll never make a sound How he’s waiting around the corner"

"The rules I want to break The games I love to play I know I shouldn't say It's burning up my time"

"We come together Baby, can you feel it? We're all torn up inside"

"You've got to know your power"

"It's midnight in Vegas And oh, I want to be famous And oh, I'm willing to get it just right for you That's why I'm spread on the bed tonight I'm feeling so dead inside"

"I make a lot of bad decisions"

"I have to know what I'm doing I don't know what I'm doing Not gonna lie to you No idea what I'm doing right now"

"When I wear the crown You bow down!"

"I can’t think of anyone more suited for Eurovision. She’s an LGBT artist, an absolute live performance beast, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, and her ever-changing genre-defying music would totally speak to all sub-fandoms. She’s made of the same material as Eurovision winners."

"Tryna get some head from a mixed thing, big dreams showed up at the crib tryna bone And I ain't fuck yet 'cause her mama always home don’t let this little broad have herpes My nigga say she fast like Jackie Joyner-Kersee No rose petals on a bed in the ghettos Spiderman sheets, got her singing falsetto Grabbing titties in the club, pocket full of skittle Tryna get the kitty was like tryna solve a riddle My team major, we party like teenagers"

"I wanna fold clothes for you I wanna make you feel good Baby, I wanna do the right things they Feel so much better than the wrong things I said I wanna fold clothes for you There's no where I need to be, except right here with you Except right here with you Foldin' clothes, watching Netflix Help you relax, let you recline babe Then I should do it, cause Heaven only knows How much you have done that for me Now say, "I love you" it's the simple things"

"On the night I was born, the rain was pourin', God was cryin' Lightnin' struck, power outage, sparks was flyin' The real one's here, the young boy that walk with lions Around the outlines of chalk where the corpses lyin' Of course I'm tryin' to revive a sport that's dyin' But the guns and the drug bars that y'all rely on Got these nerds thinkin' that you niggas hard as I am But that just mean I ain't as comfortable as y'all with lyin'"

"Don't mess with my Phil."

"It's easy to make people think you’re a gangster. It’s hard to convince the feds you’re not."

"When you’re not fed with a silver spoon you learn to lick it off a knife."

"Don’t listen to the people on the sidelines. Pay attention to the actual players."

"I had an aunt that used to say, “You keep using the same recipe, You’re gonna keep baking the same cake. “You’ve gotta change the ingredients if you want a different outcome.""

"It's unfortunate that we even have to say 'Black Lives Matter', I mean, if you go through history nobody ever gave a fuck. I mean, you can kill black people in the street, nobody goes to jail, nobody goes to prison. But when I say 'Black Lives Matter' and you say 'All Lives Matter', that's like if I was to say 'Gay Lives Matter' and you say 'All Lives Matter'. If I said, 'Women's Lives Matter' and you say 'All Lives Matter', you're diluting what I'm saying. You're diluting the issue. The issue isn't about everybody. It's about black lives, at the moment But the truth of the matter is, they don't really give a fuck about anybody, if you break this shit all the way down to the low fucking dirty-ass truth."

"We say that 'Black Lives Matter’ Well truthfully they really never have. No one ever really gave a fuck. Just read your bullshit history books. But honestly it ain't just black. It's yellow, it's brown, it's red. It's anyone who ain't got cash. Poor whites that they call trash."

"I think there's something unspoken that whenever something emanates from you, you're going to get it back. And the fact is that it's emanated from a real place of friendship. I think that's translated. You can be down with a solo artist. You can be like, "I'm Ice Cube" — but you see two dudes on stage and you don't know why the fuck they're friends, you don't know how it happened and it doesn't require explanation. It allows people to feel a part of it, and they can be. At shows we see little five foot versions of us, fucking chubby white and black kids showing up with RTJ banners that they had made at their fucking house."

"We were writing little symphonies for the kids."

"I enjoyed all the records very much. I made them all from the heart. I made them all with art in mind, and all to reveal a picture of where I was when I made them."

"Here, I'm going to make you a big star … and you don't have to pay any dues. … For that, you're going to get no respect from your contemporaries. … To me, that was the cruelest thing."

"People made fun of me, the little kid who was making rock'n'roll records. But I knew. I would try to tell all the groups, we're doing something very important. Trust me. And it was very hard because these people didn't have that sense of destiny. They didn't know they were producing art that would change the world. I knew."

"I have devils inside that fight me."

"[Africa] just felt like a place where I belonged. It was as simple as that. You hear about the land and you hear untold truths about it, and now you’re old enough to witness it yourself. It just gave me a whole other perspective on where I’m from. What we’re doing in the city of Compton and how the world is just so much bigger than the city of Compton."

"What gives me an advantage in my upbringing is the duality of seeing one of the most beautiful moments of me being 6 years old, to the most tragic moment of being 13 or 14, and make that connection so the person [listening] can really see the conflict. It was a mindfuck, for sure. I would wake up one morning, and it would be cartoons and cereal and walking back from school. And at 4 P.M., we’d be having a house party ‘til 11 P.M. . .. and people [were] shooting each other outside the door. That was my lifestyle. And it’s not only mine; it’s so many other individuals.’ And I wanted to tell that story."

"So today I laid in my bed, stared at the ceilin' Closed my eyes, then asked myself how I was feelin' I analyzed on how a saint can play the villain Is my life coincidental or just God willin'?"

"My focus hold these thoughts and dreams Control this pen (look over your shoulder) Boldest lines in rhymes and things Devote my time and mind it seems Supposed to shine, remind I'm king Provoke the blind and bomb the fiends The pro's the con's, the diamond rings The forward time, but I'ma bring The soul divine and cross between What's your's and mine's, the gold, the green The roads that show just what it mean That grabbed Shakur and by the wing And fly before my vocal scream"

"This song's 'bout a young boy that's gone wild inside When my world collide With your world where your girl and your kids reside We killed the facades, we feel free to fly We're birds that reserve in the charismatic sky I care about my pride too much If my clothes is new, if my ride is plush If my hair is cut, if my diamonds is crushed I look in the mirror, I'm trendy enough? Wrong"

"Lord forgive me Kill him where he stand and stand over him, shake his hand Then jump back in that mini van, double back to his block and blam I ain't backing down for nothing I'ma back em down like Shaq with this black 2-2-3 in my hand Better pray that this chopper jam like a radio single, man Police radio signals sayin' that a 187 land on your corner Coroners comfort your mama "Mama he's dead," the next morning I toasted up with my homies We drink and smoke marijuana, want us to change our ways? Uh-huh You see this game we play come from uncles that raised me in Compton Ask me what I have accomplished I don't know I don't have conscience I just load up and start dumpin' on enemies; I'm head hunting No sympathy, ain't no love when you in these streets just get something Protect ya neck cuz they comin' for sets, respect, split your onion Then chop your deck your head tumblin' like gymnastics Cause ignorance is bliss"

"I'm not on the outside looking in, I'm not on the inside looking out I'm in the dead fucking centre looking around You ever seen a newborn baby kill a grown man? That's an analogy for the way the world make me react My innocence been dead So the next time I talk about money, hoes, clothes, God and history All in the same sentence Just know I meant it, and you felt it Cause you too are searching for answers I'm not the next pop star, I'm not the next socially aware rapper I am a human motherfucking being"

"If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it? I mean I write poems in these songs dedicated to you When you're in the mood for empathy, there's blood in my pen Better yet where your friends and them?"

"I woke up this morning and figured I'd call you In case I'm not here tomorrow, I'm hoping that I can borrow A peace of mind, I'm behind on what's really important My mind is really distorted, I find nothing but trouble in my life I'm fortunate you believe in a dream This orphanage we call a ghetto is quite a routine And last night was just another distraction or a reaction Of what we consider madness, I know exactly what happened You ran outside when you heard my brother cry for help Held him like a newborn baby and made him feel Like everything was alright and a fight he tried to put up But the type of bullet that stuck had went against his will As blood spilled on your hands, my plans rather vindictive Everybody's a victim in my eyes When I ride, it's a murderous rhythm and outside became pitch black A demon glued to my back whispering, "Get 'em" I got 'em, and I ain't give a fuck That same mentality that told my brother not to duck In actuality, it's a trip how we trip off of colors I wonder if I'll ever discover a passion like you and recover The life that I knew as a young'n in pajamas and dun-ta-duns When thunder comes it rains cats and dogs"

"The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it Its only job is to eat or consume everything Around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city While consuming its environment the Caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive One thing it noticed is how much the World shuns him, but praises the butterfly The butterfly represents the talent, The thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the Butterfly as weak and figures out A way to pimp it to his own benefits Already surrounded by this mad city the caterpillar Goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him He can no longer see past his own thoughts He's trapped When trapped inside these walls certain ideas take roots, Such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city The result? Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that The caterpillar never considered, ending the internal struggle Although the butterfly and caterpillar are Completely different, they are one and the same."

"Where was your presence, where was your support that you pretend? You ain't no brother, you ain't no disciple, you ain't no friend A friend never leave Compton for profit or leave his best friend Little brother, you promised you'd watch him before they shot him Where was your antennas, on the road, bottles and bitches You faced time the one time, that's unforgiven You even FaceTimed instead of a hospital visit You thought he would recover, well The surgery couldn't stop the bleeding for real Then he died, God himself will say "you fuckin' failed" You ain't try"

"I remembered you was conflicted Misusing your influence, sometimes I did the same Abusing my power full of resentment Resentment that turned into a deep depression Found myself screamin' in the hotel room I didn't wanna self destruct, the evils of Lucy was all around me So I went runnin' for answers"

"I'm sick and tired of being tired I can't pick a side, the Gemini Prophesize if we living, I Promise momma not to feel no lie Seen black turn 'em Burgundy Hundred of them, I know I'm greedy Stuck inside the belly of the beast Can you please pray for me? Get God on the phone Said it won't be long"

"A piece of mine's That's what the white man wanted when I rhyme Telling me that he selling me just for $10.99 If I go platinum from rapping, I do the company fine What if I compromise? He said, it don't even matter You make a million or more, you living better than average You losing your core following, gaining it all He put a price on my talent, I hit the bank and withdraw Hit the bank and withdraw, hit the bank and withdraw Put myself in the rocket ship and I shot for the stars Look at what you accomplishing, what he said to the boy I'ma make you some promises that you just can't ignore Your profession anonymous as an artist if I don't target your market If you ain't signing your signature when I throw you my wallet A lot of rappers are giving their demo all in the toilet Your world tour, your master's, mortgage, I need a piece"

"Now, in a perfect world, I probably won't be insensitive Cold as December, but never remember what winter did I wouldn't blame you for mistakes I made or the bed I laid Seems like I point the finger just to make a point, nowadays Smiles and cold stares, the temperature goes there Indigenous dispossession, feel like we belong here I know the walls, they can listen, I wish they could talk back The hurt becomes repetition, the love almost lost that Sick venom in men and women overcome with pride A perfect world is never perfect, only filled with lies Promises are broken and more resentment come alive Race barriers make inferior of you and I See, in a perfect world, I'll choose faith over riches I'll choose work over bitches, I'll make schools out of prison I'll take all the religions and put 'em all in one service Just to tell 'em we ain't shit, but He's been perfect, world"

"Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph The great American flag Is wrapped and dragged with explosives Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters Barricaded blocks and borders Look what you taught us It's murder on my street, your street, back streets Wall Street, corporate offices, banks Employees and bosses with homicidal thoughts Donald Trump's in office, we lost Barack And promised to never doubt him again But is America honest or do we bask in sin? Pass the gin, I mix it with American blood Then bash him in, you crippin' or you married to blood? I'll ask again—oops—accident It's nasty when you set us up Then roll the dice, then bet us up You overnight the big rifles, then tell Fox to be scared of us Gang members or terrorists, et cetera, et cetera America’s a reflection of me That's what a mirror does"

"I fight the world, I fight you, I fight myself I fight God, just tell me how many burdens left I fight pain and hurricanes, today I wept I'm tryna fight back tears, flood on my doorsteps Life a livin' hell, puddles of blood in the streets Shooters on top of the building, government aid ain't relief Earthquake, the body dropped, the ground breaks The poor run with smoke lungs and Scarface"

"Sorry I didn't save the world, my friend I was too busy buildin' mine again I choose me, I'm sorry"

"What's fair when the hearts and the words don't reach? What's fair when the money don't take things back? It's rare when somebody take your dreams back? (And I'm trippin' and fallin') I care too much, wanna share too much In my head too much, I shut down too I ain't there too much, I'm a complex soul They layered me up, then broke me down And moralities dust, I lack in trust (and I'm trippin' and fallin')"

"Beat your ass and hide the bible if God watching"

"Kendrick Lamar understands and employs blues, jazz, and soul in his music, which makes it startling. His work is more than merely brilliant; it is magic."

"I’m just saying. I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer, but Kendrick—his lyrics, his last album was outstanding. Best album, I think, of last year."

"I Think if I wanted to be famous, I would be working hard at doing that -- I am kind of working hard at not doing that."

"I've been told this is R&B, but it could be a few other things. It is certainly pretty neat, Warning: Very Sticky Hook!"

"All you have to do is give me Credit, which has led to my music being used in like, a million YouTube videos and over a thousand movies on IMDb..."

"I started making music because it was a problem that needed solving; it was very hard for filmmakers to get anything done without going through giant rigor morale, or at least it used to be."

"It is always easiest to write for the mood I'm in... and after a few hours, I am almost always IN the mood of the music. Because... that's what music does."

"I say! It is such a lovely brisk day! Aren't the horses lovely? I mean... look at all the horseness they have! They are scoring quite high on the horse-o-meters today! Nothing bovine on this street, Nay! ... ... ... Wait... I was trying to make a joke involving a horse's "neigh" combined with the archaic positive/negative usage of "nay". Then everything went wrong, and I said almost the opposite of the intention. So, without the joke: Picture a street where the only animals are the horsiest of horses... No cows or pigs. Okay, there are two dogs... but one of them is pretty small... and you can see a cat in one of the windows... but MOSTLY horses. If you added up the weights of all the non-horse, non-humans in the picture, they would weigh less than one horse."

"What is meditation for one may be cause for concern in another. - Some Elf"

"Picture a pixellated medieval village... cause that's what this is. It is the kind of music we think they played back in the day. It is not historically. But I'm okay with that, because we also didn't have lich-kings, lich-mages, lich-illithids, lich-warriors, or lich-archers. We did have lichens, though... I like lichens!"

"Welcome to the Holiday Inn, Airport. The presentation will begin shortly. SUCCESS starts with your ATTITUDE! If you are not EARNING, make sure you are LEARNING! AMBITION is the path to success. PERSISTENCE is the vehicle you arrive in. Success is doing the OPPOSITE of what everyone else is DOING! Actually... don't take this last one too literally. If everyone else is using the door, don't try walking through a wall (or whatever the opposite of a "door" is). I mean... there is a reason most people do the same things. Usually because they make sense. Oh, sure... it is okay to QUESTION what people are doing, but just doing the opposite... probably not great. The future of NETWORK MARKETING is UNLIMITED! Oh... Also a bit of hyperbole here. I mean, it literally cannot exceed the gross output of all the world's economies - and will likely top out far before that due to INEFFICIENCIES and REGULATION."

"This piece took almost exactly one year to go from initial idea to produced piece. What was I doing for a whole year!? I mean... it doesn't exactly sound that difficult."

"Is it a real Gregorian Chant? Nope. For one - there are no real words in it. Honestly, I don't want a religious exaltation mucking up my fantasy world. So if you're building a historically accurate "Monk Simulator: Year of Our Lord 882!", just move on. The other reason this isn't real is I never learned how to read that notation. There are insufficient sticks for the rhythms in the notation... I know, there is a real convention that you can learn. I just grabbed a few pieces of the sheet music from the 1200s, and guessed at how to do it. Sounds reasonable enough to me! (says the guy who knows virtually nothing about the art)"

"Background to an evil political action ad. Add your own alarmist voice over - this was engineered to make people uncomfortable, and not interfere with human voice range. "Tell your congressman to vote NO on the Pollute Our Drinking Water and Send All of Our Money to Canada Act.""

"Welcome to the tropical paradise of Port Horizon. Not much to do here but listen to the short wave radios and play guitar. There is also food and drinks with those little umbrellas... Other than that - not much. Except snorkeling. Snorkeling is pretty cool. Oh, there is also Art Night on Tuesday - where you get a volleyball and some paints and make yourself a friend! Beach chess... I forgot about Beach Chess. Don't play white against Todd, though - he plays all-Hedgehog all the time. Come on, Todd - just once, seriously ONCE could you play King's Indian or... you know what? I'd even take the French Defence; Exchange Variation, you boring symmetrical jerk."

"Oh! The horror! This is NOT a fun piece. It WILL make you feel like there is something seriously wrong. Did those veins on my forearm always look like that? I mean, they're doing a weird criss-cross pattern... and they look REALLY blue. I would have noticed that before, surely! I wonder if this has anything to do with the meteor that came down in Mr. Wilson's pond last night?"

"Part one of seven. Sort of an edgy-underwater feel... which isn't common. You can feel the struggle just trying to get the sounds out. Imagine a small rhinoceros at a tea party. The image you have in your head has nothing to do with this piece; But it is quite amusing."

"Part three of seven. Part pipe organ, part broken pipe organ, this isn't just spooky, it is crazy spooky. It also has a musical theme, which not all of this horror moody stuff has. Consider it the jelly filling in your horror doughnut."

"Part four of seven. This is the pizza cutter of this series, round and edgy. It has a little bit of melodic complexity, but mostly it just sits around being creepy."

"Part five of seven. Airy, but not in the "I'm outdoors, and everything is great 'airy'" way. More like the "the alien machine that sustains our life is slowly breaking down and poison is beginning to seep from its core" way. Whatever is happening... it isn't fast, and it isn't good."

"Part seven of seven. A real mind bender. This one is all acoustic, and no artificial synths, so it has an organic feel. Not Certified Organic, just normal organic. So, that means it looks better, requires less fertilizer, has fewer pests and a higher yield."

"Southern trap influenced rap pile of musical forklift platypus... okay, I don't know what these words mean. But if you understood them - we're all good. You know what you're getting, and... that's all I can hope for really. Truth in advertising!"

"Could be the thinking music for a quiz show about the paranormal? "Where does the Sasquatch typically vacation... is it A, The High Mountains... B, Unexplored Cave Systems... C, Graceland... or D, In another dimension - similar to, but not strongly coupled with our own reality. Take your time and answer whenever you're ready.... A, B, C, or D... Would you like to consult the Tarot or do an entrail reading?" I love the flute bits in this piece."

"You know when you watch a vampire movie and then you walk out into the real world, but you're still sort of in the fictional world because it looked like the real world... and that's where you are now. I call this Persistence of Fiction, and it feels awesome! Capture some fiction by playing this track while walking to the bus... er the Vampire Bus! or waiting in line at the Vampire DMV or sorting Vampire Direct Mail Ads or doing some Vampire Macrame."

"You know what's cool? A standpipe in the winter. I imagine this one with a hip mustache and a plaid beret. Enough of the imagery, this is a little downtempo chill piece with lush horn punctuation. Suitable for: walks in the rain, time-lapse videos, sad cooking shows."

"This piece was built almost entirely with arpeggiators. What does that mean for you? Probably nothing. But holy man! Does this sound like it is from 1983! So, pop a tape of "Flashdance" in your VCR... and then spend like 8 minutes rewinding it... because, apparently your cousin couldn't be bothered to do that. Seriously, Sally! You did the same thing when I lent you "Smokey and the Bandit II", and I didn't say anything because you had a hard week, but still managed to make the Jell-o Salad with the grapes for the family reunion... which was nice. Anyway, I'll probably just get you one of those $20 tape rewinders they have at Radio Shack for your birthday. I also enrolled you in the Battery of the Month Club. You're welcome."

"Yeah Boyzzz! BGM Music in the HOUSE!!!! In this case, "BGM Music" means "Background Music... Music". You want royalty-free!? You got it! You want ukulele mastery!? You got that, too! You want a piece that's a GNDN piece!? DONE! It's like a whole new genre of undistinguished music! It is sort of bouncy, and cheery. So... somewhat distinguished. It is really hard to hype this piece, but it is wicked-useful!"

"Stop it! Stop complaining, it is supposed to end like that! This is a loopable piece. Why? You never know how long your voice-overed tour of the cardboard factory is going to take... Or your real estate tour... Or your appendectomy video... Or your video of that one train by your house."

"So this one sounds like what is [sic] sounds like."

"Have you ever heard a 4 bassoon ensemble before? Not likely. While bassoonists may create temporary pair-bonds, they are never found in groups of 3 or more. Much digital trickery was involved in this piece to make them appear as though they were all in the same room at the same time. Tuba players, on the other hand exhibit extreme flocking behaviour, and have even been spotted in mass migrations."

"Co-written with Bryan Teoh while he was on vacation (Thanks Bryan!) this is all the mystery and chill groove you need. So come on you cats and swingers, enjoy yourself a Jet Pilot (served in a pineapple of course) and help unravel the Secret of Tiki Island! Can you save yourself and the island from the Volcano!? No. Of course you can't. It is a freaking VOLCANO. If the pyroclastic flows and lahars don't kill you, the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide probably will."

"I gotta admit, I've never been to a clambake, only ever fish boils... which are similar, except for clambakes usually involve mollusks and giant sea-bugs, and fish boils involve fish. Also, clambakes are more steaming and fish boils are more boiling. You're more likely to see Green Bay Packers jerseys at fish boils, and more likely to see New England Patriots jerseys at clambakes. This music is west-coast, though... The more I think about it - the less useful this descriptive paragraph becomes."

"What is love? Apparently, it is an odd mix of 1980's synthy love songs and modern trap beats. I don't think there is anything like this out there... which may be a fine thing - or I've just invented a genre. Crooner-Synth Trap-Pop."

"Welcome to the lobby of the FUTURE! Luxurious automatic ashtrays, and modern green vinyl furnishings set off the shag carpeted walls. Enjoy a Rusty Nail from our cheerful bar staff (with a complimentary cheese and fruit plate before 5pm). We feature prime rib dinners every day that ends in a "y"! Remember to tip the bellhops at least 5 cents per bag. Enjoy your stay! This was written 2 years before it was published, because I didn't have a good enough upright bass sample to make it go."

"Part alien cacophony, part organic awfulness, part six of seven. If you set this piece as music you wake up to in the morning, you're going to have a bad, bad day. There will be half remembered monsters from the times of not-asleep, not-awake... whose only jobs are to induce unexpected nausea inside government buildings."

"After some amount of introspection, I can only conclude that this is the afterlife, or some entryway to the afterlife... or a really cool club in the Meatpacking district after-hours."

"Got blood on my hands Got blood on my hands And I don't understand What's happening There's blood on these hands And still American's Left to the Taliban Now how's that happening? Winkin' Blinken Can't you look me in the eyes Willy Milley Tell me when did you decide This we'll defend Your sacred motto Now means... never mind Got blood on my hands Got blood on my hands Flag of the Taliban Over Afghanistan I can't hear her scream if shе's not, she's not She's not on TV To every Afghan ally that we left behind Every child who won't know freedom Faces covered and blind As for this American promise Now... shit in the Fire."

"Shot down, said you never had the chance, Took a ride on a suicide romance. Could have sworn there was somebody home To facilitate the great unknown. Oh woman, I ain't going to meet you anywhere. Don't know where I'm going yet, But I sure am getting there."

"I can't stand to fly. I'm not that naïve. I'm just out to find The better part of me.I'm more than a bird, I'm more than a plane, I'm more than some pretty face beside a train. It's not easy to be me."

"I wish that I could cry, Fall upon my knees. Find a way to lie 'Bout a home I'll never see.It may sound absurd but don't be naïve Even heroes have the right to bleed. I may be disturbed but won’t you concede Even heroes have the right to dream. And it's not easy to be me."

"Fifteen, there's still time for you, Time to buy and time to lose, fifteen. There's never a wish better than this, When you only got a hundred years to live."

"I'm thirty-three for a moment, I'm still the man, but you see I'm a "they" A kid on the way, babe, A family on my mind. I'm forty-five for a moment, The sea is high And I'm heading into a crisis, Chasing the years of my life."

"What kind of world do you want? Think anything. Let's start at the start, Build a masterpiece. Be careful what you wish for, History starts now..."

"Then he said, "Here's a riddle for ya: Find the answer. There's a reason for the world: You and I.""

"Picked up my kid from school today. "Did you learn anything? 'Cause in the world today, You can't live in a castle far away. Now, talk to me, come talk to me." He said, "Dad, I'm big, but we're smaller than small. In the scheme of things, well, we're nothing at all. Still, every mother's child sings a lonely song. So play with me, come play with me.""

"There are secrets that we Still have left to find. There have been mysteries From the beginning of time. There are answers We're not wise enough to see. He said, "You're looking for a clue I love you free.""

"There was a time a long, long time ago Chevy's and levees played on the radio No cell phones, just twenty thousand lights Swaying on a Saturday night alright."

"Chances are when said and done Who'll be the lucky ones Who make it all the way? Though you say I could be your answer. Nothing lasts forever, No matter how it feels today.Chances are we'll find a new equation Chances rolled away from me Chances are all they hope to be."

"I wasn't the kid who got involved in the streets. I liked to be at home with my family."

"I don't want to be fake. I'm just being me. And I have the power to break stereotypes and whatever useless rules that society puts on us."

"Puerto Rico has limited influence over US national policy. Island residents cannot vote in presidential elections, and their congressional representative has no voting power. Without sovereignty, bilateral relations, or participation in international bodies, culture remains our primary doorway to the world, and Bad Bunny has opened it wider than ever."

"Quítate la ropa, que hace calor Días de playa, noches de terror En la gaveta dejo el temor Pa las envidiosas paz y amor"

"Damn G, the spot's getting hot/So how the fuck am I supposed to make a knot?/Police looking at niggas through a microscope/In L.A. everybody and they momma sell dope/They trying to stop it/So what the fuck can I do to make a profit?/Catch a flight to St. Louis/That's cool, cause nobody knew us."

"“You have to look at your art as a commodity, and you have to understand how the world of commerce works. Otherwise, it can leave a bitter taste in your mouth, and leave you quite disillusioned.”"

"“As a human being, you retain the right to your freedom - mental, physical, emotional, financial, sexual, etc. Being a young African we’ve been bred with our core values out of fear.”"

"Nobody owes you anything. It’s really up to you to make the best out of situations"

"Power changes hands. Be respectful and kind to everyone, you never know whose help you might need."

"They kick you when you're down but they wanna kick it when you up."

"You do know it cost money to put a t-shirt on your back? You do know it cost money have a house, a home? You do know it cost money to eat? Get money, don’t let these people fool you."

"The key is to make it."

"I eat pears now, and shit like that. Shoutout to all the pear."

"Don't ever burn a bridge. Let me ask you a question: can you walk on water? Don't burn no bridge. Only God can walk on water."

"A lot of people see the glory, and don't know the story."

"It breaks my heart They ain't believe in us We the best music They played themselves While you hatin' and being jealous You could be over here embracin' that love More love, more blessings, more life GOD DID You either win with us, or you watch us win."

"This photo is by Erica McDonald. She doesn’t waste time - she sees, she captures. She is brilliant. She has shot covers for Raven, Ballads, 7, and many images of me over time. Because in the past, male photographers have essentially been pricks pressuring me to disrobe, touching me inappropriately etc., I work with women. Photographers like Jodie Olson (This Fire) and @ebruyildiz (American Quilt) and @merrifairy (Amen) are humble geniuses."

"I respect anybody who's pulled an idea out of their brain and fully brought it to life. That sh*t is spiritual. To know that it started as a thought and you brought it into fruition is crazy. Shout out the ones who see it all the way through. Keep creating."

"Gnarls Barkley is an alter ego and something like an out of body experience."

"[M]y father was an architect. He and my mother separated when I was young, but before that I went with them to Russia, where he had an assignment; then World War I broke out, and he was arrested and sent to Siberia. My mother and I had a terrible journey back, on an ice-cold train, first to Paris, eventually home."

"I used to go skating regularly in Berlin. One day, I went to the skating rink and found I was there on the wrong day; instead of skating, they had a show. I thought I might as well stay, so I put my skates over my shoulders and went in. The show starred Sam Wooding accompanying the Chocolate Kiddies Revue; he had a 8- or 10-piece band, and I was totally fascinated."

"The ship took a long way around, via the Caribbean. A West Indian cricket player befriended me, and I began to sit at his table. From that point on, I noticed that the white passengers began treating me very strangely. Finally, one of them said: "We don't do that you know. Don't socialize with those people." That was my first encounter with segregation."

"I didn’t care about overtime. I didn’t care about how much money it cost me. I wanted to get the thing right. So I never rushed musiciansinto the studio and rushed them out. When we went into overtime,which was double for everybody and triple for the leader—forget all this, lets [sic] make the records, right? The musicians didn't just do it for the money. They wanted it right too. They listened to the playbacks and they'd say if something wasn't quite right, and go back and do it again."

"Because nobody knows your vision better than you do. Nobody can tell your story as you can. You have to live it."

"So always fight for yourself and believe in yourself and your vision."

"And it’s okay to say, ‘Hey, I’m not okay today.’"

"Be the truest form of yourself. If you go with what everybody else is doing you may risk falling into the crevices and the cracks, because there's so many people doing the same thing."

"When I create music, it's not just about the song. I have to visually see something in my head too."

"Whatever you’re doing, if you feel like you’re in this place, and it seems to be working, stay there. Don’t allow other things to make you second-guess yourself, as long as it feels good to you."

"People don’t realize that artists are sensitive or that they have feelings."

"Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down."

""My favorite time of day is the one I feel the most powerful in and that's random"."

""So I'm thankful for this unusual turbulent and emotional time that we're going through because I think a lot of people are going to come out very different"."

""I think most people manifest everything that happens in their life"."

""I believe the universe wants to give, and if we ask very clearly what it is that we want, I believe that we receive exactly what we want"."

"Interview: Linda Perry by Katherine Yeske Taylor,25 April 2021 Retrieved 23/11/2023"

"Making art is a mystical process — a lot of people who are artists don't understand it themselves. Especially the young ones. They feel different, but they don't know what it is. They feel more. Everything hurts. Everything. They're supersensitive. They see things that other people don't see."

"The Beatles are proof of the existence of God."

"I guess edgy things tend to get my attention."

"Living life as an artist is a practice. You can engage in the practice or not. It makes no sense to say you're not good at it. It's like saying, "I'm not good at being a monk." You either live as a monk or not. We tend to think of the artist's work as the output. The artist's real work is a way of being in the world."

"There’s great wisdom in transitional realms between wakefulness and sleep. Right before you fall asleep, what thoughts and ideas come to you? How do you feel when you wake from a dream? [...] Keeping a dream journal might be of use. Place a pen and paper next to the bed, and as soon as you wake up, begin writing immediately with as much detail as possible before doing anything else."

"If several directions seem captivating, consider crafting more than one experiment at a time. Working on several often brings about a healthy sense of detachment."

"If you’re holding a center puzzle piece in your hand and staring at an empty tabletop, it’s difficult to determine where to place it. If all of the puzzle is complete except for that one piece, then you know exactly where it goes. The same is generally true of art. The more of the work you can see, the easier it becomes to gracefully place the final details clearly where they belong."

"Wrestling's real, and the world is fake."

"If I could get my partner back it would be nice He would shoot the one, wouldn't think twice He was too involved with the street life Only way to live on this side"

"Take a sip, drowning in this shit, coppers on my hip, I hold my head I've been taking risks to make that money flip, shots to the head I ain't order it, I can't afford this shit"

"My granny called, she said, "Travvy, you work too hard I'm worried you forget about me" I'm fallin' in and out of clouds Don't worry, I'ma get it, Granny, uh"

"Pray for who lost they fate and died too young Pray for the ones I hate, the ones I love Pray for my liver when I'm off in this club I pray that the demons go away, they hauntin' us"

"If you listen to a lot of the heavy bands, even , or – they were heavy as hell, but I always though the production sounded like shit [...] There was this general consensus that nobody who produced stuff like gave a shit about it. They’d say, ‘Oh, they play too fast and it sounds like a dog barking.’ [...] no one ever tried to make them sound good. And at the time, Jim, and Tom really were pioneers as far as doing drum triggering. And they invested money in PC electronics and figured how to use that to make high really good recordings. And I jumped right in the fire and learned as I went along."

"Scott knew what to do with fast and brutal bands, and not a lot of guys did at the time [...] It really drew people from the death metal scene down here. That was a big factor in Tampa becoming a haven here. They wanted to be close to the studio."

"Many fans have told me that "Tomb..." is their favorite album because the production is so heavy. There is no doubt that Scott helped Cannibal Corpse a great deal with the excellent production work he did on this album."

"I've never recognized 'emo' as a genre of music. I always thought it was the most retarded term ever. I know there is this generic commonplace that every band that gets labeled with that term hates it. They feel scandalized by it. But honestly, I just thought that all the bands I played in were punk rock bands. The reason I think it's so stupid is that – what, like the Bad Brains weren't emotional? What – they were robots or something? It just doesn't make any sense to me."

"When I was young, I was always over the top because I was so fucked up. Not "fucked up" as in "wasted" but more mentally "fucked up". And I was really jacked up. So [the emotive nature of my bands] came out of that. I mean, before I was in Rites of Spring, I was in a band called Insurrection with Brendan, the Fugazi drummer who I've played with in every band I've been in.. And our music was like Motorhead and Discharge and Venom - shit like that. That was what the band sounded like. And we weren't very good! But nobody was calling THAT "emo." Then when we started Rites of Spring, I guess we got more serious about what we were trying to do. But I didn't actually sing in Insurrection. In Rites of Spring, I decided to sing and that's what came out. Because when I was young, I was nuts."

"I joined [Fugazi] in a staggered way. I joined after the band had already been playing together and writing songs for a few months. I'd always been a guitar player - I was in five bands before Fugazi and I played guitar in all of them - but I didn't see room for another guitar in Fugazi with the way the songs were. So my concept was I'd be like Flavor Flav or something; a guy who sang occasionally and played a different role, offsetting things. When we started playing shows, I was so used to having a guitar, I had to struggle to find a way to occupy myself."

"His guitar tone is both beefy and filth-ridden, setting a bar in 2004 that many hardcore bands have still been attempting to clear over the last 20 years."

"Being in an indie band back then, you weren’t allowed to have dreams of being huge. None of the major labels [had] touched anything that’s remotely left of field since the punk movement. It was all Huey Lewis. That changed with Sonic Youth and then Nirvana signing to Geffen. Alternative became this huge business, and now Arcade Fire or Vampire Weekend can be [number one]."

"The Big V has been making weird guitar noises since his infancy—when Frank Zappa’s wolf pack adopted and raised him."

"There's a reason why Steve Vai was cast as the Devil's champion in the guitar standoff scene of "The Crossroads" movie, and a ridiculously long list of mind-blowing guitar effects he could produce certainly added to his reputation of an established guitar wizard. His pick squeals are top-notch, especially when he lays on a note so hard that it makes your brain melt, or when he combines it with a whammy effect, making his guitar sound like a racehorse dying in horrible agony."

"BB King is one of the most influential guitarists in history and can be credited with inventing guitar soling using string bends and vibrato."

"Every guitarist who bends or vibratoes a string to make it sing owes a debt to B.B. King. With influences as diverse as T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, the late guitarist turned the blues world upside down in 1952 with “3 O’Clock Blues.” Almost overnight, the harmonica was supplanted as the primary solo instrument in blues, as guitarists scrambled to imitate B.B.’s soloing style, especially in Chicago."

"McComb’s forte is R&B, soul and jazz."

"For an album with a photo of a guitar on its cover, My Bloody Valentine’s signature opus Loveless is what happens when Kevin Shields puts his mind to making that instrument sound like anything but. Thanks to some skillful, ingenious tremolo abuse, the opening siren of “Only Shallow” the moose call of “Touched,” and the woozy haze of “I Only Said” are as dramatic and jarring and alien and deeply influential musical moments as anything to come out of the eventful early ’90s — and it’s telling that Shields has never attempted to top it."

"Chet Atkins was the man. Beloved of the generation of guitarists that went on to be the generation of the ‘60s, Chet was the titan of country music whose flatpickin’, acoustic-ripping playing would give anyone pause to stop, listen and admire. Responsible for creating the Nashville sound and bringing country into pop, as a guitarist his influence was felt far and wide. Solid as a rock, technically perfect, and an all-time great without compare."

"Much of the session work [Atkins] recorded and/or produced in Nashville with artists like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers laid the foundation for early rock and roll."

"First arriving in Nashville as part of an early '50s incarnation of the Carter Family, Atkins rose to the very apex of the Nashville music scene, helping to architect the "Nashville Sound" as a producer and executive, while recording a large discography of his own guitar work."

"Though comfortable playing many styles, Atkins was most often associated with country music and the acoustic guitar. [...] A guitar legend, Atkins was elected to the Country Music Hal of Fame in 1973. His musical contributions inspired artists ranging from Eric Johnson to the late Lenny Breau."

"When I was growing up people would always say, and it was meant in the kindest possible way, ‘You’re really good for a girl,’ because there weren’t a lot of girls or women playing. Out of this small pond of people, it was surprising to them. In my opinion, you’d have to be pretty unworldly to make a comment like that anymore. Nobody had the success that Alison Krauss had. So, when that happened, I think it started to make it difficult for people to look at women in bluegrass as some kind of exceptional thing. Here was a woman who really blew out the boundaries for the music and really expanded the potential for the music and brought in new listeners."

"How indistinguishable from country was rock at Sun Records? Less than three years after Elvis Presley’s initial success, Sam Phillips had signed the other three members of his “Million Dollar Quartet” – Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. All three men were sonically similar to Presley and had tremendous success as country stars for decades without veering too far away from their original sound. Roy Orbison, another of Phillips’ rockabilly acts, got his start singing country hits in his high school band, the Wink Westerners."

"As one of the most respected and consistent country artists of all time, Strait ranks right up there with Cash and Haggard. His list of awards is staggering and stretches from the mid 1980s all the way to 2015."

"A multi-Grammy Award winner, Wooten has long been the backbone of the jazz-infused Bela Fleck and the Flecktones but worked with Clarke in the supergroup SMV. One of the most sought-after bassists in the world, Wooten also showcased his harder, edgier side while working with the metal group Nitro. Ridiculously talented on both the fretted and fretless bass, Wooten has also excelled while playing the double bass and even the cello. Truly one of the most gifted and appreciated musicians that should receive more mainstream recognition."

"While Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke were major innovators in the electric bass, Victor Wooten has been a vital pace-setter on the instrument with his virtuosic playing and his two-handed approach. From his work with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in the early '90s to his solo releases over the last seventeen years, Wooten has shown he's clearly huge force in the electric bass. His outstanding 1996 debut, A Show of Hands, is just one document of just how far Wooten can take the bass."

"For those of a certain age and spanning older generations, Dunn might be most recognizable for his appearance in the beloved comedy The Blues Brothers. However, Dunn's contributions as a bass player and to the music industry are much more expansive and celebrated. Dunn was long considered one of the great session musicians of all time. From his days at Stax Records until his death in 2012 at 70, Dunn was one of the most sought-after bassists around the globe."

"The master of the six-string bass, Thundercat, whose father Ronald Bruner played drums for The Temptations and The Supremes, first left his mark with thrash/punk favorites Suicidal Tendencies. However, he's also worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, with whom he won a Grammy Award, Erykah Badu, and the late Mac Miller. In addition, Thundercat has released four widely-acclaimed solo albums as of 2023. He won his second Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album for his 2020 release It Is What It Is."

"Golden rubbers in these denim pockets (denim pockets) On my waist there's a black Glock (black Glock) New girl moved on the block (on the block) She been plottin' on my brown cock (brown cock) Last night I slept over hers (over hers) During sex, I overheard (I overheard)"

"I'm a fucking unicorn. And fuck anybody who say I'm not."

"I'm a fucking walking paradox, no, I'm not Threesomes with a fucking triceratops."

"I'm Tyler, I think I be your son Sorry, I called you the wrong name, see, my brain's splitting Dad isn't your name, see faggot's a little more fitting."

"She could ride my face, I don't want nothin' in return Her body count and who she fuck ain't never my concern."

"Sometimes you gotta close a door to open a window."

"They say I've calmed down since the last album Well, lick my dick, how does that sound? Um."

"Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Cyber Bullying Real Hahahaha Nigga Just Walk Away From The Screen Like Nigga Close Your Eyes Haha"

"Hey guys, It's me Tyler here with Esmeralda. I adopted her from Mexico. She doesn't know english yet. I donated to charity too, I'm really a good guy."