Singer-songwriters from England

"If you want to be fucking individual, don't get a tattoo. Every fucker's got one these days."

"I am a new and reformed Christian follower, I Love God"

"I am a raging alcoholic, but I don't want my kids to do the same."

"I love you all; I love you more than life itself, but you're all fucking mad!"

"I keep hearing this [expletive] thing that guns don't kill people, but people kill people."

"Who the fuck is Justin Bieber?"

"Bubbles! Oh come on Sharon! I'm fucking Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of fucking Darkness. Evil! Evil! What's fucking evil about a buttload of fucking bubbles!?"

"We are not going to continue until we hear the fucking roof rattle."

"I like the word fuck. Fucking deal with it and move on to the first fucking question you have."

"I can honestly say, all the bad things that ever happened to me were directly, directly attributed to drugs and alcohol. I mean, I would never piss on a piece of stone at the fucking Alamo at nine o'clock in the morning dressed in a woman's evening dress sober. I mean I know I'm a fucking crazy-ass but still."

"All that stuff about heavy metal and hard rock, I don't subscribe to any of that. It's all just music. I mean, the heavy metal from the Seventies sounds nothing like the stuff from the Eighties, and that sounds nothing like the stuff from the Nineties. Who's to say what is and isn't a certain type of music?"

"I push this one button and the shower goes on and I think, where the fuck am I?"

"I live in a 9 million dollar turd."

"We're the Osbournes, and I love it."

"I hate these fucking stretch bastards junk pimp mobiles!"

"Turn that thing off, its driving me mad!"

"International rock star - gravy maker extraordinaire."

"You don't need to hire a dog therapist, you just need to wake up at 7 am and open the fucking door!"

"Well, its not that bad. I thought she was going to show me a picture of uhhhh...an eagle on her ass or something."

"All you have to do is say Fuck Off when the vagina doctor calls."

"[To Kelly, after he's become suspicious] You haven't been playing doctors and nurses have you?"

"Its like Dr. Doolittle in this fucking house here."

"No we won't -- no we won't break the law Sharon."

"Weather in Afghanistan, 2000 degrees and cloudy. What the fuck am I doing? I'm stuck on the weather channel. AHHH!"

"How the fuck you feed a tree?...What...you put a ham sandwich on the tree?"

"[after one of his dogs urinated in the bedroom] Who pissed!!? Who pissed on my fucking carpet!?! That bastard fucking dog man. I'm going to throw you in the pool! Get the fuck out of my house! Why do they do it Sharon? Whats the deal man? It's a fucking terrorist man! It's fucking part of Bin Laden's gang! Fucking Ali Baba used to go work on this rug."

"[hugging Sharon] Merry xmas....now fuck off."

"I like warming my butt by the fire."

"[while lighting a fire on the beach] Fuck! Go to Alaska! No, no, no, no. You fucking asshole ocean! No!"

"I've had this TV for 7 years, this is how it works. Power on - it comes on. Simple clicker, volume control - piece of piss. Works every time.... what the fuck's this? What am I doing? JACK!!"

"I've done a lot worse than jump off piers, son. Like throw a television out the window."

"Let me explain something to you - you have not been standing in front of thirty thousand decibals for thirty-five years - write me a note!"

"Nobody tells me fuck all!"

"This will end in tears."

"The downside of being outrageous is that you have to go around explaining your fucking self to people. If you're too cocky, somebody might just pull out a fucking gun and cock it and blow your fucking face off. You gotta be really careful what you bite off. Don't bite off more than you can chew. It's a dangerous world."

"...the other day, I went to a chiropractor. He's just a regular chiropractor. Whenever I meet someone who doesn't know me, they say, 'Oh you're the guy who bites the heads off everything.' I get kind of cheesed off with it, but at least they remember. The thing that pisses me off is that that's not what I'm about. If that's what you think Ozzy Osbourne's about, then you're way off."

"I have no regrets except that I wasn't up to keep Randy (Rhoads) from getting on that plane."

"I've had every known chemical--cocaine, booze--and tobacco is the hardest one in the world for me to quit. You watch old flicks? It's suggestion by looking at something: You see a cigarette, and it makes you want to smoke!"

"I miss the lack of melody [in current music] as well. I mean, a lot of people think I'm crazy for liking Creed and I like them purely because they sing! I mean, the singer of Creed sings like the guy from Pearl Jam, very close kind of voice. But I like the fact that Creed sing. I don't care if they're a Bible band, Satan band..."

"Here's the thing. I always hear that whole 'metal is dead' crap. The truth of the matter is that when we started the Ozzfest, media-wise, yes, metal was dead. But as far as the kids went, it was still huge. It was just that radio and MTV decided it wasn't in vogue with what they wanted to do at the time, so the average person didn't hear too much about it. That's why when it comes to picking the new acts each summer, we have people out there on the internet and in the clubs looking for good music and finding bands that people are excited about. I want to know what the kids are into, because I don't trust the industry."

"I'm about caring, I'm about people, and I'm about entertaining people. I'm a family man. A husband. A father. I've been a lot of other things over the years, which we don't really want to talk about. I'm always working on trying to better myself, you know? I think that that is an ongoing thing with me. I think I'll do that for the rest of my life. I'm always thinking of what I can do today to better my life."

"I kept hearing that metal is dead and Ozzy's dead and people that like Ozzy are dead. I have never had an empty seat. I've always sold out, so who's saying it's all over?"

"I don't consider myself a great singer--but I have a connection with the audience. There's the artist, and then a void and the audience; but I like to be part of the audience. I'd like to be them, and I'd like them to be me for an hour and a half. I get criticized for being the antichrist, causing kids to commit suicide, but that's total bullsh-t. My intentions are not that. Every year they have Halloween, and all I do is take Halloween night out on the road every night. It's like a Halloween party every night. If that was the case on Halloween night, the police cells would be full--everyone would have turned Satanic for the night!"

"It took a lot of water to down just that fucking bat's head, let me tell you. It's still stuck in my fucking throat, after all these years. People all over the world say, 'You're the guy who kills creatures? You still do it? You do it every night?' It happened fucking once, for Christ's sake."

"When we did that album (Vol. 4) it was like one big Roman orgy-we'd be in the Jacuzzi all day doing coke, and every now and then we'd get up to do a song."

"Somebody said to me this morning, 'To what do you attribute your longevity?' I don't know. I mean, I couldn't have planned my life out better. By all accounts I should be dead! The abuse I put my body through: the drugs, the alcohol, the lifestyle I've lived the last 30 years! Now, some rare fly will fly over me, crap on my shoulder, and I'll drop dead, you know? My life story is a real-life story."

"I have a message for anyone coming to the Ozzfest this summer (Summer, 2000): If you're planning to jump up onstage during my set, please do not give me any bear hugs, because they fucking hurt. Listen to me, I'm dead serious. On the first night of last year's tour, this enormous guy jumped up onstage and gave me a huge bear hug. He crushed 3 of my ribs and I had to do the whole tour in absolute agony. I couldn't believe it, the first fucking show!"

"I have a saying. 'Never judge a book by its cover'. I say that because I don't even know who Ozzy is. I wake up a new person every day. But if you've got a fantasy of Ozzy, who am I to say? I mean, if you think I sleep upside-down in the rafters and fly around at night and bite people's throats out, then that's your thing. But I can tell you now, all I ever wanted was for people to come to my concerts and have a good time. I don't want anyone to harm themselves in any way, shape or form-and my intentions are good whether people want to believe it or not. I'm not going to suddenly become a Jesus freak or anything. But I do have my beliefs and my beliefs are certainly not satanic."

"There is something fucking unbelievable about seeing all of the fans go crazy and chanting 'Ozzy!' I would pay to see them.."

"When you're young, you're stupid. You do silly things. I did it (the O-Z-Z-Y tattoo across his knuckles) when I was 14. I was in jail for something. I could have had it removed, but why? It's my trademark. People stop me and say, 'Let me have a look at your hand.'"

"The idea of a band nowadays is 5 pretty boys, one with a tattoo, one with a shaved head, and on and on. What the fuck is that? I mean, I like Britney Spears, I think she's pretty, but I'm not from the Mickey Mouse Club-I'm from the Godzilla Club!"

"There's not a stupidest thing--I've dressed in women's clothes, I've dressed as a Nazi. I've gone onstage naked. I've gone on so drunk I didn't even know I did a show. I've done so many stupid things, but it's all part of Ozzy. I never pre-planned 99.9% of the things I've done. Some were drastically wrong, some were drastically right. I don't know if you saw the VH1 thing [VH1's Behind The Music Ozzy documentary] recently. In one hour, it's impossible to write my life down. I come from a rather large family, three older sisters and two younger brothers. On the documentary, they interviewed my sister and it was the first time I'd seen her in years. I've had a very, very unique life. I often sit back and remember when I had no money--when you're in the middle of it, you get depressed thinking it's going to last forever. All of a sudden, out of nowhere--a bolt of lightning--here I am! I'm very well-off; I've got property all over the place, I've had a very fruitful career. But I've never had a No.1 album in America. But I've lasted several generations and somebody says to me, "Do you notice any difference in the audience?" I've been doing it now for 30 years. Some of the fans are older, but I've picked up new fans along the way."

"...as you'll know, the word 'fuck' sort of is used quite a lot in my house. Now, that's not to say, I think to say 'fuck this' or 'fuck you' a lot more, so it should be entered into the English language, because it has a lot more impact when you say, 'I fucking hate this thing.'"

"The biggest thing has been realizing how much people really do love the early Sabbath music. People have said it in the past but I've never really believed them before. I remember years ago when Metallica opened up for me, I went backstage and they were playing old Black Sabbath albums and I thought they were taking the piss! They said, 'No, we really love Sabbath.' I couldn't see that at the time--because towards the end of my time with Sabbath 20 years ago I thought what we were doing was boring and stupid, because we were boring and stupid, totally sick of what we were doing and totally out of our brains with drink or drugs when we were playing it."

"I've been dictating to my son, who's helping me on his computer. I'm spending a lot of time doing research--I've just got up to 1971, when I went crazy and dived through the window. My life is so full of interesting stories..."

"I like the smell of armpits in the morning. It's like victory."

"I'm not picking up dog shit. I'm a rock star."

"[on Kelly's drummer friend] Anyone that beats fucking skins for a living has got to be somewhat weird."

"When I was a practicing alcoholic, I was unbelievable. One side effect was immense suspicion: I'd come off tour like Inspector Clouseau on acid. 'Where's this cornflake come from? It wasn't here before.'"

"Dimebag was a dear friend of mine, I'm absolutely beside myself with grief. I can't for the life of me understand why someone would do this. Pantera toured with me many, many times. I'll always remember the signed guitar that he gave me at my 50th birthday party. My heart goes out to Dime's family, his fans and the other innocent victims who were killed in this senseless tragedy. It's just terribly, terribly sad."

"Where do I live?"

"Sometimes I'm scared of being Ozzy Osbourne. But it could have been worse. I could have been Sting."

"People say it's hard at the top, but it's even harder at the bottom."

"God, beam me up!"

"I tried out that Buckethead guy. I met with him and asked him to work with me but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing. I said, 'Look, just be yourself!' He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother.' So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!' I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, 'I've been beamed up?' [Laughs] Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker!"

"I wonder where that bat is now? Maybe he's sitting in Bat Heaven somewhere, with his own bat roadies..."

"My assistant showed me a video called Forks and Knives (sic) or something, about (cutting out) meat and dairy products, so I thought, 'I'll give this a shot!' ... I feel OK actually, I feel better about myself, you know? I go on binges... That's the reason why I decided to cut out meat out and dairy because I've limited what I can have because when you're on the road and you're travelling, you grab buns and... burgers are everywhere... so now I've just narrowed the margin. ... I'm not saying I'm gonna do it forever; I might go back - when my wife learns to cook, so that'll be never!"

"I'm not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy. What's the fucking point in that? I'm not going up there in a fucking wheelchair."

"We rehearsed at a community center near Tony Iommi’s house, across the road from a movie theater. One morning, Tony says to us, “It’s interesting. I was looking over at the theater.” It was showing something like The Vampire Returns. “Don’t you think it’s weird that people pay money to be scared? Maybe we should write scary music.” That's when we came up with “Black Sabbath” [hums the guitar riff]. That was the fucking change of my life."

"I never did this black-magic stuff. The reason I did “Mr.Crowley” on my first solo album Blizzard of Ozz, 1980 was that everybody was talking about Aleister Crowley. Jimmy Page bought his house, and one of my roadies worked with one of his roadies. I thought, “Mr. Crowley, who are you? Where are you from?” But people would hear the song and go, “He’s definitely into witchcraft.”"

"Ozzy Osbourne: My son, Jack Osbourne, gets pissed off sometimes. He said to me one day, “Dad, the difference is whether people are laughing with you or at you.” I said, “As long as they’re laughing, it doesn’t matter.”"

"Ozzy Osbourne: My home was very poor. My father worked nights as a toolmaker. He was the English Archie Bunker; he wouldn't change with the times. He would never buy my mom a washing machine. We had a boiler house in the garden — you'd put a fire under this copper boiler, where you would boil the clothes to death. I used to sleep in a bed with one of my brothers. We had no sheets. We had to use old coats. When I was a young kid, my father would take me on Sunday mornings with my Uncle Jim to the pub, the Golden Cross. Since I wasn't allowed in, I'd sit on the step, and they'd bring me a shandy, which is half lemonade, half beer. I remember thinking, “Beer must be the best lemonade in the world. I can’t wait until the age when I can drink it.” When I had my first beer, I spat it out: “That can’t be the fucking stuff. It’s like dishwater.” But then I got the glow. I didn't drink for the taste — I did it for the feeling."

"David Fricke: Given your own history of substance abuse, what have you said to your children about drugs and alcohol?"

"David Fricke: You've been married to Sharon for 20 years. What was it that first attracted you to her?"

"David Fricke: You were arrested in 1989 for trying to kill her in a drunken rage."

"Survival is my legacy … I mean, I'm 73. People go, "Well, you're 70… why don't I throw the towel in?" … Why should I? People still want to buy my records. People still want to see me, so why should I? It motivates me to get off my backside and do something. I mean, if my career had gone down the toilet and I knew it was the end, I'd be pretty miserable. … Never give up. If you've got a passion for something, you've got to find a way around it to carry on the passion."

"I grew up in Aston, a neighborhood in Birmingham, right at the poverty line. I always felt shitty and intimidated by everyone. So my whole thing was to act crazy and make people laugh so they wouldn't jump on me."

"My problem is that by the time I understood a little bit about life, I was well on the way to fucking burnout."

"Back in the day, it was, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair." Where in the fuck was San Francisco? And the only flowers we ever saw in Aston were on a coffin going to a cemetery."

"When I heard "She Loves You," my world went up like a shooting star. It was a divine experience. The planets changed. I used to fantasize that Paul McCartney would marry my sister."

"People ask me, "Do you regret anything?" Sure, I have fucking regrets. But if I didn't have my life the way it's been or the way it's gonna be, I'd be fucking with the big guy in the sky."

"Sharon's father was a gangster manager, so she's a great businesswoman. I remember saying to her once, "What's always amazed me is that you've been in the music business most of your life, but when you sing, you sound like a fucking dying wildebeest." She said, "What's always amazed me is how you've been in the music business most of your life and you don't know the ass end of a contract.""

"You don't accidentally become an asshole. It takes a bit of work."

"I know what's going to be on my tombstone, and there's no getting around it: "Here lies Ozzy Osbourne, the ex–Black Sabbath singer who bit the head off a bat.""

"It was my fate to be who I am and what I am. I've just been myself. And I've got a great manager."

"People look to me and say Is the end near, when is the final day? What's the future of mankind? How do I know, I got left behind"

"Nobody ever told me, I found out for myself, You gotta believe in foolish miracles, it's not how you play the game, it's if you win or lose, you can choose, don't confuse Win or lose, it's up to you."

"I've listened to preachers, I've listened to fools I've watched all the dropouts Who make their own rules We're pushed and conditioned to rule and control The media sells it and you live the role"

"Everybody's having fun, except me I'm the lonely one I live in shame."

"I've been the king, I've been the clown, now broken wings can't hold me down, I'm free again. The jester with the broken crown, it won't be me this time around to love in vain."

"I had a vision, l saw the world burn And the seas had turned red The sun had fallen, the final curtain In the land of the dead Mother, please show the children Before it's too late To fight each other, there's no one winning We must fight all the hate"

"And they don't really know even what they're talkin' about And I can't image what empty heads can achieve Leave me alone, don't want your promises no more 'Cos rock & roll is my religion and my law Won't ever change, may think it's strange You can't kill rock & roll, it's here to stay"

"You've got to believe in yourself Or no one will believe in you Imagination like a bird on the wing Flying free for you to use"

"Howling in the shadows, living in a lunar spell, he finds his heaven, spewing from the mouth of hell."

"I'm just a Rock and Roll Butthole, I tell you no lies, they say I worship the devil, they must be stupid or blind"

"They live a life of fear and insecurity And all you do is pay for their prosperity The ministry of fear that won't let you live The ministry of grace that doesn't forgive Do what you will to try and make me conform I'll make you wish that you had never been born"

"I warned you then and I'm warning you now If you mess with me you're playing with fire Winds of change that are fanning the flames Will carry you to your funeral pyre"

"If we're offensive and pose a threat You fear what we represent is a mess You've missed the message that says it all And you'll never know why Oh no, you'll never know why We rock"

"War is just another game Tailor made for the insane But make a threat of their annihilation And nobody wants to play If that's the only thing that keeps the peace Then thank God for the bomb"

"If none of us believe in war Then can you tell me what the weapon's for? Listen to me everyone If the button is pushed there'll be nowhere to run"

"Taught by the powers that preach over me I can hear their empty reasons I wouldn't listen, I learned how to fight I opened up my mind to treason But just like the wounded, and when it's too late They'll remember, they'll surrender Never a care for the people who hate Underestimate me now"

"A Devil with a crucifix Brimstone and fire He needs another carnal fix To take him higher and higher Now Jimmy, he got busted With his pants down Repent ye wretched sinner Self righteous clown"

"Tell me I'm a sinner I got news for you I spoke to God this morning and He don't like you You telling all the people the original sin He says He knows you better that you'll ever know Him"

"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

"There Are No Unachievable Goals There Are No Unsaveable Souls No Legitimate Kings Or Queens, Do You Know What I Mean?"

"I'm not the kind of person you think I am, I'm not the anti-Christ, or the iron man."

"If only we could all just find serenity It would be nice if we could live as one When will all this anger, hate and bigotry... Be gone?"

"I'm like a junky without an addiction."

"Too many religions for only one god I don't need another saviour Don't try to change my mind You know I'm one of a kind Ain't gonna change my bad behaviour"

"I can't believe I'm still here, I know I should be dead."

"It's a new day For the faceless, Take the torches From the useless, First amendment, Second guesses, All dependent, I'll do anything to help youFallen crosses, New alliance, Deeper thinkers, Modern science, Open guest list, All inclusive, No one loses, Everything you've always wanted"

"Dreams that men can be good, Faith to live as we should and know we're all connected, We give ourselves the power"

"We all must stand together now A one by one we fall For all these years you stood by me God bless I love you all"

"I just can't wake from these scary dreams."

"Did you plan your leads, or, for that matter, do you plan them now?"

"Tell me why, must I fall in love with you?"

"Layla, you got me on my knees. Layla, I'm begging, darling please. Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind."

"Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven?"

"And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight.""

"Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. [...] Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white. I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism. It's much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded, and Enoch [Powell] will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking ... don't belong here, we don't want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don't want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country. What is happening to us, for fuck's sake?"

"All I am certain of right now is that I don't want to go anywhere, and that's not bad for someone who always used to run."

"Music will always find its way to us, with or without business, politics, religion, or any other bullshit attached. Music survives everything, and like God, it is always present. It needs no help, and suffers no hindrance."

"In my lowest moments, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink anymore if I was dead."

"[Unplugged] was also the cheapest to produce and required the least amount of preparation and work. But if you want to know what it actually cost me, go to Ripley and visit the grave of my son."

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

"He is a great person, as well as a great musician. And this guy sings like he was born down below Mississippi!"

"During the mid Sixties, [Clapton's] legendary performances with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream established him as a pioneer of the modern electric blues and rock guitar. [...] Regardless of the musical format, Eric Clapton has always kept his brilliant blues-inspired guitar playing in the forefront, influencing the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang and countless others."

"An electric warrior reinvented as the modern icon of acoustic blues, Slowhand has the whole package: tone, technique, reverence for the source material, everything. Obviously, when one of the greatest guitarists of all time sits down to play you know you’re in for something special, but there’s something about the way Clapton affects the listener that sets him apart. His journey from young guitar god to elder blues statesman has been epic, and it’s inarguably his acoustic side that has propped up the second half of his career. Clapton is God? Maybe not, but he’s certainly all class."

"I think Clapton is brilliant. He's the only one who moved me. The only one who made me want to play the guitar."

"His fingers are directly wired to his soul."

"I had a Les Paul before Eric but I didn't have a Marshall. And when Eric got all of that together he was a delight to listen to. He really understood the blues."

"You shout in your sleep. Perhaps the price is just too steep. Is your conscience at rest if once put to the test? You awake with a start to just the beating of your heart. Just one man beneath the sky, Just two ears, just two eyes."

"You find your eyes are growing moist. All the fears never voiced say you have to make your final choice."

"Who are you and who am I To say we know the reason why Some are born, some men die, Beneath one infinite sky? There'll be war, there'll be peace, But everything one day will cease, All the iron turned to rust, All the proud men turned to dust, And so all things time will mend, So this song will end."

"Syd's story is a sad story romanticised by people who don't know anything about it. They've made it fashionable but it's just not that way."

"My technique is laughable at times. I have developed a style of my own, I suppose, which creeps around … I don't have to have too much technique for it. I've developed the parts of my technique that are useful to me. I'll never be a very fast guitar player. I don't really know what to say about my style. There's always a melodic intent in there."

"Roger doesn't have the right at present to tell me what to do with my life, although he believes that he does. And he'll not ruin my career, although lately he's been trying to."

"He had developed his own limited, or very simple style. He was never very keen on improving himself as a bass player and half the time I would play bass on the records because I would tend to do it quicker. Right back to those early records; I mean, at least half the bass on all recorded output is me anyway. … Rog used to come in and say, "Thank you very much" to me once in a while for winning him bass-playing polls."

"I've been in The Who, I've been in The Beatles and I've been in Pink Floyd! Top that!"

"Usually, in the studio, on this sort of thing ... you just go out and have a play over it, and see what comes, and it's usually — mostly — the first take that's the best one, and you find yourself repeating yourself thereafter."

"It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations."

"The band? It's over. Reunited because of the good cause (Live 8), to get over the bad relationship, and not to have regrets."

"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

"Jimi Hendrix isn't as good as me!"

"Obviously, they're all a gang of idiots. But, you know... live and let live."

"I had a listen, I was intrigued … by this strange voice, and I went to her house, met her parents down in Kent, and she played me, it must have been forty or fifty songs, on tape, and I thought, I should try to do something. … We were making — Pink Floyd was making the Wish You Were Here album, and I think we had the record company people down at Abbey Road, in number 3, and I said to them "Do you want to hear something I've got? And they said "sure", so we found another room, and I played it to them, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", and they said "Yep, thank you – we'll have it.""

"It is absolutely beautiful, isn't it? And its a sort of over two years before any of the other recordings she did. That is her singing at the age of 16, and having written those extraordinary lyrics — about whatever they're about."

"We want to spread this message of peace, and we want to raise the morale of the people who are defending their homeland there in Ukraine."

"Russia is not full of terrible people. It’s just that their leadership has gone so horribly wrong. ... A lot of the world is reacting in the right way. They are angry and they are frustrated. You can see and hear the frustration in the leaders of the other world’s countries. We can see it in the voice of your president, President Biden. He has let slip a couple of his feelings a couple of times over there. Other world leaders have done the same. And I think there’s a groundswell of opinion worldwide. This sort of thing shouldn’t be able to happen. It shouldn’t be able to be allowed. But we are in a world where still, here we are, a fifth of the way through the 21st century and still this obscene situation can happen. The mind boggles."

"In an era of showboating, Gilmour sounded like no one else: his playing was all about tone, texture and a kind of languid grandeur. The solos he pulled out for Pink Floyd’s Time, Money, Shine On You Crazy Diamond et al are, in a word, timeless."

"David Gilmour’s titanic playing on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" has some of the most imitated feel and tone in history. Gilmour pays tribute to blues pioneers, particularly BB King, with his controlled feel and sublime behind-the-beat timing."

"David Gilmour laid down some of the tastiest solos of the decade. While Ritchie Blackmore set new standards for flash, Gilmour’s tasteful phrasing and sublime behind-the-beat feel showed the power of a few well-placed notes."

"His glorious fuzz tone, a silicon Fuzz Face boosted by a Colorsound Powerboost overdrive, is one of the most sought-after sounds in rock."

"I'm full of dust and guitars…"

"All middle men are bad."

"I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway."

"And what exactly is a dream, and what exactly is a joke?"

"It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here."

"Well, I'm a painter, I was trained as a painter…I seem to have spent a little less time painting than I might've done…But it didn't transcend the feeling of playing at UFO and those sort of places with the lights and that, the fact that the group was getting bigger and bigger."

"That's all I wanted to do as a kid. Play a guitar properly and jump around. But too many people got in the way."

"Well, I've got a colour telly, and a fridge. I've got some pork chops in the fridge, but the chops keep going off, so I have to keep buying more."

"We feel that in the future, groups are going to have to offer much more than just a pop show. They'll have to offer a well-presented theatre show."

"Their choice of material was always very much to do with what they were thinking as architecture students. Rather unexciting people, I would've thought, primarily. I mean, anybody walking into an art school like that would've been tricked--maybe they were working their entry into an art school."

"Syd was so beautiful with his violet eyes. I only sort of lay beside him, nothing more could be accomplished. Then he had a breakdown and was gone. He hardly spoke. He would just tolerate me because I was so overpowered, so in awe that I didn't really speak either. I only hung around him for two or three weeks just before he flipped and was virtually removed from the group. I knew Syd was wonderful because he wrote such wonderful songs. He didn't have to speak because the fact that he couldn't speak made him who he was: this person who wrote these mysterious songs. I just liked looking at him: he was very pretty. A lot of the time with pop stars, when they open their mouths, it was all completely ruined anyway. So it was perfect that he was like that. My first pop star and it was just wonderful that he didn't speak."

"It's sad that these people think he's such a wonderful subject, that he's a living legend when, in fact, there is this poor sad man who can't deal with life or himself. He's got uncontrollable things in him that he can't deal with and people think it's a marvellous, wonderful, romantic thing. It's just a sad, sad thing, a very nice and talented person who's just disintegrated."

"Well, he's schizophrenic. And has been since 1968."

"If you had said to a young Syd, ‘Look, this is your bargain in life, you know, you’re going to do this fantastic stuff, but it won’t be forever, it’ll be this short period. There’s the dotted line, are you going to sign for this?’ I suspect, maybe, a lot of people would sign for that, for making their mark."

""He was firstly an artist and secondly a musician. If ever he was asked what he did, the reaction would always be 'I'm an artist', never 'I'm a musician.' *"

"'... I remember seeing an early R.E.M. gig at the Hammersmith Odeon. I went backstage and they were all very warm and welcoming, apart from Michael Stipe who just sat in the corner with his back to me. Then he went on for the encore and did an a cappella version of [Syd's] 'Black Globe', which might have been his way of saying, "Syd was all right but you're an arsehole."'*"

"Asked what his artistic purpose was: "There is no purpose. We do whatever we do. You either blow your brains out or get on with something.""

"I’m not a huge practicing Christian myself, but it just staggers me that people who claim to be can stand up and spout – like your president George [H.W.] Bush – can stand up and spout this bullshit about God supporting one side over another in war, which is why I wrote the lyrics of the song "What God Wants": "God wants crusade/God wants Jihad." Well it may well be that God doesn’t want either of those things. They’re manifestations of the insecurities of the Muslim and Christian communities. I hate when someone uses religion to bolster war in the world: it's extremely disgusting and offensive for me, and for all christians, because that was not what Christ was trying to teach.""

"What it comes down to for me is: Will the technologies of communication and culture — and especially popular music, which is a vast and beloved enterprise — help us to understand one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?"

"The very early days of Pink Floyd were magical. We played small auditoriums for entranced audiences, and there was a wonderful sense of communion. We got overpowered by the weight of success and numbers — not just the money but the size of the audience. I became very disenchanted. I had to make the choice of staying on the treadmill or making the braver decision to travel a more difficult path alone."

"I think that happiness resides somewhere between the extremes of personal, religious, and political. I think happiness resides where we understand someone else's point of view and needs. Happiness resides where we are not lost in the solitary dream.""

"For us the most important thing is to be visual, and for the cats watching us to have fun. This is all we want. We get very upset if people get bored when we're only half way through smashing the second set. Then all of a sudden they hear Arnold Layne and they flip all over again."

"We've got the recording side together and not the playing side."

"It's like saying 'Give a man a Les Paul guitar and he becomes Eric Clapton,' you know. It's not true. And give a man an amplifier and a synthesizer, and he doesn't become whoever, you know. He doesn't become us."

"In the finished article, the only thing that is important is whether it moves you or not. There is nothing else that is important at all."

"Oh, for fuck sake stop lighting off fireworks and shouting & screaming I'm trying to sing a song! I mean I don't care. If you don't want to hear it. You know fuck you. I'm sure there are a lot of people here who do want to hear it. So why don't you just be quiet. If you want to light your fireworks off go outside and light them off out there and if you want to shout and scream well then go and do it out there.... but. I am trying to sing a song that some people want to listen to. I want to listen to it."

"Earlier this year we went skiing and I was in a shop, paying a bill and there was a woman standing there whom I knew slightly. I was waiting for my bill and she was buying something, a tea strainer. Quite suddenly she said to me, 'Where was your Father killed?'. I was very surprised and blurted out 'Oh Anzio'. Now this is a woman of about my age, so she's 40-ish. She said, 'My Father was killed in the war'. Apparently somebody lent her a copy of The Final Cut and she had listened to the whole thing and she had found it very moving. In fact she said it had moved her to tears. She told me this, standing in the shop, with some effort I suspect, and I remember thinking: That's enough really. It doesn't matter if the Americans don't buy it."

"I have nothing against Dave Gilmour furthering his own goals. It's just the idea of Dave's solo career masquerading as Pink Floyd that offends me!"

"Either you write songs or you don't. And if you do write songs like I do, I think there's a natural desire to want to make records. So, when I left Pink Floyd, I guess I had two, no three choices open to me: Not to do it anymore, which is daft as I was writing songs, although I suppose I could have written for other people, but I like making records; so I could either do it as Roger Waters or I could have got together with other people and said hey, why don't we start a band? But my view of bands had been jaundiced slightly by my previous experience, so I think that was something I never considered."

"I had at one point this rather depressing image of some alien culture seeing the death of this planet - coming down in their spaceships and sniffing around; finding all our skeletons sitting around our TV sets and trying to work out why our end came before its time and they come to the conclusion that we amused ourselves to death."

"Well, anyway, I am one of the best five writers to come out of English music since the War."

"It was very, very hard work organizing that Wall concert but everyone was fabulous to work with - Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, bloody brilliant. All brilliant. Except for Sinead O'Connor... She doesn't understand anything. She's just a silly little girl. You can't just lie in the corner and shave your bloody head and stick it up your arse and occasionally pull it out to go (_"brogue"_) 'Oh, I tink this is wrong and dat is wrong' and burst into tears."

"Andrew Lloyd Webber sickens me. He's in your face all the time and what he does is nonsense. It has no value. It is shallow, derivative rubbish, all of it, and it makes me very gloomy. Actually, I've never been to one of his shows but having put that slightly savage joke on the record, I thought I'd better listen to some Andrew Lloyd Webber and I was staying in a rented house in America this summer and the people who owned the house had a whole bunch of his rubbish so I thought I'd listen to Phantom Of The Opera and I put the record on and I was slightly apprehensive. I thought, Christ, I hope this isn't good - or even mediocre. I was not disappointed. Phantom Of The Opera is absolutely fucking horrible from start to finish."

"Radio One won't play my fucking single ("What God Wants") because they know it's no good. They know it's not as good as Erasure or Janet fucking Jackson. They know that the British public shouldn't be listening to it. It makes my blood boil! If you're not 17 with a baseball hat on back to front, they don't want to know.""

"I was quite happy standing there thundering about, playing whatever I could - that's "fun". And I see young bands occasionally now doing the same thing. I think it's called "thrash" now. It's the same thing: It's just kids who can't play, pissing about. It's terrific. That's all we were doing. I mean, Dave could play a little bit, but none of the rest of us could."

"It's actually quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys after all these years, standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we're doing this for everyone who's not here, and particulary of course for Syd"

"I wrote The Dark Side of the Moon. Let’s get rid of all this 'we' c--p! Of course we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed – but it’s my project and I wrote it. So… blah!"

"On the club scene we rate about two out of ten and 'Must try harder.' "We've had problems with our equipment and we can't get the P.A. to work because we play extremely loudly. It's a pity because Syd (singer Syd Barrett) writes great lyrics and nobody ever hears them."

"Well, he's schizophrenic. And has been since 1968."

"Syd was a genius. But I wouldn't want to go back to playing Interstellar Overdrive for hours and hours."

"Oh, they [the media] definitely don't want to know the real Barrett story... there are no facts involved in the Barrett story so they can make up any story they like, and they do. There's a vague basis in fact: Syd was in the band and he did write the material on the first album, 80% of it, but that's all. It is only that one album, and that's what people don't realise. That first album, and one track on the second. That's all; nothing else."

"I could never aspire to Syd's crazed insights and perceptions. In fact for a long time I wouldn't have dreamt of claiming any insights whatsoever. I'll always credit Syd with the connection he made between his personal unconscious and the collective group unconscious. It's taken me 15 years to get anywhere near there. Even though he was clearly out of control when making his two solo albums, some of the work is staggeringly evocative. It's the humanity of it all that's so impressive. It's about deeply felt values and beliefs. Maybe that's what 'Dark Side of the Moon' was aspiring to. A similar feeling.""

"Witness the man who raves at the wall Making the shape of his question to Heaven Whether the sun will fall in the evening Will he remember the lesson of giving Set the controls for the heart of the sun"

"Music seems to help the pain, seems to motivate the brain"

"And through the window in the wall Comes streaming in on sunlight wings A million bright ambassadors of morning."

"Strangers passing in the street By chance two separate glances meet And I am you and what I see is me."

"The memories of a man in his old age Are the deeds of a man in his prime. You shuffle in gloom of the sickroom And talk to yourself as you die. Life is a short, warm moment And death is a long cold rest. You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye: Eighty years, with luck, or even less.""

"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be."

"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day, You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way. Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown, Waiting for someone or something to show you the way. Tired of lying in the sunshine, Staying home to watch the rain, You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find, ten years have gone behind you No one told you when to run, You missed the starting gun."

"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking And racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death."

"Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way."

"All that is now All that is gone All that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon."

"How I wish you were here, We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year. Running over the same old ground, What have we found? The same old fears, Wish you were here."

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want He makes me down to lie Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by. With bright knives He releaseth my soul. He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places. He converteth me to lamb cutlets, For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger. When cometh the day we lowly ones, Through quiet reflection, and great dedication Master the art of karate, Lo, we shall rise up, And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.""

"Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream"

"When we grew up and went to school There were certain teachers who Would hurt the children in any way they could. By pouring their derision upon anything we did Exposing every weakness However carefully hidden by the kid. But in the town it was well known When they got home at night Their fat and psychopathic wives Would thrash them within inches of their lives!"

"We don't need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave them kids alone Hey! Teacher! Leave them Kids alone!""

"You are only coming through in waves, Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying, When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of my eye, I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now, The child is grown, The dream has gone, And I have become Comfortably Numb"

"Through the fish-eyed lens of tear-stained eyes I can barely define the shape of this moment in time and far from flying high in clear blue skies I'm spiralling down to the hole in the ground where I hide."

"And now from where I stand Upon this hill I plundered from the pool I look around, I search the skies I shade my eyes, so nearly blind And I see signs of half remembered days I hear bells that chime in strange familiar ways I recognise........ The hope you kindle in your eyes"

"They like a bomb-proof Cadillac Air-conditioned, gold taps Back-seat gun rack, Platinum hub caps They pick horses for courses They're the market forces They like order, make-up, limelight, power Game shows, rodeos, Star Wars, TV They're The Powers That Be If you see them come, you better run"

"You wake up in the morning Find some things for the pot Wonder why the sun makes the rocks feel hot Draw on the walls, eat, get laid Back in the good old days Then some damn fool invents the wheel Listen to the white-walls squeal You spend all day looking for a parking spot Nothing for the heart, nothing for the pot"

"I used to think the world was flat Rarely threw my hat into the crowd I felt I had used up my quota of yearning Used to look in on the children at night In the glow of their Donald Duck light And frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning But ooh, the tide is turning The tide is turning."

"Who is the strongest, who is the best Who holds the aces, the East or the West This is the crap that our children are learningBut ooh, the tide is turning."

"I'm not saying the battle is won But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun Wrested technology's sword from the hands of the warlords Ooh, the tide is turning Ooh, the tide is turning."

"And when they found our shadows Grouped around the TV sets They ran down every lead They repeated every test They checked out all the data on their lists And then the alien anthropologists Admitted they were still perplexed But on eliminating every other reason For our sad demise They logged the only explanation left This species has amused itself to death.""

"And the Germans killed the Jews And the Jews killed the Arabs And the Arabs killed the hostages And that is the news And is it any wonder That the monkey's confused He said Mama Mama The President's a fool Why do I have to keep reading These technical manuals?""

"Can't you see It all makes perfect sense Expressed in dollars and cents, Pounds, shillings and pence Can't you see It all makes perfect sense""

"The monkey sat on a pile of stone And he stared at the broken bone in his hand Strains of a Viennese quartet rang out across the land The monkey looked up at the stars And he thought to himself Memory is a stranger History is for fools And he cleaned his hands in a pool of holy writing Turned his back on the garden and set out for the nearest town""

"Oh George! Oh George! That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small"

"America, America, please hear us when we call You got hip-hop, be-bop, hustle and bustle You got Atticus Finch You got Jane Russell You got freedom of speech You got great beaches, wildernesses and malls Don't let the might, the Christian right, fuck it all up For you and the rest of the world"

"Have you heard It was on the news Your child can read you like a bedtime story Like a magazine Like a has-been out to grass Like afternoon T.V. Why is my life going by so fast?"

"Life is long but it goes fast. The kids will have to separate Their future from our past."

"The ghosts are walking by my side I feel their love I feel their pride For I have built a bridge or two Bridges between me and you. Hello I love you."

"The Jewish lobby is extraordinary powerful here and particularly in the industry that I work in, the music industry and in rock’n roll as they say."

"[The Israeli Rabbinate believes non-Jews exist] to serve them ... they believe that the Indigenous people of the region that they kicked off the land in 1948 and have continued to kick off the land ever since are sub-human."

"I would not have played for the Vichy government in occupied France in WWII, would not have played in Berlin either during this time. Many people did, back in the day. There were many people that pretended that the oppression of the Jews was not going on. From 1933 until 1946. So this is not a new scenario. Except that this time it’s the Palestinians being murdered."

"The antisemitism smear sword that was wielded at the behest of the Israeli government, specifically aimed at Jeremy Corbyn because he was left wing and he might turn into a political leader on the left in the United Kingdom who would actually stand up for human rights in general but specifically the rights of working people to represent themselves and have unions."

"It's about a bunch of Europeans back in the middle of the 19th century deciding that they were going to take over this piece of land, and kick out anybody that lived there and take it over for themselves and their own little cabal."

"The elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms [...] [A]ttempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated."

"The depiction of an unhinged fascist demagogue has been a feature of my shows since Pink Floyd's The Wall in 1980. My parents fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price."

"You [Christian Wakeford] were making s*** up because you were told to by your masters in the Foreign Office in Tel Aviv because of this hate. This hate is being organised from Israel. And I’m not afraid to say it because I know Christian Wakeford, that what I'm saying is not a lie."

"[Regarding the spate of High School shootings of 1999] in the Colorado shootings, the media seemed to change their tack a bit. Though they attached ghoulishly to it, covered it 24 hours a day and even gave it a logo like 'Horror in the Rockies', they did address issues of alienation and pain rather than just saying, 'oh, these aberrant teen-agers have to be stamped out.' After denigrating self-help ideas for the last 20 years, the media are beginning to look at the psychology and not just the police work."

"I like to think oysters transcend national barriers, Adrian. - Pink Floyd: Live At Pompeii video, in an interview with director Adrian Maben."

"Are there any paranoids in the audience tonight? (the crowd cheers) Is there anyone who worries about things? (the crowd cheers again) Pathetic. This is for all the weak people in the audience! Is there anyone here who's weak? (the crowd cheers once more) This is for you, it's called Run Like Hell! (the song starts)""

"Who's got my pig?"

"My mother told me I said to her, at age three, 'I'm going to go to Italy and get my father in a tractor.' 'You've never seen quite so fierce a little boy as you were,' she told me. She tried to explain that I couldn't get my father in a tractor. Apparently I looked at her and narrowed my eyes and said 'In that case, I'm going in a double-decker bus,' and stomped off. Which is kind of funny, but it's very sad, as well.""

"[Asked if he has ever changed his mind on a topic.] Yes, an article I wrote about three months ago calling Vladimir Putin a gangster… That may have been unfair [...] It may be that he's leading his country to the benefit of all of the people of Russia."

"Francesca Albanese is the good"

"I hate the word "artist," but I would definitely concede that Roger is a great artist ... as well as a total obsessive and psychiatrist's dream."

"If the immediate association you make to last year’s killing of an Al Jazeera reporter [Shireen Abu Akleh] by an Israeli soldier in Jenin is to the death of a Jewish girl [Anne Frank] in a German concentration camp in 1945, if you can't find in all that has happened in the 77 years between those two deaths a better comparison of victimhood, then you don’t have a problem with Israel. You have a problem with Jews. The feat of logical gymnastics performed by Waters – at once both equating Jews to monstrous Nazis and belittling the Nazi wholesale extermination of Jews – is such a classic antisemitic move that it should not need even explaining."

"You are anti-Semitic to your rotten core [...] Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac."

"The concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust. The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people."

"You rarely find a song written in an odd meter that feels so groove [in "Money"]. Honestly, the main riff feels like 4/4, despite being in 7/4. Only Roger Waters can come up with something like that."

"I spent the first half of my career being accused of being gay when I hadn't had anything like a gay relationship. So I spent my years growing up being told what my sexuality was really— which was kind of confusing."

"I have to be honest here, I'm not really interested in selling records to people who are homophobic. I don't need the approval of people who don't approve of me."

"Are you gay? No? Then fuck off! This is my culture!"

"This time I think that my lover Understands me If we have faith in each other Then we can be Strong, baby I will be your father figure Put your tiny hand in mine I will be your preacher teacher Anything you have in mind I will be your father figure I have had enough of crime I will be the one who loves you … Til the end of time."

"I've had enough of danger And people on the streets I'm looking out for angels Just trying to find some peace Now I think it's time That you let me know So if you love me Say you love me But if you don't just let me go..."

"I guess somewhere along the way He must have let us all out to play Turned his back, and all God's children Crept out the back door"

"Did you cling to the things they sold you? Did you cover your eyes when they told you That he can't come back, 'cause he has no children To come back for"

"Q: Does commercial success matter to you?"

""The video of 'Paranoid Android' has been censored by MTV. They took all nipples out of the cartoon, but they had no problem with the scene in which a man cuts off his own arms and legs." source"

""What worries me more than anything else is the whole notion that I'm who people focus on, like it's of significance, you know? People look at me and think that it's a complete existence. What really fucks me up in the head is that basically I'm supposed to be endorsing this sort of pop star, 'Wow, lucky bastard, he's got it all' existence. What frightens me is the idea that what Radiohead does is basically packaged back to people in the form of entertainment, to play in their car stereos on their way to work."

"I don't think young people are as demoralized as the media and government would like us to think. The obvious sign of that is how strong and how close personal connections are and how much people are able to build a life for themselves, despite all this stuff that's been thrown at them."

"Q: Radiohead fans tend to be extremely devoted to the band - they seem to connect with your music and ideals. What do you see as the major aspects of your music which people connect with so well?"

"The sad thing is, if an issue is laughed at and patronised by mainstream media, then it's up against it big-time. I read some journalist recently lecturing the anti-globalisation lobby, saying, 'This is the way capitalism works, all capitalism is exploitation and to make it try and do something else, it's never gonna happen.' And it's like, yeah, but where does that leave us? This is somehow God's will? All this? It's God's will that we sit in traffic? It's God's will that millions of people are gonna die this year because of some outmoded economic policies? No, it's not! It's like some deranged sacrificial altar, the high priests of the global economy holding up these millions of children each year, like (Arms aloft) 'We wish to please you! Oh Gods of free trade!' It's like... give us all a fucking break! If there is a Devil at work, then he rests in institutions and not in individuals. Because the beauty of institutions is that any individual can abdicate responsibility. The assumption that we're all utterly powerless, that's the Devil at work."

""I wouldn't be involved with it [pop music] if I wasn't aware that it was going to be a product. I always wanted whatever I did to end up in the high street, no matter what it was, because to me, there isn't anywhere else to go. It's pointless." source"

""We're at a time when we are being presented with undeniable changes in the global climate and fundamental issues that affect every single one of us, and it's the time we're listening to the most hokey shite on the radio and watching vacuous bullshit celebrities being vacuous bullshit celebrities and desperately trying to forget about everything. Which is fine, you know, but personally speaking, I can't do that." source"

""It annoys me how pretty my voice is...that sounds incredibly immodest, but it annoys me how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic." - source"

""There's nothing more boring than a rock'n'roll star, someone who has been on the road for 10 years, expecting attention wherever he goes, drinking himself stupid, who is obnoxious, incoherent, uncreative and has a massive ego. There's nothing more pointless." - source"

"(on his inability to read music) "If someone lays the notes on a page in front of me, it's meaningless...because to me you can't express the rhythms properly like that. It's a very ineffective way of doing it, so I've never really bothered picking it up." source"

"(about people's image of him) "I think that has a lot to do with the expression that's on my face. People are born with certain faces, like my father was born with a face that people want to hit. (laughs) source"

"wish us all a safe journey if you still like us and you're not one of those people i have managed to offend by doing nothing source"

""I haven't done enough. I don't have solar panels on my house yet. I haven't sorted out the heating, my car's not a Prius, I f---ing fly all the time for my job and I hate it but at the moment I haven't really got a choice, you know, and all these things. The job I'm in is a job that wastes energy left, right and centre. It's madness." source"

""It's like a supply and demand thing. It's like 'Well, this is what they want me to do, this is what they want to hear. So I'll do more of this, cuz this is great... and they love me.' Suddenly people start giving you money as well. So then you've got money and you get used to this lifestyle. And you don't wanna take any risks 'cause they've got you by the balls, and you've got all these little things that you've bought, or you're attached to. And you start spending all this money... And that's how they get ya!" - source"

""I didn't really come into it expecting to make songs. It started just with random bits and pieces. I guess I thought there would be vocals, but I was thinking in terms of using little vocal shreds, and of making them part of the tapestry, not the main thing. But as soon as we had gone through the initial sketches, it became obvious that they could be quite direct. Nigel basically dragged me kicking and screaming toward the concept of them being actual songs." - source"

"You think I have the responsibilty... I have the responsibility to give the fans a good time! (nods at camera, then pauses)... that just sounds... kinky."

""My big problem with corporate structure is this bizarre sense of loyalty you're supposed to feel -- towards what is basically a virus. It grows or dies, like any virus. And you use it for your own selfish ends." - source"

""The difference between me and Bono is that he's quite happy to go and flatter people to get what he wants and he's very good at it, but I just can't do it. I'd probably end up punching them in the face rather than shaking their hand, so it's best that I stay out of their way. I can't engage with that level of bullshit. Which is a shame, really, and in a way it would help if I could, but I just can't. I admire the fact that Bono can, and can walk away from it smelling of roses." - source"

""The thing that worries me about the computer age is the fact that people know so much about you. It's an incredible invasion of privacy. And no matter where you are in the world people can monitor you if you're using your credit card. I heard this weird rumor on the Internet about how the military is funding this great big research project and basically, they believe that in the future, the balance of power won't be determined by who has the most nuclear weapons, but by who has all the information. I'm not afraid of being taken over by computers though, because the thing is, computers cannot resist. You can always smash 'em up, and they're totally defenseless. All we need are more people with hammers." - source"

"It's basically [about] having to make a decision whether to do nothing or try to engage with it in some way, knowing that it's flawed. It's convenient to project that back on to someone personally and say they're a hypocrite. It's a lot easier to do that than actually do anything else. And yeah, that stresses me out, because I am a hypocrite. As we all are."

""Initially when it came up I tried to be pragmatic. But Blair has no environmental credentials as far as I'm concerned. I came out of that whole period just thinking, I don't want to get involved directly, it's poison. I'll just shout my mouth off from the sidelines." - source"

"I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape."

"I grew up under Thatcher. I grew up believing that I was fundamentally powerless. Then gradually over the years it occurred to me that this was actually a very convenient myth for the state."

""Sometimes the nicest thing to do with a guitar is just look at it." source"

""People sometimes say we take things too seriously, but it’s the only way you’ll get anywhere. We’re not going to sit around and wait and just be happy if something turns up. We are ambitious. You have to be." (in his first-ever interview, 1991) source"

""They're dangerous people, and what's really frightening is that they don't know it, they don't see themselves as dangerous... they see the danger elsewhere. The danger is always elsewhere. How convenient." source"

""So far, this is disco." - Live performance of Everything in Its Right Place (YouTube video)"

"When you were here before, Couldn't look you in the eye. You're just like an angel, Your skin makes me cry. You float like a feather In a beautiful world. I wish I was special; You're so fuckin' specialBut I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here I don't belong here"

"I don't care if it hurts. I wanna have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. I want you to notice When I'm not around. You're so fuckin' special;>br>I wish I was special."

"I'm not a vegetable, I will not control myself."

"I am fused, just in case I blow out. I am glued, just in case I crack out."

"I want to live, breathe, I want to be part of the human race,"

"Drying up in conversation, You will be the one who cannot talk, All your insides fall to pieces, You just sit there wishing you could still make love."

"Her green plastic watering can For a fake Chinese rubber plant In the fake plastic earth."

"He used to do surgery On girls in the eighties, But gravity always wins."

"She looks like the real thing, She tastes like the real thing, My fake plastic love. But I can't help the feeling, I could blow through the ceiling If I just turned and ran."

"You do it to yourself, you do, And that's why it really hurts, Is you do it to yourself, just you, You and no-one else, You do it to yourself."

"Rows of houses, all bearing down on me, I can feel their blue hands touching me, All these things into position, All these things we'll one day swallow whole. And fade out again, And fade out..."

"Immerse your soul in love"

"In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe"

"In a fast German car I'm amazed that I survived An airbag saved my life"

"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy"

"God loves his children"

"I live in a town, where you can't smell a thing"

"Far up above, aliens hover Making home movies for the folks back home Of all these weird creatures that lock up their spirits Drill holes in themselves and live for their secrets"

"And you can laugh A spineless laugh We hope your rules and wisdom choke you And now we are one In everlasting peace We hope that you choke, that you choke"

"Karma police I've given all I can It's not enough I've given all I can But we're still on the payroll"

"For a minute there I lost myself"

"At a better pace Slower and more calculated No chance of escape"

"Dont get sentimental, It always ends up drivel."

"When I go forwards, you go backwards And somewhere we will meet"

"CLIMBING UP THE WALLS!! AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGHH!"

"I'll take a quiet life And a handshake of carbon monoxide And no alarms and no surprises"

"The head of state Has called for me by name But I don't have time for him It's gonna be a glorious day I feel my luck could change"

"Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon"

"What was that you tried to say?"

"Everyone has got the fear It's holding on Holding on"

"That there That's not me I go Where I please I walk through walls I float down the Liffey"

"I'm not here This isn't happening"

"We're not scare-mongering This is really happening"

"Cut the kids in half"

"Jumped in the river, what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me A moonful of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"

"So knives out Catch the mouse Squash his head Put him in the pot"

"While you make pretty speeches I'm being cut to shreds You feed me to the lions A delicate balance"

"It's the devil's way now There is no way out You can scream and you can shout It is too late now"

"In pitch dark I go walkin' in your landscape Broken branches trip me as I speak Just 'cause you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there"

"We are accidents waiting Waiting to happen"

"And I'm sorry for us The dinosaurs roam the earth The sky turns green"

"Are you hungry? Are you sick? Are you begging for a break? Are you sweet? Are you fresh? Are you strung up by the wrists?"

"Murderers, you're murderers We are not the same as you"

"I keep the wolf from the door But he calls me up Calls me on the phone Tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up Steal all my children If I don't pay the ransom And I'll never see 'em again If I squeal to the cops"

"The more you try to erase me The more, the more The more that I appear"

"Time is running out for us But you just move the hands upon the clock You throw coins in the wishing well For us You just move your hands upon the wall"

"One little leak becomes a lake, Says the tiny voice in my earpiece"

"You cannot kickstart a dead horse"

"Don't walk the plank like I did You will be dispensed with When you've become Inconvenient"

"I can't take their pressure No one cares if you live or die They just want me gone They want me gone"

"Did I fall or was I pushed? Did I fall or was I pushed? And where's the blood?"

"How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?"

"You used to be alright What happened?"

"I have no idea what I am talking about I'm trapped in this body and can't get out"

"Don't get any big ideas, They're not gonna happen."

"You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking."

"I'm an animal trapped in your hot car."

"I don't want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover."

"You are my centre when I spin away."

"Open your mouth wide A universal sigh"

"You've got some nerve, coming here"

"I'm such a tease and you're such a flirt"

"Routines and schedules A drug that'll kill you"

"Avoid all eye contact Do not react Shoot the messengers This is a low-flying panic attack"

"Different types of love are possible"

"We are of the earth, To her we do return"

"I'm not living, I'm just killing time"

"Yorke's lyrics make me want to give up. I could never in my wildest dreams find something as beautiful as they find for a single song — let alone album after album."

"It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

"And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die. And if a ten ton truck kills the both of us, to die by your side, the pleasure, the privilege is mine."

"So when you say it's gonna happen now. Well when exactly do you mean? See I've already waited too long. And all my hope is gone!"

"I've been dreaming of a time when The English are sick to death of Labour and Tories And spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell and denounce this royal line that still salutes him And will salute him forever."

"Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger's seat?"

"In my life Why do I smile At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye ?"

"I decree today that life is simply taking and not giving, England is mine and it owes me a living"

"You shut your mouth, How can you say I go about things the wrong way? I am human and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does"

"There's a club if you'd like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you, so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home and you cry and you want to die"

"Hand in glove, the good people laugh, yes we may be hidden by rags, But we've something they'll never have"

"There's more to life than books you know, but not much more"

"Oh, the alcoholic afternoons when we sat in your room they meant more to me than any, than any living thing on earth"

"I'm here with the cause, I'm holding the torch In the corner of your room- can you hear me? And when you're dancing and laughing, and finally living, Hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly."

"Most people keep their brains between their legs"

"But sometimes I'd feel more fulfilled making Christmas cards with the mentally ill. I want to live and I want to love. I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of."

"And when I'm lying in my bed, I think about life and I think about death. And neither one particularly appeals to me."

"Does the body rule the mind or does the mind rule the body? I dunno..."

"And now I know how Joan of Arc felt Now I know how Joan of Arc felt As the flames rose to her And her started to melt"

"As Anthony said to Cleopatra as he opened a crate of ale: "Oh, I say, some girls are bigger than others, Some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers."

"There is no such thing in life as normal"

"So I broke into the palace, with a sponge and a rusty spanner She said "eh, I know you and you cannot sing" I said "that's nothing you should hear me play piano""

"And you're standing on our streets where Hector was the first of the gang with a gun in his hand and the first to do time The first of the gang to die / oh my"

"And you even spoke to me, and said : "If you're so funny Then why are you on your own tonight ? And if you're so clever Then why are you on your own tonight ? If you're so very entertaining Then why are you on your own tonight ? If you're so very good-looking Why do you sleep alone tonight ? I know... 'Cause tonight is just like any other night That's why you're on your own tonight With your triumphs and your charms While they're in each other's arms...""

"Last night I dreamt That somebody loved me No hope, no harm Just another false alarm Last night I felt Real arms around me No hope, no harm Just another false alarm So, tell me how long Before the last one? And tell me how long Before the right one? The story is old - I know But it goes on The story is old - I know But it goes on Oh, goes on And on Oh, goes on And on"

"It was probably nothing, but it felt like the world."

"You either approve of violence or you don't, and nothing on earth is more violent or extreme than the meat industry."

"The British judiciary continues to label animal protectionists as 'extremists', whilst being unable to consider the Holocaust carnage inside every abattoir to be extreme."

"The brain speculates but the heart knows."

"Nobody can possibly be so hungry that they need to take a life in order to feel satisfied – they don't after all, take a human life, so why take the life of an animal? Both are conscious beings with the same determination to survive. It is habit, and laziness and nothing else."

"I shake like a ship in a storm. It is a fact that even warming moments overwhelm me with despair, and this is why I am I."

"I say a lot of things I don’t mean."

"I think the main thing is that I very rarely recognise the actual interview in print. To me, it's like being painted by an artist. And then you see the picture, and they've painted someone else."

"I don't perform. Seals perform."

"Well, I think when I was a child, more than anything else I wanted not to be ordinary. And I wanted to be considered to be a bit peculiar. When I was at school I wanted to be peculiar and I was delighted when I was at secondary school and I was actually thought to be peculiar (laughs). It was fantastically good for me because I looked around me and I thought, 'Well, however you are I don't want to be like you, so if you think I'm unbalanced then I'm delighted.' That really stayed with me."

"I normally live in Los Angeles, if you can call it normal living."

"That's why I do this music business thing, it's communication with people without having the extreme inconvenience of actually phoning anybody up."

"Not everybody is absolutely stupid. Why on earth would I be racist, what would I be trying to achieve?"

"I left my fingerprints somewhere - that's good enough. I am my own person - that's good enough. I stand my ground - that's good enough."

"JU: Are you thin still? M: Um, in a crowd, yes. In a crowd of very heavy people."

"Lots of people make the stage and it can seem very violent and over the top, but it's not really. It's always a kind of gentle ballet."

"I never enjoyed life in my twenties, not one minute of it. It was a test of endurance that I'm surprised I survived. Professionally, of course, I was doing very well but personally it couldn't have been worse or more difficult for me if I'd been living in a mud hut in Leeds."

"I was quite advanced when I was at school, and when I left school it seemed that all these really oafish clods from school were making tremendous progress and had wonderfully large cars and lots of money, and I seemed to be constantly waiting for a bus that never came."

"DK: How often does the seriousness end and the irony begin in your work? M: Many times. I have a grand and endless capacity to find myself slightly ridiculous. I'm not pretending to be some wallowing prophet, for heaven's sake. I think we all have to sit down and look in the mirror and think, What is that absurd monstrosity?"

"I know I've reached the stage where other artists would bleach their hair or buy a fancy costume, but, inexcusably, I can only be me, which is a full-time occupation and causes terrible backaches."

"M: If you cannot impress people simply by being part of the great fat human race, then you really do have to develop other skills. And if you don't impress people by the way you look, then you really do have to develop other skills. And if you are now going to ask is everything I did just a way to gain some form of attention, well that's not entirely true. It is in a small way, but that's in the very nature of being alive. PM: Wanting to be loved? M: To be seen, above all else. I wanted to be noticed, and the way I lived and do live has a desperate neurosis about it because of that. All humans need a degree of attention. Some people get it at the right time, when they are 13 or 14, people get loved at the right stages. If this doesn't happen, if the love isn't there, you can quite easily just fade away. … In a sense I always felt that being troubled as a teenager was par for the course. I wasn't sure that I was dramatically unique. I knew other people who were at the time desperate and suicidal. They despised life and detested all other living people. In a way that made me feel a little bit secure. Because I thought, well, maybe I'm not so intense after all. Of course, I was. I despised practically everything about human life, which does limit one's weekend activities"

"PM: What annoys you most about yourself? M: Practically everything. I miss not being able to stand up straight. I tend to slide into rooms and sit on the chair behind the door."

"I think I'm a realist. Which people who don't like me consider to be pessimism. It isn't pessimism at all. If I was a pessimist I wouldn't get up, I wouldn't shave, I wouldn't watch Batman at 7:30 a.m. Pessimists just don't do that sort of thing."

"I once bought a Manchester United hat, which I think was 12 shillings, and somebody ran up behind me and pulled it off and just ran ahead. I thought, 'It's a very cruel world, I'm not prepared for this'. And I decided to get my revenge on society."

"When The Smiths began it was very important that I wouldn't be that horrible, stupid, sloppy Steven. He would have to be locked in a box and put on top of the wardrobe. l needed to feel differently and rather than adopt some glamorous pop star name, I eradicated Steven which seemed to make perfect sense. Suddenly I was a totally different person. Now when I meet pre-Smith people who call me Steven, I sit there and wonder who they're talking about. I always despised the name Steven, though being spelt with a 'v' rather than a 'ph' made life slightly more tolerable. But it was very important that Steven be drowned nonetheless."

"I think if I'd led an acceptably frivolous teenage life I wouldn't be singing in this group. I'm sure if you have a great time and get everything you want, all the friends you want, then you tend not to be so ambitious. If you're deprived of certain things it makes you very resilient and you kick very hard for what you want. And I wanted something very special because I'd led such an unspecial life previous to the Smiths."

"GQ: “Who’ll be the first of the Smiths to die?” M: “Me. I’ll be shot – probably by one of the ex-Smiths.”"

"GQ: “Were you in love with Johnny Marr?” M: “Sexually? Absolutely not. There was a love and it was mutual and equal but it wasn’t physical or sexual. There are lots of people post-Smiths who would like to make some dramatic homosexual story. There never was one. It’s often said that Johnny rescued me but he was also bobbing about in his own lifeboat.”"

"Music that is in the charts today is quite dreadful. I find it a great honour that I have never been considered for awards, such as NME etc. It is a personal victory. All awards shows should be banned!"

"(About Pop Idols) Obviously, it's designed by record company executives who want a cheap success, and they don't want to give money to anybody and they don't want to give contracts, so they've created this world of very bubbly teenagers who want to be "idols" and they think all they have to do is mime quite well and they've made it. … But it's not the problem of the kids, it's the problem of the record companies, because it's just an inexpensive way for them to have so-called, I won't say "artists", but erm...You're nodding, you know what I mean."

"I listen to the radio now that we seem to be on it quite a lot, but before that, I didn't really listen a great deal. I gave up for a while. But other groups... without really trying to sound terribly down on modern music, much of it really doesn't affect me a great deal. It seems tragically tidy, and everybody has their little safety nets and their little life rafts, and once people seem to get a hit they seem to just dilute the formula constantly and there's no risk involved, and it's really so desperately tidy, that... I want to change things. But I don't want to imply that The Smiths are a high-risk situation anyway, of course they're not. They're immediately listenable. But it just needs somebody with some heart and some brain. I think popular music needs brains at the moment."

"It (synthesizers and drum machines) has contributed greatly (to an 'antiseptic' sound). And the fact is, when I look back on the last few years I really can't remember that much of the music, such is its lasting effect. I think it's instantly forgettable and it horrifies me in many respects. It's so sterile and non-human. I don't understand why people play non-human music. It really mystifies me when we're human beings. It's strange. I hate it."

"Well, the problem I've had with all the interviews I've had in America - I had meetings with about nine labels - and they all say to me "Will your new songs fit in with what is popular and what is in the chart?" And I say "Good God, I hope not!""

"I think that when you make a record, an album, it has to be a discovery for the person listening to it, so you don't want to pat everything out and say "this was that, this is definite, that's how it happened and that's what you should feel and that's what you should like or dislike". It's personal discovery.""

"Well, I think the way you feel as a teenager stays with you, forever. I really believe that. And we try to change and we hope that we change, but we don't really in big ways, in serious ways. I think the personality is formed at that time, for the good and for the bad. … We all want to grow up and move on and appear to be different to people. And we want people to see us in a different way. But, I don't know, I think the personality is very, very strongly cemented, and we just bear whatever shortcomings we have and learn to live with it."

"MS: Have you ever turned to religion? M: At no time. I am a seriously lapsed Catholic. It was at the usual time, 10, 11, 12, after being forced to go to church and never understanding why and never enjoying it, seeing so many negative things, and realising it somehow wasn't for me. I can only have faith in things I see. I could never be converted to Buddhism."

"I'm bereft of spiritual solutions. I do believe that there has to be a better world, but that's rather simple. I'm quite obsessed with death. I've gone through periods of intense envy for people who've died. Yes, I have a dramatic unswayable unavoidable obsession with death. I can remember being obsessed with it from the age of eight and I often wondered whether it was quite a natural inbuilt emotion for people who're destined to take their own lives, that they recognise it and begin to study it. If there was a magical beautiful pill that one could take that would retire you from this world, I think I would take it and I suppose that's the extremity of the obsessiveness."

"I could never really make the connection between Christian and Catholic. I always imagined that Christ would look down upon the Catholic church and totally disassociate himself from it. I went to severe schools, working class schools, where they would almost chop your fingers off for your own good, and if you missed church on Sunday and went to school on a Monday and they quizzed you on it, you'd be sent to the gallows. It was like 'Brush you teeth NOW or you will DIE IN HELL and you will ROT and all these SNAKES will EAT you'. And I remember all these religious figures, statues, which used to petrify every living child. All these snakes trodden underfoot and blood everywhere. I thought it was so morbid. I mean the very idea of just going to church anyway is really quite absurd. I always felt that it was really like the police, certainly in this country at any rate, just there to keep the working classes humble and in their place. Because of course nobody else but the working class pays any attention to it. I really feel quite sick when I see the Pope giving long, overblown, inflated lectures on nuclear weapons and then having tea with Margaret Thatcher. To me it's total hypocrisy. And when I hear the Pope completely condemning working class women for having abortions and condemning nobody else... to me the whole thing is entirely class ridden, it's just really to keep the working classes in perpetual fear and feeling total guilt."

"Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvellous or you're boring, regardless of your age."

"The reports of my death have been greatly understated."

"If I die, then I die. And if I don’t, then I don’t. Right now I feel good. I am aware that in some of my recent photos I look somewhat unhealthy, but that’s what illness can do. I’m not going to worry about that, I’ll rest when I’m dead."

"Actually I despise royalty. I always have done. It's fairy story nonsense. The very idea of their existence in these days when people are dying daily because they don't have enough money to operate one's radiator in the house, to me is immoral. As far as I can see, money spent on royalty is money burnt. I've never met anyone who supports royalty, and believe me I've searched. Okay, so there's some deaf and elderly pensioner in Hartlepool who has pictures of Prince Edward pinned on the toilet seat, but I know streams of people who can't wait to get rid of them. It's a false devotion anyway. I think it's fascist and very, very cruel. To me there's something dramatically ugly about a person who can wear a dress for £6,000 when at the same time there are people who can't afford to eat. When she puts on that dress for £6,000 the statement she is making to the nation is: "I am the fantastically gifted royalty, and you are the snivelling peasants." The very idea that people would be interested in the facts about this dress is massively insulting to the human race."

"TW: I must ask you, what right does the fact that you are a popular and successful popstar give you to comment on political and… M: Well, I feel that, if popular singers don’t say these things, who does? We can’t have any faith in playwrights any more, we can’t have any faith in filmstars, young people don’t care about those things, they’re dying arts. And if you say, what ‘right’ do you have, the implication there to me is that popular music is quite a low art, it should be hidden, it can be there but let’s not say anything terribly important, let’s just make disco records or whatever. So I really feel that we do have an obligation and I know that people respect it and they want it and it’s working to great effect."

"I am unable to watch the Olympics due to the blustering jingoism that drenches the event. Has England ever been quite so foul with patriotism? The "dazzling royals" have, quite naturally, hi-jacked the Olympics for their own empirical needs, and no oppositional voice is allowed in the free press. It is lethal to witness. As London is suddenly promoted as a super-wealth brand, the England outside London shivers beneath cutbacks, tight circumstances and economic disasters. Meanwhile the British media present 24-hour coverage of the "dazzling royals", laughing as they lavishly spend, as if such coverage is certain to make British society feel fully whole. In 2012, the British public is evidently assumed to be undersized pigmies, scarcely able to formulate thought. As I recently drove through Greece I noticed repeated graffiti seemingly everywhere on every available wall. In large blue letters it said WAKE UP WAKE UP. It could almost have been written with the British public in mind, because although the spirit of 1939 Germany now pervades throughout media-brand Britain, the 2013 grotesque inevitability of Lord and Lady Beckham (with Sir Jamie Horrible close at heel) is, believe me, a fate worse than life. WAKE UP WAKE UP."

"The modern Loony Left seem to forget that Hitler was Left wing!"

"That’s the key to modern Britain … only the mentally castrated are eligible for praise and awards. It’s against the law to be intelligent! The dumb have inherited the earth. Because of this, British arts are controlled by completely limited possibilities, and the same faces appear everywhere."

"I didn’t vote in the referendum [Brexit] although I can see how there is absolutely nothing attractive about the EU. My view has always been that the result of the referendum must be carried through. If the vote had been remain there would be absolutely no question that we would remain. In the interest of true democracy, you cannot argue against the wish of the people. Without the people, nobody in high office gets paid."

"It's hard to be a man. It's made to be hard and I don't know why. I think it's easier to be a woman. The women's movement has been so successful; the men's movement has never been accepted. I think it's not wanted. I think the expectation that men be stoic and strong is so enormous that finally they decide that this is the attractive way to be. There's more to life than being macho - such an ugly word - which is something that I realized at the age of one."

"Interviewer: do you think people are innately racist? Morrissey: Yes. I don't want to sound horrible or pessimistic but I don't really think, for instance, black people and white people will ever really get on or like each other. I don't really think they ever will. The French will never like English. The English will never like the French. That tunnel will collapse."

"When you’re a teenager and in your early twenties it seems desperately eternal and excruciatingly painful. Whereas as you grow older you realise that most things are excruciatingly painful and that is the human condition. Most of us continue to survive because we’re convinced that somewhere along the line, with grit and determination and perseverance, we will end up in some magical union with somebody. It’s a fallacy, of course, but it’s a form of religion. You have to believe. There is a light that never goes out and it’s called hope."

"TF: At which point did you stop being celibate, why and who with? M: I don't see how anyone would benefit from seeing that kind of information in print. Least of all me."

"When you're young, you're afraid of being alone. Solitude is a burden and you try to escape from it. You always wonder when it's going to come to an end. Sometimes you can't get rid of it. At the age of 38, you use it in a different way. You've learned how to live with it, and you don't try to get rid of it by all means anymore. After all you may call this resignation, but I don't think it's harmful. You're not just standing there, in pain, asking yourself 'Why am I alone? Why don't I go out?' etc. You don't ask yourself these questions anymore. You adapt yourself. Living alone does not mean living in nothingness."

"M: I don't have relationships at all. It's out of the question. NK: Why? M: Partly because I was always attracted to men or women who were never attracted to me. And I was never attracted to women or men who were attracted to me. So that's the problem. I've never met the right person."

"(Eating meat) is really on the same moral level as child abuse. It’s the same thing. Animals are like children, they look to us for protection. We should protect them. I really feel quite smug about mad cow disease and foot and mouth and so forth, and I just think ‘Well, what do you expect? People have been saying it for years.'"

"I think animals need all the help they can get, because they have none. They have no rights. They have no protection. And so I think animals need help. And I think animals look to humans for protection, and of course humans lead them into slaughterhouses, which to me is just like an image of leading children into a slaughterhouse. There’s no difference. That level of trust and… But it’s a very cruel world."

"Because he (Elton John) is pushing his face in all the time, and telling us about his private life. Nobody's interested, he's incredibly rich, he should just go away, and he's just hoisting his problems onto everybody and working them out publicly and...I've said enough."

"Strangely, I liked them (the Sex Pistols) until they made records. I saw them quite a few times before they actually made records. And when they did, it just became... suddenly punk had this enormous scope and was everywhere. Obviously it lost everything. And looking back, I don't really have that much affection for the whole punk thing. It really didn't mean so much to me at all. But of course, I would rather it have been there than not."

"But, ultimately, I don't have very cast iron opinions on black music other than black modern music which I detest. I detest Stevie Wonder. I think Diana Ross is awful. I hate all those records in the Top 40 - Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston. I think they're vile in the extreme. In essence this music doesn't say anything whatsoever."

""I don't recognise such terms as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and I think it's important that there's someone in pop music who's like that. These words do a great deal of damage, they confuse people and they make people feel unhappy, so I want to do away with them."{{Cite book"

"Let’s be realistic … it’s arson. Everybody knows that. You can judge it by the speed by which the corporate media rushed to call it an accident even though the fire had just started and no one was in any position to know anything. Brainwashing! It’s a bit like hearing the full reason behind a plane crash even though the plane has yet to hit the ocean."

"Jools Holland: "Knock Knock!" Morrissey: "I'm not in!" Jools: "Oh, come on." Morrissey: "I refuse to open the door.""

"DK: Have you ever been to a rave? M: Rave is the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people."

"CH: Have you told many fibs today? M: I lie a lot - it's really useful - but everything I've said today has been the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me... er... Trevor..."

"Cleavage Sister: "What do you feel about erotic art?" Morrissey:"I don't know much about rotting art?" Cleavage Sister: "What about erotic music?" Morrissey:"I know a great deal about rotting music.""

"I can't believe I'm 29. Where did the years go? Why did the years go?"

"It's the nicest birthday I've ever had. You've made a happy man very old."

"I find Christmas very difficult"

"I'll try to sing as fast as I can, I know you all can't wait to see U2."

"Hello you little charmers... We're The Smiths..."

"I have so much pride and love for the songs of The Smiths. However, I must ask you, if you come across any Smiths CDs, don't buy them, because all the money goes to that wretched drummer."

"I suppose you have work tomorrow? That's quite sad, really."

"I can smell burning flesh … and I hope to God it's human."

"Noel Gallagher: "I used to piss myself laughing out loud on a bus going into town to buy the NME when he was on the cover and there was an interview. Laugh out loud, fucking side-splitting. His lyrics are incredible. I've seen him live a few times. He's one of the best. I've seen him live recently, last year in Australia, and he's still one of the best.""

"Johnny Marr: "The truth of it is, I absolutely encouraged and backed up everything that Morrissey did and was really, really happy to do so. All his words, everything he said in the press. When we cancelled gigs, I backed him up to the hilt.""

"Jeremy Vine: "He took all the things that pop music's about, which is being sun-tanned and handsome and getting all the girls and he reversed them.""

"David Cameron: "I'm sure that when Morrissey finds that he's getting an endorsement from the leader of the Conservative Party, he will think "heaven know's I'm miserable now". I'm a big fan, I'm afraid. Sorry about that.""

"It all began with the three wise men, followed a star took them to Bethelehem, and made it heard throughout the land — born was the leader of man. All going down to see the Lord Jesus."

"We’re confident people will take to us, because although the camp image has already been established by people like Bowie and Bolan we are taking it to another level. The concept of Queen is to be regal and majestic. Glamour is part of us and we want to be dandy. We want to shock and be outrageous instantly."

"Gay as a daffodil."

"I hate pockets in trousers … By the way, I do not wear a hose. My hose is my own. No coke bottle, nothing stuffed down there."

"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."

"Liza, in terms of sheer talent, just oozes with it. She has sheer energy and stamina, which she gets across the stage, and the way she delivers herself to the public is a good influence. There is a lot to learn from her"

"Led Zeppelin is the greatest. Robert Plant is one of the most original vocalists of our time. As a rock band they deserve the kind of success they're getting."

"All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary, but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that's enough for me."

"I just like having fun. It's a very good release, rock music, but you know you say that I am a different person on stage and that same thing could be said of anyone going out to do his job. It's my work, and I'm very serious about it, getting it right - when we began, we approached it the way we did because we were not prepared to be out-of-work musicians, ever. We said either take it on as a serious commodity or don't do it at all."

"I like people to go away from a Queen show feeling fully entertained, having had a good time. I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film - after that, they can go away and say that was great, and go back to their problems. I don't want to change the world with our music. There are no hidden messages in our songs, except for some of Brian's."

"Listen, if you guys wanna move around and shift your asses a little, it's okay. It's okay by us, right? You can take all your clothes off if you like too, doesn't matter... Fuck off! [laughs]"

"Hello everybody! Hey hey hey! Okay! Do you know it's not... it's not very often that we do shows in daylight. And I fucking wish we'd done before, I can see you all now. And there's some beauties here tonight, I can tell you!"

"I would have loved to have been on the Band Aid record but I only heard about it when I was in Germany. I don’t know if they would have had me on the record anyway, because I’m a bit old. I’m just an old slag who gets up every morning, scratches his head and wonders what he wants to fuck."

"I'm possessed by love — but isn't everybody? Most of my songs are love ballads and things to do with sadness and torture and pain. In terms of love, you're not in control and I hate that feeling. I seem to write a lot of sad songs because I'm a very tragic person. But there's always an element of humour at the end."

"Montserrat Caballé is sensational. She has that same kind of emotion as Aretha Franklin. The way she delivers a song is so very natural. It's a very different gift."

"You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man. And that is the most bitter type of loneliness, success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds. But it's prevented me from having the one thing we all need: A loving, ongoing relationship."

"Can you imagine how terrible it is when you've got everything and you're still desperately lonely? That is awful beyond words. I'm so powerful on stage that I seem to have created a monster. When I'm performing I'm an extrovert, yet inside I'm a completely different man."

"I can’t win. Love is Russian roulette for me. No one loves the real me inside. they're all in love with my fame, my stardom. I fall in love far too quickly and end up getting hurt all the time. I've got scars all over. But I can't help myself because basically I'm a softie I have this hard, macho shell — which I project on stage but there's a much softer side. too, which melts like butter."

"Our love affair ended in tears but a deep bond grew out of it, and that's something nobody can take away from us. It's unreachable … All my lovers ask me why they can't replace her, but it's simply impossible. I don't feel jealous of her lovers because. of course, she has a life to lead, and so do I. Basically, I try to make sure she's happy with whoever she's with and she tries to do the same for me. We look after each other and that's a wonderful form of love. I might have all the problems in the world, but I have Mary and that gets me through."

"This next song is only dedicated to beautiful people here tonight. That means all of you. Thank you for coming along... and making this a great occasion."

"You know something? There's been a lot of rumors lately about a certain band called Queen. The rumors are that... The rumors are that we're gonna split up. What do you think? [audience replies "No!"] [Pointing to his posterior] They're talking from here! [audience replies "Yes"!] My apologies, but I say what I want. You know what I mean? So forget those rumors. We’re gonna stay together until we fucking well die, I’m sure of it. I keep — I must tell you — I keep wanting to leave, but they won’t let me. Also, I suppose we’re not... We're not bad for four aging queens, are we? Really, what do you think?"

"Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue."

"I lost somebody who I thought was my eternal love … When he died I felt we'd had a marriage. We'd lived our vows. We'd done it for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. You could never have let go of Freddie unless he died — and even then it was difficult."

"The difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice."

"Freddie Mercury was a huge source of inspiration to me as a child. I religiously attended Queen's concerts year after year. This is a sad day."

"I haven't felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things. For example, when we're backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begins, it doesn't affect me the way in which it did for Freddy [sic] Mercury who seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd, which is something I totally admire and envy."

"When we lost Freddie, we not only lost a great personality, a man with a great sense of humour, a true showman, but we lost probably the best. The best virtuoso rock 'n' roll singer of all time. He could sing anything in any style. He could change his style from line to line and, God, that's an art. And he was brilliant at it."

"My tribute really was "The Show Must Go On." There's a lot in there. I remember writing this line — "my soul is painted like the wings of butterflies" — and I brought it to him one morning, a little worried about what he would think of it. I said, "Do you think that's okay? Can you sing that?" And he went, "Darling, I can sing that and I will give it my all." Because he knew what it was all about and it didn't need to be said."

"If I didn't have Freddie Mercury's lyrics to hold on to as a kid, I don't know where I would be. It taught me about all forms of music. It would open my mind. I never really had a bigger teacher in my whole life."

"We were very close friends, he was a very special person to me. Freddie was probably the most creative individual I ever met, and he was really fun. He had a great zest for life. He was also very unselfish and very caring. He put himself out to work with me and it was a phenomenal experience."

"I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called Radio Gaga. That's why I love the name. Freddie was unique - one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music. He was not only a singer but also a fantastic performer, a man of the theatre and someone who constantly transformed himself. In short: a genius."

"Freddie Mercury was - and remains - my biggest influence. The combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude really inspired my music.”"

"I’m a Freddie Mercury fan. (In response to an interviewer backstage at a Queen concert at the LA Forum, who asked: Can I tell my viewers that Michael Jackson is a Queen fan?)"

"Every band should study Queen at Live Aid. If you really feel like that barrier is gone, you become Freddie Mercury. I consider him the greatest frontman of all time. Like, it's funny? you'd imagine that Freddie was more than human, but … You know how he controlled Wembley Stadium at Live Aid in 1985? He stood up there and did his vocal warm ups with the audience. Something that intimate, where they realize, 'Oh yeah, he's just a f***ing dude."

"What I dug about him so much is he was completely uninhibited as a performer. He just didn't care. He would just go out and wear what he wanted — nothing mattered. He wasn't afraid. As a young performer, that's what you aspire to:to be able to not care. The more you restrict yourself within the confines of an established art form like jazz, when you become successful at it, it becomes more and more difficult to be uninhibited, because you like the success, you like what's happening to you."

"Freddie Mercury was one of those guys who didn't care. That's extremely rare, I think, When you couple that with his musical abilities, well, I wouldn't say he was the greatest piano player in the world, but he was certainly intensely musical. And his vocals; there's a guy I wouldn't want to have a cutting contest with as a singer. He had just silly ability. When you listen to his vibrato, it's erratic. That's just talent, straight-up talent and creativity. That's ridiculous. Imagine what he would have been able to do if he had been trained. It wouldn't have affected his spontaneity or creativity. I think that's a big myth, this idea that when you become educated, it takes away from the soulful part. That's just once-in-a-century talent."

"Of all the more theatrical rock performers, Freddie took it further than the rest... he took it over the edge. And of course, I always admired a man who wears tights. I only saw him in concert once and as they say, he was definitely a man who could hold an audience in the palm of his hand."

"My lifetime role model and hero is Freddie Mercury of Queen. His songwriting skills, I cannot even approach, but his showmanship, I learned it from videos. I’m No. 1 in the U.K. right now, so if I have any chance to go there, I want to meet Queen and to tell them how much I got inspired by their music."

"I see a red door and I want it painted black No colors anymore, I want them to turn black I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes I see a line of cars and they're all painted black With flowers and my love, both never to come back I see people turn their heads and quickly look away Like a new born baby, it just happens every day I look inside myself and see my heart is black I see my red door, I must have it painted black Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black"

"Yes, star-crossed in pleasure, the stream flows on by Yes, as we're sated in leisure, we watch it fly, yes And time waits for no one, and it won't wait for me... Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman's face Hours are like diamonds, don't let them waste Time waits for no one, no favors has he"

"I'd play whenever I could get my hands on an electric guitar; I was trying to pick up rock'n'roll riffs and electric blues-the latest Muddy Waters. I'd spend hours and hours on the same track, back again, and back again."

"What interested me about Chuck Berry was the way he could step out of the rhythm part with such ease, throwing in a nice, simple riff, and then drop straight into the feel of it again. We used to play a lot more rhythm stuff. We'd do away with the differences between lead and rhythm guitar. You can't go into a shop and ask for a "lead guitar". You're a guitar player, and you play a guitar."

"I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs from the establishment...it's not what the Stones is about, is it? I don't want to step out on stage with someone wearing a fucking coronet and sporting the old ermine. I told Mick, It's a fucking paltry honour."

"There are certain guys that are band players and there's certain guys that ain't. If there's anybody lazier than me, it's Eric (Clapton)."

"I looked upon myself, in a sort of romantic and silly way, as like a laboratory."

"I thought rock and roll was an unassailable outlet for some pure and natural expression of rebellion. It used to be one channel you could take without ever havin' to kiss arse, you know?"

"I was number one on the Who's Likely To Die list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list."

"The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It's almost like Hari Kari. I intend to live to a 100 and go down in history."

"I don't encourage anybody to do what I do, you know? Why should you? More for me!"

"This morning on Dartford station a guy I knew at primary school came up to me. He's got every record Chuck Berry made. He is called Mick Jagger."

"Rap — so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another."

"New Rule: Airplane black boxes must now be made out of Keith Richards. The man, who has taken more drugs than Whitney Houston, Rush Limbaugh and Robert Downey, Jr., combined, recently fell out of a tree, and then crashed a jet ski. And yet, somehow, that cigarette never fell out of his mouth. What is this guy still running on? I've got to know. Because I'm beginning to think the future of medicine isn't injecting stem cells, it's injecting heroin."

"...how come Keith Richards still walks? Explain that Mr. Surgeon General! You never mention Keith do you? Aah, a little hole in the theory there! Surgeon General says, "Drugs are bad, drugs are evil!...except for that guy, they work real good for him, -but the rest of you..."

"Keith Richards is shooting heroin into his eyeballs and still touring all right! I'm getting mixed signals! I picture nuclear war and two things surviving: Keith and cockroaches! (does Keith Richards impression) "Where did everybody go-o? I saw a bright light and thought we were on ...""

"I was reading an interview with Keith Richards in a magazine and in the interview Keith Richards intimated that kids should not do drugs. Keith Richards! Says that kids should not do drugs! Keith, we can't do any more drugs because you already fucking did them all, alright! There's none left! We have to wait 'till you die and smoke your ashes! Jesus Christ! Talk about the pot and the fuckin' kettle."

"I know there is a cure for whatever bioterrorism they throw at us, I know there's one. And it lies within Keith Richards, I do know that. He is the only man on the planet that could go (imitates Keith snorting something) "Anthrax? All right! Doesn't go with my E. coli, but fuck." Keith is the only man who makes The Osbournes look fucking Amish. He's insane. I've seen Keith go to a drug dealer and the drug dealer's goin', "I'm out, man, I'm sorry. I have nothing left!" Supposedly, he goes to Switzerland and changes his blood. Not like one pint, but like a fucking Chevrolet, all of it. I just wanna know, who gets his blood? Some old Swiss man's going, "HEIDI!! We've gotta go on tour, you bitch! We've gotta pay for Mick's babies! COME ON!!!" Because I know this. I know that we may all be dead and gone, Keith will still be there with 5 cockroaches. Keith will go, "Ya know, I smoked your uncle! Did ya know that? Fucking crazy!""

"It was his unique syncopated playing style that defined rhythm guitar in rock 'n' roll."

"I'm growing old and I wanna go home. I'm growing old and I don't wanna know."

"The world hums on at its breakneck pace; People fly in their lifelong race. For them there's a future to find, But I think they're leaving me behind."

"Time has told me You're a rare, rare find, A troubled cure for a troubled mind."

"So I'll leave the ways that are making me be What I really don't want to be. Leave the ways that are making me love What I really don't want to love."

"Going to see the river man, Going to tell him all I can About the plan For lilac time. If he tells me all he knows 'Bout the way his river flows, And all night shows In summertime."

"Going to see the river man. Going to tell him all I can About the ban On feeling free.If he tells me all he knows About the way his river flows, I don't suppose It's meant for me."

"Have you seen the land living by the breeze? Can you understand the lights upon the trees? Tell me all that you may know Show me what you have to show Tell us all today if you know the way to blue..."

"When the day is done, Down to earth then sinks the sun, Along with everything that was lost and won, When the day is done."

"Fame is but a fruit tree: So very unsound. It can never flourish Till its stalk is in the ground. So men of fame Can never find a way Till time has flown Far from their dying day. Forgotten while you're here, Remembered for a while. A much updated ruin From a much outdated style."

"Life is but a memory, Happened long ago. Theatre full of sadness For a long forgotten show. Seems so easy Just to let it go on by Till you stop and wonder Why you never wondered why."

"Safe in the womb of an everlasting night, You find the darkness can give the brightest light. Safe in your place deep in the earth, That's when they'll know what you were really worth."

"And what will happen in the morning when the world it gets So crowded that you can't look out the window in the morning?"

"And at the chime of the city clock Put up your road block. Hang on to your crown. For a stone in a tin can Is wealth to the city man Who leaves his armour down."

"I could have been a sailor, could have been a cook, A real live lover, could have been a book, I could have been a signpost, could have been a clock, As simple as a kettle, steady as a rock. I could be here and now, I would be, I should be, but how? I could have been one of these things first."

"Do you curse where you come from? Do you swear in the night? Will it mean much to you If I treat you right? Do you like what you're doing? Would you do it some more? Or will you stop once and wonder What you're doing it for? Hey slow Jane, make sense. Slow, slow, Jane, cross the fence."

"Please give me a second grace. Please give me a second face. I've fallen far down The first time around. Now I just sit on the ground in your way."

"Please tell me your second name. Please play me your second game. I've fallen so far For the people you are. I just need your star for a day."

"I never felt magic crazy as this, Never saw moons, knew the meaning of the sea, I never held emotion in the palm of my hand, Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree, But now you're here. Brighten my northern sky."

"Would you love me for my money? Would you love me for my head? Would you love me through the winter? Would you love me 'til I'm dead? Oh, if you would and you could, Come blow your horn on high."

"Saw it written and I saw it say Pink moon is on its way And none of you stand so tall Pink moon's gonna get ye all."

"And I was strong, strong in the sun I thought I'd see when day is done. Now I'm weaker than the palest blue Oh, so weak in the need for you."

"Don't be shy you learn to fly. And see the sun when day is done. If only you see Just what you are beneath a star That came to stay one rainy day In autumn for free. Yes, be what you'll be."

"And now we rise And we are everywhere."

"Since Nick Drake's death, his eerie, jazz-tinged folk music has had an ever-growing cult following."

"Even if you’d never heard of Nick Drake, his music would tell you everything you needed to know. The tragic singer-songwriter was in possession of a singular vision and dedication to his art that produced some of the most affecting acoustic music ever recorded. Drake’s melancholy moods and labyrinthine tunings twisted longstanding English folk traditions into mesmerising new shapes. Never a note out of place, and never a song that didn’t need to be sung."

"I hate that Alex and Damon. I hope they catch AIDS and die."

"Kylie Minogue is just a demonic little idiot as far as I'm concerned. She gets cool dance producers to work with her for some bizarre reason, I don't know why. She doesn't even have a good name. It's a stupid name, Kylie, I just don't get it"

"There is a limited supply of excellent songs, but I am not the only one. Paul McCartney, one of the best songwriters of all time, has only produced manure for the past 25 years. Rock musicians over 30 only produce unimportant material."

"I don't know, I think he's just going senile, isn't he?"

"He's now trying to make social comment, this is the guy who hid who he actually was from the public for 20 years. Now, all of a sudden, he's got something to say about the way of the world. I find it laughable. That's even before you get to the song, which is diabolical."

"Jack White, right, has just done a song for Coca-Cola. End of. He ceases to be in the club. And he looks like Zorro on doughnuts. He's supposed to be the poster boy for the alternative way of thinking... I'm not having that, that's fucking wrong. Particularly Coca-Cola, it's like doing a fucking gig for McDonald's.""

"If there were gold medals for taking drugs for England then I’d have won a shitload! I did enjoy it but it kind of got to the point where I’d done them all and that was it, there was none left and I just thought 'Can’t be arsed any more.’"

"People hate fucking cunts like Phil Collins, and if they don't, they fucking should!"

"Another reason to vote Labour is if you fucking don't and the Conservatives get in, Phil Collins is threatening to come back and live here, and let's face it none of us want that."

"The music industry doesn't like mavericks. The reason why there are no bands now is because in the 90s Oasis and Primal Scream, Blur, and all those... (bands)-- we were the mainstream. And what the music industry doesn't like is the mainstream being a load of fellas on drugs, drunk half the time on a Tuesday. They don't like that. They like people like Harry Styles. (Where they can) say, Wear this dress and shut it. Wear this, sing that, go home. And that's kinda what happened."

"Do I think we should leave [the EU]? I don't think we should be given a vote. I see politicians on TV every night telling us that this is a fucking momentous decision that could fucking change Britain forever and blah, blah, blah. It's like, okay, why don't you fucking do what we pay you to do which is run the fucking country and make your fucking mind up. What are you asking the people for? 99 percent of the people are thick as pig shit. They didn't fucking ask us for a referendum when they were going off to war, did they? No, fucking assholes."

"Fuck Jeremy Corbyn. He's a communist."

"Twitter is the playground of fucking idiots .... quite literally I’d put the pair of them [Donald Trump and Liam Gallagher] in a driverless car each so they crash into each other."

"I live my life in the city / There's no easy way out / The day's moving just too fast for me" I live my life for the stars that shine/People say it's just a waste of time. In my mind my dreams are real You're not down with who I am / look at you now, you're all in my hands tonight""

""Maybe you're the same as me / We see things they'll never see / You and I are gonna live forever."

"Tell me how high / Do you think you'll go / Before you start falling?" The people here / They don't hear you calling How does it feel / When you're inside me?""

"There we were / Now here we are / All this confusion / Nothing's the same to me I can't tell you the way I feel / because the way I feel is also new to me""

"I need to be myself / I can't be no-one else "You can have it all but how much do you want it?""

"You're the outcast / You're the underclass / But you don't care / Because you're living fast You're the uninvited guest that stays to the end. I'll be scraping your life from the sole of my shoe tonight" Bring It On Down"

"These could be the best days of our lives / but I don't think we've been living very wise.""

"I was looking for some action / but all I found was cigarettes and alcohol Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for? You might as well do the white line""

"I dream of you / And all the things you say / I wonder where you are now I need you now / You've knocked me off my feet We talk of going old / But you say "Please don't Let me be the one / Who shines with you / In the morning / We don't know what to do""

"I hate the way that you are so sarcastic, and you're not very bright. You think that everything you've done's fantastic, your music's shite it keeps me up all night. And it will be nice to be alone, for a week or two, but I know then I will be right, right back here with you""

"You've got to say what you say / Don't let anybody get in your way""

"I don't believe that anybody / Feels the way I do / About you now All the roads that lead you there are winding / And all the lights that light the way are blinding There are many things that I would like to say to you / But I don't know how. Maybe / You're gonna be the one that saves me""

"Slip inside the eye of your mind / don't you know you might find / A better place to play So I'll start a revolution from my bed / Because you said the brains I had went to my head. Please don't put you're life in the hands / Of a rock 'n' roll band / Who'll throw it all away""

"I took a walk with my fame down memory lane / I never did find my way back" Feel no shame / 'coz time's no chain""

"Some might say that sunshine follows thunder / Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine / Some might say that we should never ponder / On our thoughts today 'cos they hold sway over time Some might say / We will find a brighter day Some might say they don't believe in heaven / Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell" *"

"Here's a thought for every man who's tried to understand what's in his hands Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say / Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay / As he faced the sun, he cast no shadow. As they took his soul they stole his pride""

"All your dreams are made / When you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade""

"She's got a sister / God only knows how I missed her / And on the palm of her hand is a blister She's got a brother / We don't get on with one another / But I quite fancy her mother / And I think that she likes me She's got one in the oven / But it's nothing to do with me""

"How many special people change? / How many lives are living strange? / Where were you while we were getting high? People believe that they're gonna get away for the summer/ But you and I/ We live and die/ The world still spins around we don't know why. Someday you will find me, caught beneath the landslide / In a champagne supernova in the sky.""

"I met my maker / I made him cry / And on my shoulder / He asked me why / His people won't fly / Through the storm / I said listen up man, they don't even know you're born All my people / Right here, right now / D'you know what I mean? Coming in a mess / Going out in style / I ain't good looking / But I'm someone's child No one can give me the air that's mine to breathe""

"Round this town you've ceased to be / That's what you get for sleeping with the enemy Guess who's gonna take the blame for my big mouth Into my big mouth / You could fly a plane""

"I'll have my way, in my own time / I'll have my say, my star will shine."

"Made a meal and threw it up on Sunday / I've got a lot of things to learn What's the matter with you? / Sing me something new The cold and wind and rain don't know / They only seem to come, and go away Stand by me / Nobody knows the way it's going to be There is one thing I can never give you / My heart will never be your home""

"The future's mine and it's no disgrace, cos in the end the past means nothing. I feel a little down today, and I ain't got much to say And if I stumble, catch me when I fall / 'Cause, baby, after all / You'll never forget my name."

"Would you maybe / Come dancing with me / 'Cos to me it doesn't matter if your hopes and dreams are shattered""

"And I want to be there when you're coming down / And I want to be there when you hit the ground Don't go away / Say what you say / Say that you'll stay... because I need more time just to make things right Damn my education / I can't find the words to say Me and you, what's going on?/All we seem to know/Is how to show, the feelings that are wrong"

"Maybe the songs that we sing are wrong / Maybe the dreams that we dream are gone / So bring it on home and it won't be long / It's gettin' better man!"

"It's a bit early in the midnight hour for me / To go through all the things that I want to be Take me away / 'Cos I just don't want to stay / And the lies you make me say / Are getting deeper every day If you're lost at sea / Well I hope that you drownd" Please don't cry / Never say die"

"Is it any wonder why Princes & Kings / Are clowns that caper in their sawdust rings / When ordinary people who are like you and me / Are the builders of their destiny."

"Thank you for the sun / The one that shines on everyone / Who feels love."

"What tongueless ghost of sin crept through my curtains?. My family don't seem so familiar / And my enemies all know my name. You better get on your knees and pray / Panic is on the way My eyes are dead / My throat's like a black hole / And if there's a God / Would he give another chancer / An hour to sing for his soul?""

"You know that feeling you get / You feel you're older than time? Do you keep the receipts for the friends that you buy? And I hope you know / That it won't let go / It sticks around with you until the day you die. I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside."

"When yer lonely and you start to hear/The little voices in your head at night/You will only sniff away the tears/So you can dance until the mornings light And in your head, do you feel what your not supposed to feel? You need more time / 'Cos your thoughts and words won't last forevermore""

"God gave me a soul / And your rock 'n' roll In and out my brain / And running through my vein / You're my sunshine / You're my rain""

"You look like a faded picture / I see the cracks forming on your skin For smoking all my stash / For burning all my cash.. It's all over town that the sun's / Going down on the days / Of your easy life""

"Why you scared? / You'll never change what's been and done All of the stars / Have faded away / Just try not to worry / You'll see them someday / Take what you need / And be on your way / And stop crying your heart out""

"We dream our dream alone with no resistance / Fading like the stars we wish to be True perfection has to be imperfect My God woke up on the wrong side of his bed Little by little / We gave you everything you ever dreamed of / And little by little / the wheels of your life have slowly fallen off" **"

"You get your mucky fingers burnt / You get your truth from the lies that you've learnt Fed up with life in the city / 'Cos all the phonies have blown my mind It's all mine!""

"I've waited for a thousand years / For you to come and blow me out my mind The world around us makes me feel so small If you can't hear me call / Then I can't say, Lyla / Heaven help you catch me if I fall""

"My girlfriend called me the other night / She said 'Boy, you lazy I don't mind / As long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine / I'll be fine I can't get a life if my heart's not in it I lost my faith in the summertime / 'Cos it don't stop raining I begged my doctor for one more line / He said 'son, words fail me / It ain't your place to be killing time' / I guess I'm just lazy""

"Suddenly I found that I'd lost my way in this city / The streets and the thousands of faces all bleed into one I'm having trouble just finding some soul in this town It's all they can do to be part of the queue 'There'll be no tomorrow' they say / Well I say 'More's the pity'""

"Gold and silver and sunshine is rising up""

"I still don't know what I was waiting for / A big love to fall down from the sky Heaven must have sent you / To save me from the rapture""

"I'm over my heart's desire / I feel cold, but I'm back in the fire Love is a litany / A magical mystery / And all in good time""

"We live a dying dream / If you know what I mean""

"I haven't seen your face around since I was a kid / It's bringing back the memories of the things that we did""

"My body feels young but my mind is very old So what do you say / You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway / You're half the world away I've been lost, I've been found / But I don't feel down""

"When I was young I though I had my own key / I knew exactly what I wanted to be / Now I'm sure / You've boarded up every door While we're living / The dreams we had as children fade away""

"We need each other / We believe in one another / And I know we're gonna uncover / What's sleeping in our souls""

"All your dreams are made of strawberry lemonade / And you make sure I eat today""

"Take the time to make some sense / Of what you want to say / And cast your words away upon the waves Dance if you wanna dance, please brother take a chance / You know we're gonna go which way we wanna go / All we know is that we don't know how it's gonna be, please brother let it be / Life, on the other hand, won't make you understand / We're all part of the masterplan. I'm not saying right is wrong / It's up to us to make the best of all the things that come our way"

"Day by day there's a man in a suit / Who's gonna make you pay For the thoughts that you think and the words / They won't let you say I don't believe in magic / Life is automatic And I don't mind being on my own."

"Is anyone here prepared to say / Just what they mean or is it too late / For anyone here to try to do / Just what it takes to get through to you Let's all make believe / That we're still friends and we like each other Let's all make believe / That in the end we're gonna need each other Strangle my hope and make me pray / To a God I've never seen but who I betray""

"I got blisters on my fingers!"

"I'd Like to be Under the sea In an octopus's garden with you."

"Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues And you know it don't come easy."

"The world's saddest man will live here in Los Angeles."

"The only way I'll get you is to get you in bed."

"All I do is scream your name."

"When we first started, they basically went John and Paul's way because they were the writers and they would say, "This is the song," and I would play as creatively as I could. Sometimes I would have three people telling me how to do it. They were saying play it this like on that track. I'm saying, "For Christ's sake, there are two drummers there." They could never hear that, you know. You'd have to have four arms to do half the stuff they wanted me to do."

"Drumming is my middle name."

"First and foremost I am a drummer. After that, I'm other things.... But I didn't play drums to make money. I played drums because I loved them.... My soul is that of a drummer.... It came to where I had to make a decision — I was going to be a drummer. Everything else goes now. I play drums. It was a conscious moment in my life when I said the rest of things were getting in the way. I didn't do it to be come rich and famous, I did it because it was the love of my life."

"I used to wish that I could write songs, like the others—and I've tried, but I just can't. I can get the words all right, but whenever I think of a tune the others always say it sounds like such-a-thing, and when they point it out, I see what they mean."

"The song ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ was written specifically for me, but they had one line that I wouldn’t sing. It was ‘What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?’ I said, ‘There’s not a chance in hell am I going to sing this line,’ because we still had lots of really deep memories of the kids throwing jelly beans and toys on stage; and I thought that that if we ever did get out there again, I was not going to be bombarded with tomatoes."

"I am a big Beatles fan. And, you know, unbeknownst to anyone, I used to be one. But I have no problems of putting titles and lines from other songs in my songs, because they're great lines and great titles. And some of them I even thought of. You know, I think this is the third time I've used "It Don't Come Easy." I used that on "Time Takes Time," I think, as well. So it's just a great line that, you know, expresses so much. So I just put it in again."

"I don't collect any memorabilia. I wish I'd have kept everything I had. But who knew you had to keep it. Just gave it away. And we lost so much and we didn't look after a lot of it. I believe Paul's got everything he ever had, but I lost a lot of mine."

"He's always underrated. … He's probably … the finest rock drummer in the world today. … Ringo is the one."

"That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, “Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.” So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, “George, can you play it back for me one more time?” So George did, and Ringo says, “That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.” Great guy, though."

"I definitely believe in God. How can you look at anything and not be over-whelmed by the miraculousness of it?"

"I do a lot of apologising but deep down I'm a very confident man. I'm confident in the fact that I make a lot of mistakes. source"

"Why do we write music, what does inspires us? Well, in the beginning it was just having instruments around and just loving music and bands and all that but then recently it just seems to me to be a point of existence, you know? I can't work at anything else in the world except at how to write songs and I think we all (the band) just escape into it, you know what I mean? source"

"Life is miraculous. Even when it's disastrous, it's still incredible."

"To know where you come from makes where you are even more special."

"They'd all left for America — they were short-term lets — so they'd always leave food and, cos we didn't have much money, we would eat the rest of their cornflakes and listen to Ricky (Gervais) on XFM. source source"

"Q: Everyone picks up a certain emotional vulnerability in your music."

"What's good about the way we write songs is that I never quite know what I'm doing cause I can't read music. source"

"Up until 23, the concept of death hadn't occurred to me, then someone asked me if I'd heard about Jonty, this friend from school. I said, "No, what?" "He's dead." I used to play football with him. That's amazing, isn't it? Life is right now. It's not a morbid realisation, it's exciting, I find that feeling of time constraint very liberating. Nobody has an answer. We all die in the end. So come on, let's do something now. source"

"“I always ring my dad when I want to quit, and he goes, [in a plummy voice] ‘Well I wouldn’t give up yet, boy.’ So I think, ‘All right then. I won’t.’ He’d be a brilliant boxing trainer. He sprays me down, rinses out my mouth and tells me to get back in the ring and sock that (Alan) McGee fella for six.” source"

"I think girls are amazing but I also feel really guilty about doing stuff with someone that you don't really like. I don't believe there is such a thing as casual sex. Someone always gets hurt and I hate that feeling. One thing about girls is that I get scared. I get scared of my feelings being in the hands of another person, I know that feeling of waiting for a girl to call. That's scary."

"I know I'm going to get shit for saying this, but yeah, I don't want to be too happy. To write I have to feel slightly sorry for myself. You have to be in a slightly self-obsessed state of mind to sit at a piano for six hours and not worry about meeting someone for a date. My best songs come when I have that feeling that I've left the party early. And the other reason our songs are all about struggling and worrying and being beleaguered is my dad. He's a terrible worrier. He's always after the next thing. And I am too. Luckily the other members are more relaxed. Three other members like me and we'd go nuts."

"Radiohead gave me hope. They were the band who gave me permission. I'm a public schoolboy from Devon and I'm not supposed to be in a band. Well, they proved I could. I thought, I'm a bit like them. Jonny was OK because he's northern and so is Guy."

"My mum always said to me she doesn't believe in sleeping with people before marriage. She's not being prissy. She's very rock 'n' roll--it means doing what you feel and damn everyone else--and she reckons waiting and committing leads to great sex. I didn't agree entirely, but I haven't slept with many people. I didn't lose my virginity until two years ago. If I was good with women I'd go and enjoy it. But also I'm obsessed with the band, so I refuse to commit to a relationship... I'm an ambitious little tosser."

"It was so terrifying, the plane was all over the place. Once a year, for a week, all this dust blows over from the Sahara Desert, you could not see a thing, I couldn't see the ground and as it turns out, nor could the pilot. I found out we were about 200 metres up. The plane dropped off violently to the right then way over to the left, it was lurching all over. But somehow the pilot pulled it off and landed. I don't know how he did it, I was convinced he wasn't going to. Did the pilot know Chris Martin was on board? I don't think he gave a flying f**k. My mind was racing and I thought, 'My daughter will have to get a stepdad.' I also thought, "I've written a will. The band have finished the album but they know how I want to finish certain songs.""

"What keeps me going is that I could die tomorrow so I’m always trying to live every day. source"

"Q: Are you worried that if you start living it up you'll stop writing good songs?"

"It’s hard to perfect a happy song. Pharrell managed it. Stevie Wonder managed it. Bill Withers managed it. I haven’t managed it yet."

"I come from a farming community in the west of England, where the very idea of going to America was a golden dream. There’s still a part of me every morning can’t believe that we are allowed to be there. There is always a sense of possibility. Of course it has its challenges and its ups and downs, but there is always an optimism that I find exciting. Maybe it’s because the sun shines in LA every day and you are surrounded by lots of other creative people, but I feel a great sense of, ‘OK, what can we make?’ And it’s nice to be by the seaside. I feel very grateful. source"

"We did a song for Johnny Cash, we recorded it with Rick Rubin and everything and all that was missing was his vocals. He was going to fly out to LA the week after he died. It’s really sad. 2003 source source"

"I think when you're as talented as me or you, you don't need to have an ego. On a serious note, the people I most admire in the world in my field have never shown that much ego to me. source"

"The closest I got was in 1997. I was on a train; I’d just been to Devon to get braces fitted. I felt so self-conscious, I was like: ‘Shit, what am I going to do? I’m 19 and I’ve got braces.’ Then the train stopped at Castle Cary, and everybody from Glastonbury got on. And I just melted in the corner. [laughs] Did they all seem cool? They seemed so cool! I was just like: ‘Shit, how do you get that cool?’ So that was my closest experience to Glastonbury; being on a train and feeling like the nerdiest of nerds, because my mum had told me to get my wonky teeth fixed."

"Q: What if you're having a rough day and something has upset you, how do you go out? How do you overcome that?"

"You can sometimes get your own feelings across more strongly if you pretend that you're singing it from someone else's angle. But it's always from me. It's just a new way of framing it. source"

"Before our albums are released I feel like we still own it, that we have control over our music. But once it's out there in the world it's no longer ours. source"

"Economically, unfair trade will benefit nobody in the long run, as poorer countries will be bled totally dry and will become unable to produce anything. source"

"Q: What’s the strangest place you’ve ever woken up?"

"It's weird that whatever else is on your mind, whether it's the downfall of global economics or terrible environmental troubles, the thing that always gets you most is when you fancy someone. source"

"I think that the fact that a relationship becomes public is a bit of a bummer. Because it can distract from the real reason why you're together, which is that you just like each other. source"

"They grow cheap tomatoes in Ghana, but I saw market stalls stacked high with cheap tinned tomatoes shipped in from Italy. If Ghana tries to export to Italy they are whacked with tariffs. It doesn't make any sense. We are making money out of these people and they can't afford to send their kids to school. We've got to keep banging on about fair trade. If people knew what misery these trade laws created they would be shocked."

"Anyone who criticizes me for talking about fair trade is really a few pebbles short of a beach, because everybody should care about it, just like everyone should care about the environment: because we all live here. MTV, 2005. source"

"Being nice is a lot easier when you're loaded. Of course I can be a bastard, but it doesn't make me feel as good as not being one. What I'm saying is, sometimes people think you're nicer than you are just because you've got loads of money and you can pay for things."

"The whole rock star myth, which is 40 years old and basically nonsense, has nothing to do with being a rock star. Everybody gets trashed and breaks things. By that standard, plumbers and heating engineers are just as rock 'n' roll as rock stars."

"Those have been the two biggest challenges of my life: trying to follow Radiohead, and trying to follow Brad Pitt."

"It takes a long time to get to know Guy and Will. That's why often people think [Coldplay is] just me. If you sit with us for half an hour, I'm the only one you'll get an impression of because I'm a loudmouth idiot. They're my best friends really. source"

"My entire life is spent trying to push him forward at photoshoots. He's our packaging, he's a handsome bastard. source"

"Q: And you decided to be a rock star, when?"

"Coldplay is for people with great taste, intelligence, incredible good lookingness, talent, ability, success, grabbing of life. Coldplay's for people who know what life's about. They're always entertaining. Delightful to talk to. Sweet, charming, incredibly good in bed. Virile. They have incredible success with girls, or boys, or both. They're generally just the world's best citizens. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm definitely right."

"To be a frontman you have to be half very driven and half a total knob. I like to think I'm both."

"Q: Do you think of your band as a gang or a family?"

"I think as people listen to the album more it'll become its own thing more, but it'll also become apparent how much we've plagiarised. To me, really, at the end of our album we should've had a bibliography."

"Whether you're 15 or you are 55 or 80, it’s like, well I'm whole, I don’t have a missing piece, you’ve just got to find that wholeness within. Does that make any sense? source"

"Say what you like about him [Jonny Buckland], he does incredible guitar animal impressions (Side note – Cow like noise during A rush of blood to the head). source"

"I’m not a big fan of people putting birds in cages because to me, that thing can fly, how can you do that? It's crazy. source"

"‘Well, okey, something got broken but hey, what you're gonna do? You're not gonna give up, you're never gonna give up.’ That’s the best thing my dad ever taught me. source"

"There's too much information (on social media). Everything you do is available all the time, so the only thing you can rely on is not being false. source"

"One day in Haiti I was talking to a farmer. I said, 'I don't have any solution to these problems.' He said, 'Of course you don't! You're a singer.' He was right. Music is what I live for - and as Coldplay, our main job is to make the best music we can. But I hope that in our small way we can do something to raise awareness."

"He (Jonny) just has a way of writing melodies that is perfect… I just love his playing so much. And in that song, we are always saying go and do a solo one day and he’s like, "I don’t do solo’s" and we sort of got him to do… And that’s his standing-on-a-mountain moment. That’s why being in a band is the best job in the world because your best friends bring in bits of music that you wouldn’t thought of and you piece it all together and you get Optimus Prime! source"

"We are very much a band and we always have been, and we are more than ever. In our personal lives and our professional lives, there’s this thing that links us where we would do anything for the others and its a very powerful feeling, to go have gone through everything we’ve been through with the same group of people. We knew each other when we had nothing. source"

"Life is beautiful in all its colors, even the darker ones, they’re here for a reason."

"Q: Hey, isn't that how McCartney describes the Beatles?"

"Q: Do you think that the key in the new rock is going back to the electronic sound?"

"Even though some of the things I do can come across nerdy or unprofessional, it's at least true to me. Now more than ever, pretending not to be myself would end even worse. source"

"It’s more egalitarian on the Internet, anyone can put anything up. But in terms of the money it takes to allow a band to get good, there’s less of it to invest. Music is split up now into little pockets. source"

"The thing I really believe deep down is that everybody has a gift for something. Our job as adults is to make sure all children have the opportunity to find their gift."

"Men should always change diapers, it’s a very rewarding experience. It’s mentally cleansing. It’s like washing dishes, but imagine if the dishes were your kids, so you really love the dishes. source"

"The reason why I wouldn’t commit suicide… well, the main reason now is ’cos I have a baby and I would never commit suicide because of her. But to me, committing suicide from a nihilistic point of view is pointless, because we’re all gonna die anyway, so why not just hang around and see what happens? D’you know what I mean? If something is inevitable, why board the plane early? source"

"I've never hit anyone. I've tripped someone up, I got in trouble about that. He was chasing after somebody and I didn't like it, so we were running along together and he fell over. I wasn't put in a police cell, but I got fingerprinted. Police stations are terrifying. I'm petrified about losing any of the things I care about: family, band, hair, freedom. All I'll say is that they're fucking bastards - not the police, the paparazzi. source"

"I do an hour's yoga and go running every day. Then I see a picture of myself and I still look like a skinny, potbellied idiot - and I thought I had turned into this superhunk! source"

"Going through something difficult in your life, music for me is always a friend and something that helps you to figure things out. source"

"I love him, I really do. How much? Well, you know Leningrad in Russia. They should name it Lennongrad in honour of him."

"A band's only unique thing is its chemistry, especially if none of you are prodigious players or particularly handsome, the one thing you have is your uniqueness, so we hold on to that. source"

"There’s an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where they get the text of an obituary wrong, and instead of saying “beloved aunt,” it says “beloved cunt.” And I always think that would kind of sum up the two sides of my life, the two sides of the coin. I’d like that."

"She can turn anything into gold with that voice, here's the thing: if you speak to a good singing teacher about great opera singers, they will talk about consistency of tone. Or there's a book by Alfred Tomatis about why some people like certain people's voices and other people hate them, like Bob Dylan or me or whoever, some people say, 'Oh, I hate that voice', so there's a thing about people's frequency responses, what they are pleased by. Rihanna has this thick tone, so it's very hard to annoy anybody."

"I’m never going to be as adept lyrically as Jay Z or Morrissey."

"He (David Bowie) said, 'I'm really sorry, but it's not your best (song).' He was very kind about it. I was like, 'You know what? You're probably right'. It might have been written by sleeping pills so I wasn't too personally offended. source"

"Music comes from a place we don't know, it sort of comes through the fingers and toes."

"Some people misconstrue our band just to be just a commercial venture, they question the soulfulness of Coldplay because we’ve done okay. Maybe it’s because I’m English, but in terms of how people perceive us I only pick up on the negative side of it. I always feel like the big bad outside world just fucking hates us."

"The word 'campaigning' makes me uncomfortable. At the time I was writing things on my hand, we were definitely campaigning (Make Trade Fair). Now we do it more subtly. You can see who we support at a concert or on our website, but we don't like to shove it down people's throats. I want to scale it back. I'd rather it's like, if you want to know what we think, then you can find it, rather than, 'Here's what I think!'. source"

"Not cool. Ever. I’ve never been cool and I don’t really care about being cool. It’s just an awful lot of time and hair gel wasted. At school I was a medium-clever geek. If you’re at public school (Sherbourne) and you’re not that good at rugby, you spend quite a few important years of your life feeling like a real loser. We’ve never been about cool. What’s happened to us is more about showing that the geeks at school can get there in the end. And you have to stay true to who you are, the root of all this is to do with our friendship. source"

"What changed for me was – I don’t want to go through life being scared of it, being scared of love, being scared of rejection, being scared of failure."

"Ever since our band came out, we have been a very polarising group because we do a certain thing very well."

"I don’t think being 13 to 15 is an easy time for any boy. It’s like a big puberty race, and if you’re coming in last, it’s not such a great race to be in. I was a hyper-religious, quite naive and very judgmental kid. I was unpopular for three years, and then it all kind of switched when I was 16. But I had already been marked with the “I’m going to fucking get out of here and show you bastards what’s what” tag. So I’m very grateful for that period of challenge between 13 and 16, facing the blinkeredness of that kind of schoolboy mentality of, like, “You’re gay, you’re bad at sports, you’re this, you’re that.” Because it did make me think: “I don’t want to end up in some bank, where I’m going to have to take this kind of shit off these same people for the rest of my life. I need to get out of this fucking treadmill 'public school, into university, into a bank, into a summer house in France'.”"

"[As a teenager] I felt like there must be more to life than rugby and cheap cider on the weekends."

"If you don't let love really in then you can't really give it back. source"

"It does something to your brain which is odd... you have to work really hard not to be a real d**k (in personal life). source"

"One of our big conversations that we always have in this band is, we don't see rock & roll as being about coke-taking, leather-trouser-wearing rebellion, because that to us is not rebellion anymore. The spirit of rock & roll is freedom. It's about following what you believe in and not caring what anyone else says. And if that means writing something on your hand, then you've got to write something on your hand. It doesn't matter if you don't look as cool as the Ramones - you're never going to, anyway. So I know that we'll be ridiculed for this and look stupid for that. But as long as we believe in what we're doing, we can't apologize for it."

"No human being is only positive or negative. White or black, we all have both sides, the bright and the dark. There are no angels, it's a myth, nobody is a single thing, it's easy to fall into cynicism because wherever you look there are aggressions, war, destruction. I get it, ok? And it's true that for some Imagine [song by John Lennon] will tell you absolutely nothing. And if you have lost your cousin in an attack you would not want to hear it, you would be furious."

"I guess it's maybe because the industry has been struggling and you don't sell 50 million in your first production, all the numbers are different from when we all started. I see that there's quite good camaraderie (between musicians). Obviously, there are those who want to stay out of it. I don't know about music, but in backstage or at airports, everyone seems to get along very well. source"

"I always felt that, as a musician, we show up for one day for a cause and we really believe in what we’re talking about, but then the next day we have our own concerns. I want to try to have a more long-term relationship between artists and people who are really trying to affect change in the world."

"There is no music that has full meaning for everyone. It's what we have learned from the world: that no one thinks the same thing."

"As a rule, I take a piece of paper and a pencil and for 12 minutes nothing is written in your head without editing, without censorship, just to get it out of your mind. After that it gets read and the paper is destroyed immediately. It's very good to write a song with what has been left in your memory, without reading it again. It's as if you chose the best, the memory is that selective... Do you know what is also good for creativity? Write fast. Once a week, don't eat for 24 or 30 hours. Your brain becomes very lucid about ideas."

"I have been reading recently about synesthesia, in this case, the association of music and other sensory information with colors and I realized that I probably have a little or a lot of that current. I don't think it's unusual for songwriters. When I think of other people's songs or albums, a color comes to my mind."

"If you can give someone the pleasure of not liking you, maybe that’s as valid as the pleasure of liking you, some people want to assert themselves by showing the things they don’t like. It’s a form of positioning yourself. We all do that. I get it. But I’m more focused on the people who do like what we do, and there’s a few of them. I like hanging out with those people. If you ever liked Coldplay, then we’re going to really deliver on our promise over the next year or so. It’s not guarded music. It’s about very open things and that might not resonate with some people. But I don’t want to obscure our music behind coolness or cynicism just to avoid criticisms. Because for some people it really connects, and I need it, too."

"You get summoned to their castle, then you wait for about a week in a small room where you're just fed very minimally and if you survive that stage about fifteen another people, whoever survives that gets through the next stage where you get to play tennis with Jay and if you beat him twice you get sent through to meet the rest of Destiny's Child. They check you for lice and bugs and if they deem you cleaned up then you can meet Beyoncé behind the screen."

"If I listen to a song that I like, my first instinct is to find out who made it. "Oh, these were the Sherman brothers who wrote 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and a lot of Disney songs." That kind of thing. There is a part of me that wants nobody to know anything about me, but it is not realistic, what is even more strange to me is some things that are said about me. Because it comes from a fake quote or rumors. But I am guilty of it. If I listen (for example) to a new Rihanna song that I like, I want to know who made it."

"We've made a choice or I've made a choice recently to really say how I feel about the world and love and togetherness, and what I think would be great, you know? And I think when you sing about a very positive thing like that it's not fashionable until you die if I can be totally honest. It's not taken seriously until you're gone, but that's okay. (...) In the moment when you're alive saying it some people would say "Oh, fuck off." source"

"Every phrase can be a good lyric if it has the good rhythm."

"After we did the Super Bowl, we took so much s*it, and then we went on the biggest tour we’ve ever been on, it made me realize: okay some people really like what we do and some people really don’t – and we love them equally. I’m just happy and grateful to be a human, I don’t mind if you don’t love what we do but we do love what we do. source"

"How it did - in terms of commercial performance, is not how it feels to us. At the time it felt like this is not quite finished and not quite right. source"

"I think a band by its very nature is only as good as the chemistry between the players. None of us in rock bands, or whatever kind of bands we’re in, are virtuosos, otherwise we’d be concert pianists. So the only thing you have in your favor as a band is your unique chemistry. source"

"Without the support of our fans, Coldplay would be nowhere and we wouldn't be able to produce our art, I'm not saying that I don't appreciate the awards and all the glamour that come with being a touring band but seriously without the fans, we would be nothing."

"There's stuff going on in the world right now, which you can't imagine why is this happening; it's crazy. I don't know what the answer is, but if you didn't have faith in the universe that somehow something great would arrive at the end, then we'd all give up, and that would be a waste of everyone's time."

"Just because a romantic relationship ends doesn't mean that the other facets of your relationship have to end... or, indeed, doesn't mean they can't get better."

"I'm happy in L.A., but I will live wherever my kids are, and I don't really mind where it is. source"

"Celebrity culture has gone crazy, and I think the reason is that real news is just not bearable, and it also seems impossible to change anything."

"I’ve been banging the drum on that sort of thing, environment sustainability, for a long time – and getting some flack for it along the road – so yes I’m pleased other artists are starting to get on board with it too, but listen, really taking flack is what we do – it’s ok, I’m cool with that. source"

"[After the last tour] it was like, 'OK, we've got to that place, we've got to that job description, now what are we going to do with it? And I hadn't felt that we'd got there until the end of that tour. Nothing is left in terms of career aspirations. You're just left with, 'Well, our job is to translate the songs that we receive and get out there and be of use to people if they want it.' We've got to be a service, like a TV station. Or a tap. source source"

"My mom was always interested in [social and environmental justice movements]. Life on this planet becomes more joyful when you become less afraid of people who look or speak different than you."

"Undeniably handsome, Martin has a floppy, slightly fey quality that leaves women feeling divided between mauling and mothering him. source"

"Madonna: Yeah he's great! I think he's incredibly talented. source"

"Kylie Minogue: Chris just turns me to jelly. He's a really sexy singer. source"

"Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has found his niche in making the sound of solitude a triumphant experience, like Good Will Hunting: The Musical."

"He is a sensitive soul."

"In contrast to the soothing, warm-blanket vibe of Coldplay's music, Martin is almost unnervingly intense: He has an endearing, Hugh Grant-like stammer, but when he feels strongly about what he's saying, which is often, his eyes give off little sparks, like he's a mad scientist detailing plans for world domination."

"Wayne Coyne: Well, I really think that there’s an authenticity and a truth in Chris in the way that he sings to the audience. And even though you’d have to think there has to be some difference between playing to a couple of hundred people when they started and playing to literally tens of thousands of people now, I still see that in him. That’s why I like them so much, because he is the real deal. He’s not faking it when he gets up there and that enthusiasm still effects him. So in that way, I think they’re virtually unchanged. They haven’t become these unapproachable mega rock stars. source"

"Natalie Imbruglia: If Chris Martin calls with two songs, you don’t think, you say, ‘Yes’. He’s a great songwriter. ... I feel very lucky to have it (the song called 'Fun'). When I went into the studio and he said: 'I've finished the song', and he sang it to me, I nearly did one of those ugly cries because it's so beautiful. ... It's one thing to be a fan of a band’s music but it’s another thing to have them call up and say they wanna songwrite! source source source"

"Chris Martin might be a famous non-drinker, but he’s not opposed to getting out of his mind. Signing on Roxy Music star and general musical oddball Brian Eno as producer for the Viva la Vida and Mylo Xyloto albums, Martin and the band consented to being hypnotised to write the records. “Brian knew a hypnotist and we thought it might get some interesting results,” guitarist Jonny Buckland told Entertainment Weekly. “We all went upstairs, sat down, and he walked around us. He got us into some strange kind of trance, and we came down and played some more.” “It did work, actually,” Martin confirms in the same interview. “We came up with a lot of interesting noises, which we used.” source"

"Chris Martin can still seem embarrassed by his status as one of the planet's most recognizable rock stars. His band's music is completely and utterly grand in ambition and sentiment yet, offstage, Martin is mostly immune to the groan-worthy platitudes and shameless chest-puffing typical of his stadium-filling brethren."

"They balance each other out. Chris and I are like Jay and Beyonce; two paranoid ironists and two calm grounded people. source"

"A wonderful Zimbabwean connection at Paralympic closing ceremony - Coldplay's Chris Martin's mum and gran are from Harare - plenty of Zim cousins!! source"

"Coldplay's Chris Martin once revealed to RollingStone that his mother comes from Zimbabwe and that he spent a lot of time here. He also claimed that (the song) “Strawberry Swing” was inspired by his experience on Zimbabwe. source"

"People often think that fires only happen to vulnerable people but young professionals have a quarter of all house fires in London. Chris will know that fires can develop almost at the Speed of Sound so it's important that when they're cooking, people don't have A Rush of Blood to the Head and leave their cooking unattended causing a lot of Trouble. source"

"Taylor Swift: I've been a huge fan of Chris Martin forever; it'd be awesome to work with him. He's really kind, and he's been really encouraging when we've met."

"A great songwriter."

"Harry Styles: He's the nicest guy. And he doesn't make me feel nervous, but when you have so much respect for someone... it's difficult not to. source"

"Bono: We were playing with (Every Breaking Wave) for the last album and Chris talked us out of it. He said, ‘That one deserves to be finished.’ The half-baked version would have denied us this, so we owe him for that… He's a genius and a very self-effacing guy. He's one of our bodyguards. source"

"Queen Latifah: So we start trying to get the room to bid on this thing. And we get it up to like €133,960.27 ($150,000) for this piano. So we pay this, and then I find out that the guy who I'm bidding with was Chris Martin from Coldplay. (...) He pays €89245.89 ($100,000) on the piano, I pay €44,653.42 ($50). He gives me the piano. He is the salt of the earth as far I'm concerned. source"

"Britain thought he could now go back to being just some English bloke and eating chips. It turns out this notion is utterly wrong, because when Martin walks into a room, I am rather startled to find that a stellar quality enters with him. His energy hits you from across the room: the intense stare, the piercing blue eyes, the feet that are usually barefoot nowadays."

"In the British vacuum of passive-aggressive public transport and mumbled apologies, Chris Martin’s stomach-ribbing charisma on stage can be as nauseating as doing star jumps right after lunch, and it’s not hard to see how the everlasting hate for Coldplay was born. But when we hate on them, are we just acknowledging that we want to experience more from life? Or are we negating the fact we feel these everyday – average, yet no less meaningful – emotions deep down, too? I think it’s a bit of both."

"Chris Martin of Coldplay was spot-on when he burst on to Graham Norton’s set and described the karmic moment represented by Donald Trump’s success in being elected President of the United States. Mr. Martin said, in terms, that Trump expressed the feelings of millions of people, and that doing so is a refreshing and crucial part of democracy. source"

"Dua Lipa: It was surreal to sit at the piano with him. He's so distinctive in the way he works - the second he sits down and is playing piano, you're like, 'S***, that's Coldplay!'. ... It was so surreal, Chris Martin dancing to my music, I remember saying to him, 'You've written one of my favorite songs ever, the Nelly Furtado song 'All Good Things (Must Come To An End),' and he was like, 'God, I forgot I wrote that.' source source"

"Liam Gallagher: I didn’t hang around the get my back patted, we were out of there. It was like, look, it was good to do. And Chris? I went, ‘listen, I'm sorry about all that shit, that I keep fucking slagging you off. You know I don’t fucking mean it’. He’s going 'nah, nah, no worries, we love it mate, carry on!' He was cool. But I’ve not heard fucking back from him since. He’s fucked me right off now. source"

"Jay Z: We are good friends, but what I got to say has nothing to do with our friendship. I have been in the industry long enough to know when I’m in the presence of a genius… and Chris Martin is just that. In years to come, Britain will look back at him as a modern day Shakespeare, he is an incredible recording artist, an incredible songwriter, but where he really comes alive is performing live. If you get the chance to see Coldplay live, do it, you ain’t gonna regret it. source"

"Lily Allen: I’m not super-close to Chris Martin, but I’ll always be grateful that what he did was say to me, “No Lily, I don’t see you like that. I don’t want to f*ck you. I care about you. I want to be friends with you. I want to help you.” He and Gwyneth had just broken up, but they were together in LA doing their conscious uncoupling thing. They asked me over for Sunday lunch. I wasn’t very chatty with Chris, but he and Gwyneth did put me in touch with their marriage counsellor. I didn’t go, but it was the wake-up call I needed. I realised I was ill. source source"

"It’s no accident that so many fabled rock ensembles have had two contrasting leaders (Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards, Plant and Page, Bono and The Edge) to play off each other and cross-pollinate and, at times, butt heads. But Chris Martin completely dominates Coldplay; there’s no yin to his smiley enraptured yang. He’s the rock-king superstar the other band members all worship, humbly, as the genius who made their fates possible, and almost every moment of the band’s creative energy is organized around what Chris is going to do next: the piano chords he’s playing around with, the lyrics he’s writing, his endless studio perfectionism. source"

"Stormzy: And the person was getting closer, and it was Chris Martin. I’m looking around… but he’s walking towards me. We had a wicked, wicked conversation, a very inspirational conversation. That was a moment where it was like, woah, you’re Chris Martin! He watched the whole (show), and he had very kind words for me. source"

"Elton John: He is the kindest and most gracious friend, along with being a fantastic musical force of nature. source"

"Guy Berryman: Chris is always working, I think he is the biggest workaholic that I know. His capacity for making music and writing songs is boundless, almost. source"

"I can't remember a time when he (Chris) wasn't making music, he'd write songs about anything. Spaghetti. My gerbils. It didn't matter. Everybody believed in his talent and drive, but we were from a village in Devon and that sort of thing doesn't happen from places like that."

"Wayne Coyne: Chris Martin is such a sweet, thoughtful guy, and he gave me a cool book and all this stuff. But part of it was that we thought, “Well, we’ll meet them, and then we’ll stay for a couple songs, and then we’ll go get something to eat, and it’ll be a great night, who cares?” And we stayed the whole show. The show was phenomenal. And when it ended, we stood there like, “It can’t be over!” It was like two hours of just sheer joy. And then when it stopped, we didn’t want it to stop. How many times are you at a concert where that happens? source"

"Chris is proof of how wonderful humans can be when they really put their minds to it."

"Jacob Collier: Chris is one of the most brilliantly-minded musicians I think I’ve ever encountered, and so, so joyous. To be completely honest with you, I think there are very few musicians nowadays who are making music from the perspective of just being open and joyful. source"

"Don Johnson: He's a lovely man, I'll tell you that. But it's not my place; they have their own thing. It would be like asking Chris Martin: “How's Don's relationship with his wife?” source"

"You say I'm the greatest, bound for glory. Well the word is out and I learned. I got the latest side of the story: You're pulling out before you get burned."

"And Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright. He can play the honky tonk like anything, Saving it up for Friday night. With the Sultans... with the Sultans of Swing."

"Stepping out to Angellucci's for my coffee beans Checking out the movies and the magazines Waitress she watches me crossing from the Barocco Bar I'm getting a pickup for my steel guitar I saw you walking out Shaftesbury Avenue Excuse me for talking I wanna marry you This is the seventh heaven street to me Don't be so proud You're just another angel in the crowd And I'm walking in the wild west end Walking with your wild best friend And my conductress on the number nineteen She was a honey Pink toenails and hands all dirty with money Greasy hair, easy smile Made me feel nineteen for a while"

"Lady writer on the TV She had all the brains and the beauty. The picture does not fit You talked to me when you felt like it. Just the way that her hair fell down around her face Then I recall my fall from grace Another time, another place."

"Getting crazy on the Waltzers, but it's the life that I choose. Sing about the sixblade, sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo. And I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam, And I don't know where I'll be tonight but I'd always tell you where I am."

"A love struck Romeo, sings a street-suss serenade; Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made. Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade He says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?""

"Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo. You nearly give me a heart attack." He's underneath the window; she's singing, "Hey, la, my boyfriend's back. You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that. Anyway what you gonna do about it?""

"Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start And I bet, then you exploded in my heart And I forget, I forget the movie song When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong? Juliet. We come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the same And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?"

"When you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah. Now you just say, "Oh, Romeo, yeah. You know, I used to have a scene with him.""

"I seen a girl on a one way corridor Stealing down a wrong way street For all the world like an urban toreador She had wheels on her feet Well the cars do the usual dances Same old cruise and the curbside crawl But the roller girl she's taking chances They just love to see her take them all No fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd In her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud"

"Hallelujah here she comes queen rollerball Om Shanti what can I say don't care at all You know she used to have to wait around She used to be the lonely one But now that she can skate around town She's the only one"

"She gets rock n roll, a rock n roll station And a rock n roll dream. She's making movies on location. She don't know what it means. But the music make her wanna be the story. And the story was whatever was the song, what it was. Rollergirl don't worry. D.J. plays the movies all night long."

"She gets the sun in the daytime Perfume in the dusk And she comes out in the night time With the honeysuckle musk Because she smells just like a rose And she tastes just like a peach She got me walking where the wildlife goes I'd do anything to reach her And she was made in heaven Heaven's in the world"

"A long time ago came a man on a track Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back And he put down his load Where he thought it was the best He made a home in the wilderness He built a cabin and a winter store And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore And the other travelers came walking down the track And they never went further, no They never went back Yes, and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed We're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed"

"Well, I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights Yeah, life was just a bet on a race between the lights You had your head on my shoulder Your hand in my hair Now you act a little colder Like you don't seem to care"

"You get to meet all sorts in this line of work Treachery and treason, there's always an excuse for it And when I find the reason, I still can't get used to it And what have you got at the end of the day? What have you got to take away? A bottle of whisky and a new set of lies"

"The caretaker was crucified for sleeping at his post They're refusing to be pacified, it's him they blame the most. The watchdog's got rabies, the foreman's got the fleas. And everyone's concerned about Industrial Disease. There's panic on the switchboard, tongues are tied in knots. Some come out in sympathy, some come out in spots. Some blame the management, some blame the employees. And everybody knows it's the Industrial Disease."

"Two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong."

"It takes love over gold And mind over matter To do what you do that you must When the things that you hold Can fall and be shattered Or run through your fingers like dust"

"I'm tired of being in love and being all alone When you're so far away from me. I'm tired of making out on the telephone Because you're so far away from me."

"Now look at them yo-yo's, that's the way you do it You play the guitar on the MTV. That ain't workin', that's the way you do it. Money for nothin' and chicks for free. Now that ain't workin', that's the way you do it Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb. Maybe get a blister on your little finger; Maybe get a blister on your thumb."

"Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay. He got the action, he got the motion Oh yeah the boy can play. Dedication, devotion Turning all the night time into the day."

"All the late night bargains have been struck Between the satin beaus and their belles. Prehistoric garbage trucks Have the city to themselves Echoes and roars, dinosaurs They're all doing the monster mash. And most of the taxis, most of the whores Are only taking calls for cash.I don't know how it happened It all took place so quick. But all I can do is hand it to you And your latest trick."

"Why worry? There should be laughter after pain. There should be sunshine after rain. These things have always been the same. So why worry now?"

"Through these fields of destruction Baptisms of fire I've witnessed your suffering As the battles raged higher And though they hurt me so bad In the fear and alarm You did not desert me My brothers in arms."

"But it's written in the starlight And every line in your palm We're fools to make war On our brothers in arms."

"A three-chord symphony crashes into space The moon is hanging upside down I don't know why it is I'm still on the case It's a ravenous town And you still refuse to be traced Seems to me such a waste And every victory has a taste that's bittersweet"

"If we can't get along we oughta be apart And I'm wondering where'd you get that cold, cold heart Set me free - sign my release I'm tired of being the villain of the peace"

"Sometimes you're the windshield Sometimes you're the bug Sometimes it all come together baby Sometimes you're a fool in love Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger baby Sometimes you're the ball Sometimes it all come together Sometimes you're gonna lose it all"

"Last time I was sober, man I felt bad Worst hangover that I ever had. It took six hamburgers and scotch all night Nicotine for breakfast just to put me right. ’Cause if you wanna run cool, If you wanna run cool, If you wanna run cool, you got to run On heavy, heavy fuel."

"Oh the iron will and the iron hand In England's green and pleasant land No music for the shameful scene That night they said it had even shocked the queen"

"I can see what you're looking to find In the smile on my face In my peace of mind In my state of grace I send what I can To the man from the ministry He's a part of heaven's plan And he talks to me Now I send what I can to the man With the diamond ring"

"I wonder if there's no forever No walking hand in hand Down a yellow brick road To never never land These days I get to where I'm going Make it there eventually Follow the trail of breadcrumbs To where I'm meant to be ... When I think about us I see the picture that we made The picture to remind us True love will never fade."

"I worked the rowdies and daytrippers Now and then I think of you Any which way we're all shufflin' Forward in the queue They'd like to move my operation They'd like to get me off the pier And I dream I'm on a steamer Pullin' out of here"

"MacIntyre's teaching us waltzing Out on the gymnasium floor McIntyre's out of the army You'll be slippered if you get him wrong McIntyre's din booms loud in the gym And we've only got a little short song We've only got a little short song"

"And it's one, two, three, two, two we're all a disgrace McIntyre tore us apart And we dance with ourselves when we'd all found a space Waltzing with fear in our hearts"

"When it's pop goes the weasel Let go of the easel You don't want This rickety rackety life It's seat of the trousers It's all sink or swim, son..."

"These are not my decisions Flaming visions Ringing expressions The clamouring voice It's volcanic desire The unquenchable fire It isn't a question Of having the choice Anyway, now I'm old But if you won't be told If you've been created To answer the call All passion and lust Is going to end in the dust But you'll hang on some Government gallery wall"

"You must go, forget it Let it all go, let it all go Go, forget it, let it all go"

"Are you home from the sea, my soul balladeer You've been away roaming far away from here weathered a storm, your heart unafraid crossed every ocean in the boat that you made.... You're a light in the dark, a beacon of hope and strong as a sea boat, strong as a rope. And the vagabond wind, whispers over the bay and the songs and the laughter, are carried away in the sky."

"Oh I am what I am I'll do what I want But I can't hide I won't go I won't sleep I can't breathe Until you're resting here with me I won't leave I can't hide I cannot be Until you're resting here with me."

"If you were a king up there on your throne would you be wise enough to let me go? For this queen you think you own Wants to be a hunter again wants to see the world alone again to take a chance on life again so let me go."

"My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all the morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all And even if I could it'd all be grey, but your picture on my wall it reminds me that it's not so bad it's not so bad"

"If you gave me just a coin for every time we say goodbye Well I'd be rich beyond my dreams, I'm sorry for my weary life I know I'm not perfect but I can smile and I hope that you see this heart behind my tired eyes."

"Why don't I watch the ocean? My lover's gone. No earthly ships will ever bring him home again bring him home again..."

"It's all right to make mistakes, you're only human Inside everybody's hiding something."

"And the last words I heard him say were I shall return for you my love on Christmas Day..."

"I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender There will be no white flag above my door I'm in love and always will be."

"When you're stoned, baby, I am drunk. And we make love, it seems a little desolate It's hard sometimes not to look away And think what's the point when I'm having to hold this fire down I think I'll explode if I can't feel this freely now. When your stalled baby take me home."

"I haven't ever really found a place that I call home I never stick around quite long enough to make it I apologize that once again I'm not in love But it's not as if I mind that your heart ain't exactly breaking."

"If you're cold I'll keep you warm If you're low just hold on Cause I will be your safety Oh don't leave home."

"I've still got sand in my shoes And I can't shake the thought of you I should get on, forget you Why, why would I want to I know we said goodbye Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again."

"And we danced, and we drank And I've seen something you probably never got the chance to see Don't worry, Mary Cause I'm taking care of Danny And he's taking care of me"

"Not sad because you lost me But sad because you thought it was cool to be sad"

"წითელი ღვინო, სტალინი, შევარდნაძე, ქეთი მელუა."

"It's so funny because when you do smoke weed and write a song, you're like, 'Yeah, this is brilliant, this is excellent!' - and the next morning you go back and often find that really it's not very good at all... I've never done anything like acid or cocaine and I hope I don't. But I guess you have to try things once in a while... just once. I think you have to be very wary of falling into that trap of getting addicted."

"A fucking good tune"

"When I was 14 or 15 I was into the whole Spice Girls and I was a huge fan, but two years ago I heard The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and I was like - fucking hell, I've been born in the wrong bloody decade!"

"Dancing is an important function of music, but so is crying."

"I get guilty when I spend money on silly things like clothes and stuff... Having experienced a completely different extreme of wealth, and I don't mean me being poor or rich, I mean knowing that 40 quid that gets spent on a pair of shoes could go a long way for a family in Georgia for a week or even a month, having experienced that, you're a bit more [guilty]."

"As a family, we have been very fortunate to find a happy lifestyle in this country and we feel we belong. We still consider ourselves to be Georgian, because that is where our roots are, and I return to Georgia every year to see my uncles and grandparents, but I am proud to now be a British citizen."

"I do know that there are some things that exist in this world that you just can't prove. That could be the case with God or whoever might be up there, but I don't follow any one religion."

"I think I am easy to make fun of. I try not to pay too much attention. You can't let critics dictate what you do... The thing that fascinates me, is the emotion in music, the way it can make me cry or laugh or be angry. I'm not trying to be hip or cool, and I'm not scared to put everything I have into songs. Passion is the greatest thing that music can evoke. We live in a society where I think people often find it hard to express themselves, but sometimes a song can do that for you. It might not be groundbreaking, but there is something about the simplicity of presenting songs where it's all about the lyric and the melody. People don't need to get through a whole lot of production to get to the root of the song. It's just music doing what music does best... A lot of things in the mainstream are repetitive and soulless and have been churned out without any real conviction. It is really unfair to call Coldplay insufferable, when they obviously care about what they do. James [Blunt] too. Too much of the music industry is controlled by lawyers and businessmen, making music like it's a product on the factory line. That's what I call insufferable."

"Of course [Kate Bush] is still relevant. I wasn't actually in the country when her music first came out, so I only discovered it three or four years ago. What's amazing is that something like "Wuthering Heights" still sounds so different. I actually saw her about nine months ago, we were just passing at an industry event and I went up to her and said I was a big fan and asked her about the new record. She was really excited about it but quite nervous because she felt that everyone was hyping it up a bit and she just wanted to bring out an album. You know, she's a musician."

"Promo? It's a fucking nightmare!"

"I spend eight to nine months working abroad and cram in a holiday when I have the odd week off. This year, three of those months were spent in America playing gigs with my band, so we got to visit all kinds of places from Arizona to New York. After a few weeks, I really began to miss family and friends not to mention baked beans!"

"Buying books is probably my biggest vice when I travel. I bought a great one in America called An Incomplete Education, which covers everything from fashion to philosophy in quite a humorous way. It’s a bluffer’s guide, but pretty extensive. Because I never went to university, it’s my attempt to bone up on subjects I don’t know much about."

"I don't think I could see myself with someone who's famous. I don't like the lifestyle and everything it stands for. Too superficial. That attention is too much. For me to go home and be surrounded by that sounds like a fucking nightmare. But a musician or someone who's into music is different."

"Some people think it's got a double meaning, but as my mum's in the audience tonight, it doesn't."

"...after all we don't want the radio star to kill video."

"The last verse [In My Secret Life] completely got to me, about how we all have great ideals but in reality we end up conforming, following everyone else. We want to be stronger so we lead that life inside, thinking of ourselves as these great brave souls. I literally thought when I was 15 that I was a musical genius and I could change the world, but in fact you're not and you can't and you don't, and that realisation is almost heartbreaking."

"Don't come into the music industry. It's almost inevitable that you'll psychologically be quite screwed up. Fame isn't a natural, human, behavioural thing. You get alienated. You're not really surrounded by truth."

"I've never had paparazzi follow me and I rarely get recognised. I dress like a tramp when I'm not working. My hairdresser calls me the Romanian window cleaner. That's just the way I am."

"Wanking housewives"

"Earth is my home!"

"I just think war is fucked up"

"She is one of the most intelligent singers I've worked with for a very long time, - there are little reminders in her voice, of all sorts of other singers like Eartha Kitt and Edith Piaf, - of whom she has never heard. She exudes a modest confidence, she is completely sure of herself and has a maturity far in advance of her age."

"She enjoys extremes, but in life her emotions are always in check."

"I'm a songwriter but she [Melua] has her songs written for her... She must think it's her fucking lucky day... It's not like she's singing old songs like Jamie [Cullum], she's singing shit new songs that her manager writes for her."

"The only trouble is that there's absolutely no passion, no soul and no excitement to be found here...Yet all good music should provoke some sort of emotion, and this [Nine Million Bicycles] provokes none whatsoever."

"[Melua] makes music that's easy on the ear and even easier on the brain. She's the perfect good girl in the middle of the road. I'm not keen to make things too easy for anyone."

"I've got a ticket, To the fast city, Where the bells don't really ring, Getting off the plane the cold air, Rushes like bullets through my brain, And I'm divided between penguins and cats, But it's not about what animal you've got, It's about being able to fly, It's about dying nine times."

"Because the line between, Wrong and right, Is the width of a thread, From a spider's web. The piano keys are black and white, But they sound like a million colours in your mind."

"We are 12 billion light-years from the edge. That's a guess — no-one can ever say it's true, but I know that I will always be with you."

"We are 13.7 billion light-years from the edge of the observable universe; that's a good estimate with well-defined error bars and with the available information, I predict that I will always be with you."

"By the way, dancers are not human beings. How can you be human and do what they do?"

"Strictly has just given me a real zest for life. Life is so short. We should all grasp it."

"When you are knocked down you have two choices - stay down or get back up, stronger."

"I don't need to give Alesha any advice. Honestly, she's a really strong woman."

"You have this great laugh. It's this crazy, mad laugh."

"The Great British Public; a nation of Blue Peter presenters."

"All British artists 1988--? Just signing your name is not enough, you withered fucking idiots."

"The Auteurs have become Luke Haines. I ate their bodies, spat out the pips, and sucked up their souls."

"The point is there's a boring homogenisation of popular culture, so really the problem is there's nothing wrong, the machine works too smoothly. I think the pop music machine is much more fun when it's broken. Things are always more fun when they're broken. No one was ever consulted about this. There was never a Senate committee to say we must produce pop music every day since 1953 or whatever. It's time to lay down the gauntlet."

"I saw the 'Popstars' programme and to me it looked more like 'Opportunity Knocks' than the kind of cutting-edge postmoderism that The Guardian would like to have us believe it was. I think what it's more about is the public and the music industry's bloodlust. It's just like someone itching to say 'Oh, confound it all, let's bring back hanging, that was good entertainment'."

"I just thought it was better to be Pete Best than Linda McCartney"

"In a musical sense, it seemed like all the good intentions had gone awry, very quickly. I mean, we got back from America and Blur had made The Great Escape, which I thought was a really, truly awful album - so cheesy, like a parody of Parklife, but without the balls or the intellect. And Oasis were enormous and I always found them incredibly dreary. There was this uncritical reverence surrounding the whole thing"

"Let's go siesta In your Ford Fiesta"

"Is there something you lack When I'm flat on my back Is there something that I can do for you?"

"Riding on anything Anything’s good enough Who would’ve thought it of someone like you"

"I like the natural sound of a room. All the rooms have their own sound, so it's a matter of putting it where you like and seeing what it sounds like."

"At the end of the day I have to please myself. And I've made a record to please myself."

"Midnight on the water I saw the ocean's daughter Walking on a wave's chicane Staring as she called my name And I can't get it out of my head No, I can't get it out of my head Now my old world is gone for dead 'Cos I can't get it out of my head"

"It's a livin' thing. It's a terrible thing to lose. It's a given thing. What a terrible thing to lose."

"My Shangri-la has gone away, Faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude She seemed to drift out on the rain That came in somewhere softly from the blue."

"It was one of those nights One of those nights When you feel the world stop turning You were standing there There was music in the air I should have been away But I knew I had to stay"

"Underneath a starry sky Time was still but hours must really have rushed by I didn't realize But love was in your eyes I really should have gone But love went on and on"

"A place where nobody dared to go the love that we came to know They call it Xanadu And now, open your eyes and see what we have made is real We are in Xanadu A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star An everlasting world and you're here with me, eternally Xanadu"

"The love, the echoes of long ago you needed the world to know They are in Xanadu The dream that came through a million years That lived on through all the tears, it came to Xanadu"

"As I gaze around at these strangers in town, I guess the only stranger is me. As I see what they've done to this place that was home, shame is all that I feel."

"I've got a ticket to the moon. I'll be leaving here any day soon"

"When you get so down that you can't get up, and you want so much but you're all out of luck When you're so downhearted and misunderstood, just over and over and over, you could..."

"There's not many Americans, certainly not many of the teenagers I met when I first went to America, knew anything about [blues musicians] at all. … They do now, which is very groovy."

"We have not had any disagreements about clothes, smoking or L'Wren, and this is all very hurtful for her... It is completely untrue to say that L'Wren has caused a rift between myself and the rest of the band. This is all nonsense, everyone has their own style."

"I'm pleased that the Ministry of Culture is protecting the morals of the expat bankers and their girlfriends that are going to be coming."

"I see a red door and I want it painted black No colors anymore, I want them to turn black I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes I see a line of cars and they're all painted black With flowers and my love, both never to come back I see people turn their heads and quickly look away Like a new born baby, it just happens every day I look inside myself and see my heart is black I see my red door, I must have it painted black Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black"

"Let's drink to the hard working people Let's drink to the salt of the earth ...Raise your glass to the hard working people ...Who need leaders but get gamblers instead"

"Childhood living is easy to do The things you wanted, I bought them for you Graceless lady, you know who I am You know I can't let you slide through my hands Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away."

"I know I've dreamed you, a sin and a lie I have my freedom but I don't have much time Faith has been broken, tears must be cried Let's do some living, after we die Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day…"

"Yes, star-crossed in pleasure, the stream flows on by Yes, as we're sated in leisure, we watch it fly, yes And time waits for no one, and it won't wait for me... Hours are like diamonds, don't let them waste... Drink in your summer, gather your corn... The dreams of the nighttime will vanish by dawn"

"If you think that Mick Jagger will still be doing the whole rock star thing at age fifty, well, then, you are sorely, sorely mistaken."

"I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs from the establishment... it's not what the Stones is about, is it? I don't want to step out on stage with someone wearing a fucking coronet and sporting the old ermine. I told Mick, 'It's a fucking paltry honour.'"

"The world is in your hands, now use it."

"Wait for it, wait for it! Anticipation is half the fun. So I've been told..."

"Stewart Copeland is an amazing drummer. I just wish he didn't think he was amazing. Sting is a lovely bloke. We've become friends. I felt honored to be on stage with him at Live Aid."

"[On his Live Aid appearance with members of Led Zeppelin] They wanted me there early to rehearse the old Zeppelin songs, but I couldn't make it and I told them, "Listen, I know the songs. I know them backward and forward." Well, that day the tempos were all over the place, and it may have seemed like it was my fault, because I was the one who hadn't rehearsed, but I would pledge to my dying day that it wasn't me. In fact, it was Tony Thompson who was racing a bit; he was a bit nervous, I guess. It came off because of the magic of being Zeppelin; but I remember in the middle of the thing, I actually thought, How do I get out of here?"

"I can't remember those words (Lyrics) even when we were on tour."

"I wouldn't blow my head off. I'd overdose or do something that didn't hurt. But I wouldn't do that to the children. A comedian who committed suicide in the Sixties left a note saying, 'Too many things went wrong too often.' I often think about that."

"They're just horrible. Horrible, horrible guys. They're rude, not as talented as they think they are... I won't mince words here, but they've had a go at me personally."

"Past a certain point, the music is no longer mine. It's yours."

"I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord. And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, Oh Lord. Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord."

"Well, if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand. I've seen your face before my friend But I don't know if you know who I am. Well, I was there and I saw what you did I saw it with my own two eyes. So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been. It's all been a pack of lies"

"Well, I remember! I remember, don't worry How could I ever forget? It's the first time, the last time we ever met But, I know the reason why you keep your silence up, No you don't fool me. The hurt doesn't show But the pain still grows It's no stranger to you and me."

"Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite."

"The subdivision you have to do as an incredible drummer who is also the lead vocalist is percussion in itself. On his first ever solo release, he plays what has to be the most iconic drum fill in existence — which is hard as a drummer at any stage of their career knowing that the most iconic drum fill has already been played and you will never be the person to write it."

"Don't mess with my Phil."

"I met Courtney Love and she said she'd like to sleep with me, but she couldn't cos of my "pop-star thing"… so I said to her I couldn't sleep with her either - cos of her 'ugly thing'..."

"The world could change in a second, so I find the sunshine beckons me, to open up the gate and dream."

"I look above, and I know I'll always be blessed with love."

"Well tonight I'm gonna live for today, so come along for the ride, I hope I'm old before I die."

"There'll be the same old faces, in the same old places, where my youth was well misspent, but I toe the line and move in time, to a town called no regrets."

"Hell is gone and heaven's here, there’s nothing left for you to fear."

"I sit and talk to God, and he just laughs at my plans."

"I'm not scared of dying, I just don't want to. If I stop lying, I'll just disappoint you."

"I'm contemplating thinking about thinking… but....it's overrated - just get another drink in!"

"All your friends think you're satisfied, but they can't see your soul, no, no, no..."

"Screw you, I didn't like your taste anyway, I chose you, That's all gone to waste, It's Saturday, I'll go out and find another you."

"I've sung some songs that were lame, I've slept with girls on the game."

"I'm here to make money and get laid, Yeah I'm a star but I'll fade."

"I'm glad that spending a night with me, Guaranteed you celebrity."

"Oh I haven't got a clue what to do with you, Jesus all the things my head is going through."

"Maybe I should try singing like a man."

"JB: We had 200 Russians lined up pointing their weapons at us aggressively, which was... and you know we'd been told to reach the airfield and take a hold of it. And if we had a foothold there then it would make life much easier for the NATO forces in Pristina. So there was a political reason to take hold of this. And the practical consequences of that political reason would be then aggression against the Russians. Interviewer: Might have been World War III. JB: Absolutely. And that's why we were querying our instruction from an American general. Fortunately, up on the radio came Gen Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III, and told us why don't we sugar off down the road, you know, encircle the airfield instead."

"Beautiful dawn (beautiful dawn) You're just blowing my mind again Thought I was born to endless night, until you shine.High. Running wild among all the stars above Sometimes it's hard to believe you remember me."

"My life is brilliant, My love is pure. I saw an angel, Of that I'm sure. She smiled at me on the subway; She was with another man. But I won't lose no sleep on that 'Cause I've got a plan."

"You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful, it's true. I saw your face in a crowded place, And I don't know what to do. 'Cause I'll never be with you."

"Look who's alone now, It's not me, it's not me. Those three wise men, They've got a semi by the sea. Got to ask yourself the question, Where are you now? Got to ask yourself the question, Where are you now?"

"I am a dreamer and when I wake, You can't break my spirit - it's my dreams you take. And as you move on, remember me. Remember us and all we used to be. I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile. I've watched you sleeping for a while. I'd be the father of your child; I'd spend a lifetime with you. I know your fears and you know mine, We've had our doubts but now we're fine. And I love you, I swear that's true. I cannot live without you."

"There are children standing here, Arms outstretched into the sky, Tears drying on their face. He has been here. Brothers lie in shallow graves, Fathers lost without a trace. A nation blind to their disgrace, Since he's been here.And I see no bravery, No bravery in your eyes anymore. Only sadness."

"I would call you up every Saturday night And we'd both stay out 'til the morning light. And we sang "Here we go again." And though time goes by, I will always be in a club with you in 1973, Singing "Here we go again.""

"Saw the world turning in my sheets And once again, I cannot sleep. Walk out the door and up the street, Look at the stars beneath my feet. Remember rights that I did wrong. So here I go."

"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again. Makes her body older than it really is. She says it's high time she went away. No one's got much to say in this town. Trouble is the only way is down, Down, down.As strong as you were, tender you go. I'm watching you breathing for the last time. A song for your heart, but when it is quiet, I know what it means and I'll carry you home. I'll carry you home."

"Many prophets preach on bended knee, Many clerics wasted wine. Do the bloody sheets On those cobbled streets mean I have wasted time?"

"And if this is what we’ve got, then what we’ve got is gold We’re shining bright and I want you, I want you to know The morning’s on its way Our friends all say goodbye There’s nowhere else to go I hope that you’ll stay the night You'll stay the night."

"Tell me the wars you're fighting Behind the smile you're hiding All of the things I know you want to say We tried our best to find us But there are no lights to guide us I can't sleep beside a stranger now And piece by piece we fall apart With every beat slows down my heart."

"So many voices, Too many noises. Invisible lies keeping us apart. So many choices, but they're all disappointment And they only steal me away from you. Climb into our own private bubble, Let's get into all kinds of trouble."

"If time is all I have, I'll waste it all on you. Each day I'll turn it back. It's what the broken-hearted do. I'm tired of talking to an empty space Of silences keeping me awake."

"Your mouth is a revolver, firing bullets in the sky (Mh-mh-mh-mh) Your love is like a soldier, loyal 'till you die (Mh-mh-mh-mh) And I’ve been looking at the stars for a long, long time I’ve been putting out fires all my life Everybody wants a flame, they don’t want to get burnt And today is our turnDays like these lead to Nights like this lead to Love like ours You light the spark in my bonfire heart People like us, we don’t Need that much, just some One that starts, starts the spark in our bonfire hearts."

"It's ok, cause I know You shine even on a rainy day And I can find your halo Guides me to wherever you fall If you need a hand to hold I'll come running, because You and I won't part till we die You should know We see eye to eye, heart to heart."

"I'm sending postcards from my heart Your love for a postmark and then You know that you make me feel like We've been caught like kids in the schoolyard again And I can't keep it to myself."

"When I met you I was treading water And baby I know you know I got an eye that wanders But right now in this car that we're driving to your sister's All I'm lookin' for is something that's forever."

"It's a little after midnight There's a couple in the corner And I wonder what he said because she's crying And I guess they won't remember When they wake up in the morning With the headache from the whiskey and the wine I know that I have said things I regret when I am sober 'Cause we always hurt the ones we love the most."

"Don't give me those eyes 'cause you know me and I can't say no to you We can't have each other even if we wanted to In another life, darling, I'll do anything to be with you We can't have each other even if we wanted to Don't give me those eyes, don't give me those eyes."

"Without your arms around me, without you on my skin Without you on my body, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I don’t mean to be desperate or pretend that I’m not torn But I don’t want to let go of the things that keep me warm Without you, I’m just cold."

"I'm not your son, you're not my father We're just two grown men saying goodbye No need to forgive, no need to forget I know your mistakes and you know mine And while you're sleeping, I'll try to make you proud So, daddy, won't you just close your eyes? Don't be afraid, it's my turn To chase the monsters away."

"A couple of years ago, we went to Eurodisney. That too was bearable, although it was a bit weird when Mickey Mouse came to ask for an autograph. (Humo Magazine, 2000)"

"But everyone I know reaches a point where they throw out their arms and go beserk for a while; otherwise you never know what your limits are. I was just trying to find mine. (Guitar Player magazine 1992)"

"I could write songs as bad as Wham's if I really felt the urge to, but what's the point? (The Hit magazine 1985)"

"I don't think of death in a romantic way anymore. (L'Express newspaper 2000)"

"I don't understand this obsession with banging out records. What a stupid attitude! Like the world is holding its breath waiting for the next Cure album. It isn't. (Papermag Paper Daily 1996)"

"I have a bag full of words, and when one of us comes up with a good piece of music, I look in the bag to see if anything there will fit. If nothing does, I sit down and try to put down on paper what the music makes me feel; very rarely will a piece of writing inspire a piece of music. (CANOE 1996)"

"I honestly don't class myself as a songwriter. I've got 'musician' written on my passport. That's even funnier. (The Hit magazine 1985)"

"I think the rock'n'roll myth of living on the edge is a pile of crap. (Spin magazine 1987)"

"I think we're in the Top 10 most bootlegged bands in history according to a web-poll. Pretty much every show we ever do is bootlegged, but it's very rare that one is of good enough quality to be listened to by anything other than the most fanatical people though I suppose only fanatical people buy bootlegs. (X-Press magazine 2000)"

"I wake up and look at myself and think, 'yuck!'. (MTV)"

"I wouldn't want to think people doted on us, hung on every word, or wanted to look like us. (Trouser Press 1980)"

"I'm not going to worry about the Cure slipping down into the second division; it doesn't bother me because I never expected to be in the first division anyway. [A soccer reference] (Alternative Press)"

"I've always spent more time with a smile on my face than not, but the thing is, I don't write about it. (Rolling Stone magazine 1997)"

"I've experienced such extremes both in the band and in my personal life, feelings that last for just a few seconds at a time, that it's like a drug. After a while, when they're not there you notice the absence of it and nothing seems real anymore and nothings quite sharp enough or focused enough. (Spin magazine 1989)"

"Jimi Hendrix changed my life. Each generation influences the following one and as a consequence brings it back to the past. (L'Express newspaper 2000)"

"Most of the time I'm a professional idiot. I really don't care about what other people think, which can be a bad thing. (The Hit magazine 1985)"

"No, come to think of it, I don't think the Cure will end, but I can make up an ending if you want me to. (Spin magazine 1989)"

"Originally I was going to take perverse satisfaction in making a depressing album. (Spin magazine 1989)"

"Refusing to grow up is like refusing to accept your limitations. That's why I don't think we'll ever grow up. (Melody Maker magazine 1992)"

"The Cure, is the kind of band that wanders in and out of the mainstream's gaze. (The Boston Globe newspaper 1997)"

"There have been very few virtuosos in the history of the group, but there have been a lot of really nice people. The Cure backstage is a notoriously fun-filled zone. (JAM TV)"

"There is a reason for me always shoe-gazing. I simply can't look into the eyes of several thousand people. (Toronto Sun newspaper)"

"They may not like us, but they can't get away from knowing who we are. (Spin magazine 1988)"

"If Morrissey says not to eat meat, then I’m going to eat meat; that’s how much I hate Morrissey. (Q, May 1989)"

"We wouldn't have been able to handle the fame if it would've hit us all of the sudden. When I was young I always dreamed of having a group that was adored by few and ignored by the rest of the world, like Nick Drake. Fortunately, when we became famous, I had no time to reflect upon anything anymore. (De Standaard newspaper 2001)"

"What we do attracts to a certain type of people. I don't think age has anything to do with it: either you get into it or you don't. You can be 16 or 60 and you will like us or not depending on your sensibilities. (X-Press Magazine, Australia, September 2000)"

"You know, the Internets made us more aware of what people think about us. (3RRR radio 2000)"

"It's really weird but my parents used to tell me I could do anything I wanted to. I used to say, 'Well, what if I want to be an astronaut and go to the moon?" and my dad used to say, 'If you really want to you can'. I used to think he was talking absolute rubbish, particularly when I was 21 and he was still saying that. But in a way it really stuck with me cos my dad ended up doing exactly what he wanted to do. To an outside point of view he's totally conformed, he's had a family and four kids but he's only ever done things that made him genuinely happy. "He jacked in his job cos it made him unhappy and he didn't want to compromise his entire life just for the sake of carrying it through. It's very admirable, that quality, and I think it's very rare in people. Most people feel so conditioned, so oppressed by everything that goes on around them that they just give in. You have to refuse to give in. (Melody Maker, March 7th 1992)"

"I got very frustrated when I was reading so-called classic books or films, or listening to underground music which is trying to tell you something. it´s all nonsense, and it´s disillusioning. So it would be a paradox for me to then decide I´m going to communicate something. (Sounds, August 24, 1985)"

"I used to go out with Severin a lot to dance clubs but we wouldn't dance. It'd be more like take drugs and try to get to the toilet which would usually take about two hours...we became good friends but we were never really good for each other. Our friendship was based entirely on altered states. Whenever we went out together I would never come home until the next day. Mary hated it. (Faith, 1983)"

"If I were offered the title [a knighthood] I would tell them to stick it up in their arses" (The FIB 2002)"

"The fun thing is something people always miss out on with us. It's been brilliant making this album, but even as far back as Faith or Pornography we were still having a good crack. People would see me and Simon laughing and drinking ourselves unconscious together and they couldn't understand how we could be like that and still be in this angst-ridden band. But it's easy to be like that -- it's what being little, being a child, is all about. When you're grown up, you can't do it cos' you think about it too much. (Melody Maker, March 7, 1992)"

"We never became a mainstream band. It's kind of like we've bridged two worlds, or fallen between two stools, between alternative and mainstream. To a lot of mainstream programmers, The Cure is still a bit too weird. To an alternative programmer, sometimes we're a bit too mainstream. Sometimes we've benefited from that and sometimes we've kind of suffered. I actually enjoy that kind of position because I think it reflects what the band does (CMJ, December 1999)"

"I love the anonymity of being Mr Smith. If I book a hotel it's actually very funny. It's very nice to be a genuine Mr Smith (Q 2000)"

"If the world could outlaw religion for one year you'd be surprised how much better the world would be. (Music Planet 2Nite, 2001)"

"A lot of journalists give me a hard time about how I look, but I've never met a journalist I'd rather look like. And it's not just a performance thing. I don't drive around the countryside in full makeup because it would scare the animals, but I've been wearing makeup since I was a teenager, after I saw Bowie wearing it on Top of the Pops. I immediately borrowed someone's older sister's makeup and put it on. I loved how odd it made me look, and the fact that it upset people. You put on eyeliner and people start screaming at you. How strange, and how marvellous."

"The Cure frontman, who had his first classical guitar lesson aged nine, is one of the most influential and underrated guitarists, creating his own sound by detuning his E string. [...] Many a novice has tried to emulate his extended outro solo on A Forest."

"It's about, you know, how the world is so...fucking doomed. Sort of an apocalyptic album but I want it to be quite cartoony in a way."

"Who's to say that every performer should be a good actor? Why can't you just be yourself?"

"When you're on your own. You walk in the rain."

"I drink a lot of wine when I'm alone."

"You pretend you're happy. That you've got it all. But don't be upset If you fall on your knees. And beg like a dog."

"All of your days will be blessed so put on a smile and get dressed into the void we will fly away from here."

"But you and I know the seasons are slow the rivers they froze, the wind always blows down all our dreams, the engine's out of steam. **All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed"

"Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart you've been good to me."

"Well I've travelled around the earth and still I wonder if I'm the first human being who questions his worth."

"And every word that you speak makes my heart sing when it's weak for often this outlook on life can be bleak."

"I see my body float like leaves. Every day I want to breathe. Rap my knuckles till they bleed. A river deep."

"If I had sharp claws I'd get on all fours. And scratch your back for free."

"I'm not scared of dying. I'm not scared of death. I'll keep a smile 'til my last breath. I've loved 'til I've lost. I've lived how I felt. One day I will find peace within myself."

"I want to take all the sadness. Of the world from your shoulders. I want to take all the sadness. Of the world from your shoulders. I want to take all the sadness."

"My heartache, is my mistake you see."

"I can't express myself 'cause I'm not fully grown."

"I wish I was fiction, I wish I was fact."

"I need to build a wall around me. But I want to smile with everybody. Would you say that is possessive of me?"

"Yes we feel bad in winter. We act a little bit strange. The dark sky threatens me daily. Makes me alter and mood change, change, change, change."

"Once I was a shadow of man. Most dark nights my head was in its hands."

"I begged God to cure my aching limbs. But he did nothing, he gave me no advice. Didn't this God abandon Jesus Christ? Oh if it comes to you, I'll die for your sins."

"Without me all the lines of reality will blur."

"So I said I don't mind if I lose. 'Cause if I win I'll be so confused"

"And if you need to kiss me. Then you'll most definitely miss me. When I'm gone."

"God, you make me sing. Funny things about you You infect my mind. All the time, you do."

"There's something in my eye. Bloodshot in disguise. God knows I really tried. Making the big time. Aiming to climb high."

"If the world did end. Would you be my apocalyptic friend?"

"I guess it's you I miss. 'Cause I just stare at the ceiling. My stomach knots and twists. You've created this feeling. And I may be out of style. But do you know what true love is? I'll make this all so worthwhile. So let's rise above this. Let's rise above this."

"Oh, I'm staying in today. And watch the others play. Oh, wash my sins away. Like all good children I mean what I say."

"I guess God has the last laugh. From up on high he lets us kill. And his people die for their faith. And we call it triumph of the will."

"Our enemy really isn't capitalism, it's cynicism. That's one the things I learned from Woody … Not to be cynical … That cynicism … It destroys you, it rots you away from the inside. So that sense of optimism and humanity … which 20 years ago I would have called socialism but now I'll call compassion … You know, that idea is still out there and alive and if you can plug into that and encourage that it makes it all worth while."

"A patriot is someone who cares what happens in their country."

"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night!"

"If the Royal Family was going to assassinate someone, they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago."

"Punk is like looking at a mirror. I already have a mirror so I don't need the Offspring to remind me how gorgeous I am."

"Joe Strummer, God bless him, he's gone and he shall be missed. But how dare he preach class war with an organisation like that [the late '80s Rock Against The Rich movement]. Living in a huge house in Holland Park. Every photo opportunity to be seen on a bus in his leather jacket, and then he went back to a palace. You're not getting it quite right there! That's where his image mattered more to him than the reality. He was trying to con us. In a nice way and for the right reasons but once you start lying it carries on and on and on."

"England's a violent place. Too violent for me. That's why I prefer it here (the USA). For a gun-toting nation, Americans are surprisingly passive. This place suits me and the wife."

"[On the lyrics of his songs] They meant a lot to my generation. And it's nice to know you've written songs that mean something to someone rather than some trivial pop dirge. I'm not thriving off a career slagging off the Queen. I think I have something valid to say. My words are my bullets. I like to brag that somehow I got it right."

"I've never told anyone this, but I suffer from terrible stage fright. True. You can't tell though, can you? Unbelievable, the panic. I nearly die of fear before I go on stage. Something wicked. I can't eat a thing the day before a gig. It'd make me vomit. Once I come off? I could eat a scampied elephant between two buttered mattresses. But I'm kinda glad about the stage fright. I've read Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud about their terror. And I reckon it's what gets the adrenalin going."

"[Replying to the question of the presenter: "where did the name "Sex Pistols" come from, who thought this name up?"] Some animal. I can't remember. It doesn't matter. It's history."

"It's no more of that 12 bar ditty wavy hair in the breeze platform boots flap your flare nonsense. It's not a packaged image of third-rate idiots. It's not a pose. We just do our stuff. Hate it as it usually is, you know I was very shocked by the reviews of the last album. I believe none of them. They liked us for the wrong reasons, trendy reasons."

"How can you ban language, words? How're words offensive? And why should I have to tolerate YOUR interpretation? I'm the one using the word. ASK me how I'm using it, don't TELL me. And if you don't like the way I'm using it, so what? It's my right. It's my freedom of expression. Without that, we're nothing but slaves. My language, now fuck off!!!"

"Turn the other cheek too often and you get a razor through it."

"You don't write "God Save The Queen" because you hate the English race, you write a song like that because you love them; and you're fed up with them being mistreated."

"[On Sid Vicious] Yes I can take on England, but I couldn't take on one heroin addict."

"When I first heard it, I thought that's extremely challenging, the vocal — it was almost hysterical, and it was so up there, the register, but it was absolutely fascinating. And I know at the time a lot of my friends couldn't bear it, they thought it was just "too much" — but that's exactly what drew me in."

"My favourite album by her is The Dreaming, and I think she produced that one herself. That got a lot of criticism — but I loved it. It was overloaded with textures, and tones and all manner of things. It’s a record that I still can play to this day, and still hear new things."

"Are you really going to hand over the White House to a real estate agent? [...] I want a wig just like that one."

"It’s a family house."

"The only things I’ve ever confronted are institutions, religion, politics, but never my fellow human beings, and yet my fellow human beings find the need to defend those very things that are restricting their freedoms. God, that sounds like a speech. Should I run for president?"

"I’ve not done any of this for superstardom, quite the opposite. I threw away the rock star mantle. And for that, there’s resentment too: ‘How dare he, how dare he.’"

"I wanted them to see the gloriousness of the California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah desert. So every chance we got, we stopped the bus and just absorbed that dead heat beauty and that terrain."

"Almost killed me, nothing to be laughed at. But oddly enough it’s something that made me. Without that, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today, so thank God I almost died. The pain I had to endure of losing my memory and forgetting who I was — that’s always still in me. I never explained it until the book, and the songs — what agony that was for me. My greatest sense of achievement was conquering that."

"The class system is there to remind you that you’re just a dirty oik because you came from that side of the tracks."

"Would the king of punks be a cliché? Oh, no, vicar."

"I'm a songwriter but she [Katie Melua] has her songs written for her... She must think it's her fucking lucky day... It's not like she's singing old songs like Jamie Cullum], she's singing shit new songs that her manager writes for her."

"It's not important to me to make other people at ease. I am difficult, but that's 'cause I don’t really give a fuck."

"I always said I never wanted to write about love, but then I went and did that anyway."

"I know there are people in the world who have worse problems than falling in love and having it blow up in your face, but I didn't want to just wake up drinking, and crying, and listening to the Shangri-Las, and go to sleep, and wake up drinking, and listening to the Shangri-Las. So I turned it into songs, and that's how I got through it."

"Life's short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts."

"Life happens. There is no point in being upset or down about things we can't control or change."

"There's no point in saying anything except the truth."

"You should be stronger than me, But instead you're longer than frozen turkey, Why'd you always put me in control? All I need is for my man to live up to his role, Always wanna talk it through- I'm ok, Always have to comfort you every day, But that's what I need you to do - are you gay?"

"You can't sit down right, Cause your jeans are too tight, And you're lucky it's ladies night. With your big empty purse, Every week it gets worse, At least your breasts cost more than hers."

"You've got a degree in philosophy, So you think you're cleverer than me. But I'm not just some drama queen, Cos it's where you're at not where you've been. So what do you expect from me, To hold your head above the sea? And there are you even though you're bigger, Cos don't you know you crush my tiny figure? And anyway we're still so young And this isn't yet the day. I can't help you if you won't help yourself."

"You'll never get my mind right like 2 ships passing in the night."

"The Moschino bra you bought me last Christmas Put it in the box, put it in the box Frank's in there and I don't care Put it in the box, put it in the box, Now take it, Take the box."

"My destructive side has grown a mile wide and I question myself again: what is it about men?"

"Though I battle blind, Love is a fate resigned Memories mar my mind, Love is a fate resigned Over futile odds, And laughed at by the gods And now the final frame, Love is a losing game."

"I'd rather be at home with Ray, I ain't got seventy days Cause there's nothing, There's nothing you can teach me That I can't learn from Mr Hathaway. I didn't get a lot in class But I know it don't come in a shot glass."

"They tried to make me go to Rehab I said no, no, no Yes, I've been black, but when I come back You'll know, know, know! I ain’t got the time, And if my daddy thinks I'm fine Just try to make me go to rehab I won't go, go, go."

"He left no time to regret, Kept his dick wet, With his same old safe bet. Me & my head high, And my tears dry, Get on without my guy."

"I don't understand, Why do I stress a man, When there's so many bigger things at hand. We could've never had it all, We had to hit a wall, So this is inevitable withdrawal. Even if I stop wanting you And perspective pushes through, I'll be some next man's other woman soon. I couldn't play myself again, I should just be my own best friend, Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men."

"He walks away, The sun goes down, He takes the day but I'm grown And in your way, In this blue shade My tears dry on their own."

"Then you notice likkle carpet burn My stomach drop and my guts churn You shrug and it's the worst Who truly stuck the knife in first? I cheated myself like I knew I would I told you I was trouble, you know that I'm no good I cheated myself, like I knew I would I told you I was trouble, yeah you know that I'm no good."

"It's okay in the day, I'm staying busy Tied up enough so I don’t have to wonder, "Where is he?" Got so sick of crying So just lately When I catch myself I do a 180 I stay up, clean the house At least I'm not drinking Run around just so I don't have to think about thinking That silent sense of content That everyone gets Just disappears soon as the sun sets His face in my dreams, seizing my guts He floods me with dread Soaked to the soul He swims in my eyes by the bed Pour myself over him Moon spilling in And I wake up alone."

"What kind of fuckery is this? You made miss the Slick Rick gig."

"I'll battle this bitter finale, Just me, my dignity and this guitar case."

"Amy Winehouse: Did she invent white soul? Wearing a beehive? No. But she did something brand new and fresh, altogether as a package, and you see who's in her wake, from the Duffys to the Lana Del Reys. Adele selling 20 million records? That would not have happened if Amy Winehouse was alive."

"If it wasn't for Amy and Frank, one hundred per cent I wouldn't have picked up a guitar, I wouldn't have written "Daydreamer" or "Hometown" and I wrote "Someone Like You" on the guitar too. Contrary to reports, me and Amy didn't really know each other, we weren't friends or anything like that. I went to Brit School and she went for a little while. But a million per cent if I hadn't heard Frank this wouldn't have happened. I adored her."

"The last real individualist."

"And I know that it's a wonderful world, but I cant feel it right now."

"But if I had someone I would do anything and never never never never let you feel alone."

"Who am I to dream?, dreams are for fools, they let you down..."

"Please give me something because someday I might know my heart."

"Some people say that i'm not worth it I've made mistakes but nobody's perfect"

"I've got to take this chance and make it into something good."

"Im not lost, no no, just undiscovered."

"I'm scared Of all this emotion for years I've been holding it down."

"Oh well dreams can come true if you know inside you really want them to or you can sit you can wait you can leave your fate in someone elses hands."

"But if the rain must fall...It won't matter much to me If I had you And all I need is your love."

"Oh it tears me up I try to hold on but it hurts too much I try to forgive, but it's not enough to make it all okay."

"The truth hurts and lie's worse."

"when there's no, no storm Then how can I feel the calm ? If theres nothing, nothing, nothing left to lose Then what is this feeling That keeps on bringing me back to you?"

"My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant, someone who disrupts the daily drag of life just enough to leave the victim thinking there's maybe more to it all than the mere hum-drum quality of existence."

"WARNING: This album contains country & western music and may cause offence to narrow minded listeners."

"I can't actually play any instrument properly. I can't read music. And here's the New York Times calling me the new George Gershwin. It was so ridiculous, really embarrassing. It was embarrassing to watch these people fall into the trap of their own critical conceits."

"Then I became an altar boy because of the solemn face, but I got thrown out at fourteen for laughing, because the priest used to mumble everything except the church plate takings."

"When the media attention switches away from this story onto the next thing that happens in the world, the circumstances will still be there."

"The people with the most resources are the federal government. If you can invade a country halfway across the world in a matter of days, you can surely come to the aid of your own citizens in a shorter order of time."

"I had a lot of problems with my name … my first name Declan is really not very well known outside of Ireland, MacManus is a name they could never spell ... if you think about the names of '76, '77 … I got off kind of lightly — with a name you could live with, you know, in time. … I kind of liked the dare of it. Of course we weren't to know that within a month of my first album actually being issued Elvis Presley would die, and it would actually be a talking point. … Let me put it this way — people don't forget you with that name. It's sort of receded as — and this may sound terribly disrespectful and heretical — but as Elvis Presley has receded as a musical force, people make much less of a case about it. Elvis is a sort of cultural figure but there is no direct line between the music of Elvis Presley and the music of today. There is none whatsoever, he's no influence whatsoever, that I can detect, on music made today. Other than people who consciously retro in styling themselves after his ideas. There is no direct impact in the way that you can hear the influence of The Beatles or Stevie Wonder or numerous other people."

"Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music. I've been lucky to listen to lots of different types of music."

"Obviously, when I started out, I had a little bit more curiosity than some, and went seeking out the original artists, or in some cases searching up country music. I followed The Byrds a lot, and then when they did a country styled record it made me curious to know who these people were that they liked."

"My sense of history in music is much greater than a lot of people's. I listen a lot further back in the whole history of music. It's not just pop music of the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years. I'm listening to stuff from hundreds of years ago as well, because you can learn from everything."

"We stayed out of Memphis early on in the late 70s for obvious reasons. People were very sensitive about Elvis Presley, and my stage name obviously would be provocative to some people in that area at that time. So we didn't visit Memphis until about 1984."

"The first song that most people picked up on, particularly in America, of mine, was a ballad, not a rock'n'roll song. It was 'Alison', and that's an R&B ballad. I don't think there's any other way to describe it."

"These are the sort of things that push you on in music — the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. It's important to keep restoring that, and at the same time, hold on to the core things about music that whenever you pick the simplest form of instrument; guitar or piano, you can find a song that's worthwhile."

"I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you."

"I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it. And if there's something in it that I can respond to, then there's something that I might be able to use as a composer. There are records of mine that have had smaller audiences and have provoked really drastic responses from people — particularly from critics — who maybe don't have quite enough time to live with the record or accept that a piece has its own integrity."

"Nice girls, not one with a defect, Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct. Red dogs under illegal legs, She looks so good that he gets down and begs.She is watching the detectives. "Ooh, it's so cute." She's watching the detectives. When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. They beat him up until the teardrops start, But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart."

"Alison, I know this world is killing you. Oh, Alison, my aim is true. My aim is true."

"Oh I used to be disgusted and now I try to be amused. But since their wings have got rusted, you know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes."

"Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect, even your mother won't detect it, no your father won't know. they think that I've got no respect but everything means less than zero."

"She said that's that. I don't wanna chitter-chat. Turn it down a little bit or turn it down flat. Pump it up when you don't really need it. Pump it up until you can feel it."

"They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio."

"I wanna bite the hand that feeds me. I wanna bite that hand so badly. I want to make them wish they'd never seen me."

"Accidents will happen We only hit and run He used to be your victim Now you're not the only one.Accidents will happen We only hit and run I don't want to hear it 'Cause I know what I've done."

"Theres so many fish in the sea That only rise up in the sweat and smoke like mercury"

"And it's the damage that we do And never know It's the words that we don't say That scare me so."

"Oliver's army is here to stay Oliver's army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here today."

"So beautiful and fortunate You're the one who hates to love But he's the one who loves to hate."

"Clowntime is over Time to take over While others just talk and talk Somebody's watching where the others don't walk."

"Don't tell me you don't know what love is When you're old enough to know better."

"I'm a man with a mission in two or three editions And I'm giving you a longing look Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book."

"The boy said 'Dad they're going to take me to task But I'll be back by Christmas' It's just a rumour that was spread around town Somebody said that someone got filled in For saying that people get killed in The result of this shipbuilding With all the will in the world Diving for dear life When we could be diving for pearls."

"Is it all in that pretty little head of yours? What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I would have sworn that her name was Veronica Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own and a delicate look in her eye These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her name is Veronica."

"While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe and you beg and you promise And you bargain and you plead Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus It's the big white beard I suppose. Im going up to the pole, where you folks die of cold I might be gone for a while if you need me."

"Now Im dead, now Im dead, and you're all Going on to meet your reward. Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared? You might have never heard, but God's comic."

"There's always something that's smoldering somewhere I know it don't make a difference to you But oh! It sure made a difference to me You'll see me off in the distance, I hope At the other end At the other end of the telescope."

"Lie down baby now don't say a word There there baby your vision is blurred Your head is so sore from all of that thinking I don't want to hurt you now But I think you're shrinking."

"What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty?"

"Nonsense prevails, modesty fails Grace and virtue turn into stupidity While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts They still think they're the gods of antiquity If something you missed didn't even exist It was just an ideal — is it such a surprise?"

"Well there's a line that you must toe and it'll soon be time to go but it's darker than you know in those Complicated Shadows"

"Why can't a man stand alone? Must he be burdened by all that he's taught to consider his own? His skin and his station, his kin and his crown, his flag and his nation They just weigh him down"

"Now I just don't know who to tell to go to hell Who put the old devil in the distorted angel?"

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture — it's a really stupid thing to want to do."

"As I walk through This wicked world Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity, I ask myself Is all hope lost? Is there only pain and hatred, and misery? And each time I feel like this inside, There's one thing I wanna know: What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love, & Understanding?"

"I know that people are interested, and I understand why, but I don't want that stuff to overshadow my life. It's just the way it is. I'm a singer, I'm in a band, I've been out with musicians, I've had children with two different musicians. To me, it's no big deal. I only get upset because I want people to listen to the songs. Listen to the LP or come and see my band. I don't like it when people write about my life and don't even mention the music."

"It spurs me on. I'm going to get over that, I'm a good songwriter, my kids are happy, the band is great and I've almost sorted out all my debts. At least I've never sold my story. I've had countless offers but I'd rather be in a bedsit council flat than splashed all over Hello! or the tabloids. I really would, I have a responsibility to my band and my children as well. I don't believe in it, I'm never ever tempted."

"At least I've never sold my story. That's one point for me at least. And I am never going to, there are too many risks to take, so that's a no for me. I've had countless and endless offers but I'd rather be in a nursing home with bad carers than splashed all over the tabloids. So, please don't stir up nonsense to get more people to buy your magazines, or make up something to peddle your own brand of propaganda."

"The way that the Nazis staged themselves and presented themselves, my Lord! I’m talking about the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and the mass marches and the flags — just fantastic. Really beautiful."

"People think I wake up in the morning and put on a tuxedo."

"I don't think I've ever played the Olympia before, but I'm not totally sure."

"I like the name Atomic Kitten. It's so great."

"All those rappers, they're the only glamorous people working in music now. The rock bands are rather drab, even the good ones. You definitely don't want to look at them. But some of those R&B people are very good."

"When I stopped touring in the early '80s for a few years, it was a mistake looking back. I lost touch with my audience in a way and I think that was a bad career move."

"Words can be very powerful. I find them very difficult."

"Pity the poor old rhino with A bodger on its bonce."

"The bottle-nosed whale is a furlong long, And likewise wise But headstrong strong"

"Away on the hilltop sat combing her hair His fair Hippopotamine maid. The Hippopotamus was no ignoramus And sang her this sweet serenade: Mud! Mud! Glorious mud! Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. So, follow me, follow, down to the hollow, And there let us wallow in glorious mud."

"I'm a g-nu, I'm a g-nu, The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo"

"Hold very tight please Ting ting"

"No more will I go To Blandford Forum And Mortehoe - On the Slow Train From Midsomer Norton And Mumby Road - No churns, no porter No cat on a seat At Chorlton-cum-Hardy Or Chester-le-Street I won't be leaving again On the Slow Train"

"The English, the English, the English are best - I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest!"

"And all the world over, each nation's the same; They've simply no mission of playing the game. They argue with umpires - they cheer when they've won And they practice beforehand, which ruins the fun. The English are moral, the English are good And clever, and modest, and misunderstood!"

"Son, son, I admire your sincerity. Always be sincere - whether you mean it or not."

"Stately as a galleon, I sail across the floor, Doing the military two-step, as in the days of yore."

"They look quite promising in the shop, and not entirely without hope when I get them back into my wardrobe. But then, when I put them on they tend to deteriorate with a very strange rapidity and one feels sorry for them."

"Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as chaos."

"If I should go before the rest of you, Break not a flower, nor inscribe a stone, Nor, when I’m gone, speak in a Sunday voice, But be the usual selves That I have known."

"I don't understand Ethel. I don't, I don't really. She's one of my very best friends, Just about the best, nearly. She's an awfully nice girl, Ethel is, Dainty and refined, I mean she'd never do or say Anything unkind. But get her inside a stadium And she seems to go out of her mind."

"I was allowed to slave for them For ever and evermore. Oh, I was allowed to fetch and carry For my Three Brothers, Jim and Bob and Harry."

"George - don't do that."

"Nobody is safe. Deviate by a hair's-breadth from normal behaviour in her presence and you become a specimen in her collection. She has the ear to record every nuance of vour talk and the tongue to reproduce it."

"There's nothing better than going out there and performing and making that connection with audiences. Even after all this time I get the biggest buzz from that."

"I've heard everything — that they were the result of ancient ritual induction into childhood that involved wrestling a wild boar, that I was viciously attacked by a gang. Someone even wrote that I was abducted by aliens who left me with a mark. You know, I really don't care. People can believe whatever they want to believe."

"There were signs in England that the only way for me was down. The media turned against me. I was given a hard time because my outlook wasn't one of pure debauchery. I was a sensitive male and I was singing about spirituality; I didn't choose the loutish Oasis approach to my profession. Britpop was just building up at the time and my attitude somehow counted against me."

"Family, my wife and children, that's my reason for being. Everything is done with them in mind, so perhaps that's the reason this new album is up-tempo. It does feel like a celebration of life. I am finally in a content and happy place to the point where I feel like I need to sing about it. It's made me want to address things that are close to home."

"Myself and the people close to me are all part of a social system, and we were being conditioned to accept the status quo. But on this album, I'm saying it's time for us to take charge. We can change it. We can take control of our emotional system and be happy. My point is don't just sit there and allow life to happen to you. Go out and take charge if you want change, but it begins closer to home."

"A man decides after seventy years, That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep... And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again. Miracles will happen as we trip.But we're never gonna survive, unless... We get a little crazy"

"Oh darlin... In a sky full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy? In a world full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy?"

"Did you know, That when it snows, My eyes become large and The light that you shine can be seen."

"Ooh, the more I get of you, Stranger it feels, yeah. And now that your rose is in bloom, A light hits the gloom on the grave."

"There is so much a man can tell you, So much he can say. You remain, my power, my pleasure, my pain"

"Now that your rose is in bloom, A light hits the gloom on the grave, I've been kissed by a rose on the grave."

"Fearless people, Careless needle. Harsh words spoken, And lives are broken."

"Crossing that bridge, With lessons I've learned. Playing with fire, And not getting burned. I may not know what you're going through. But time is the space, Between me and you. Life carries on... it goes on."

"Then the rainstorm came over me And I felt my spirit break I had lost all of my belief, you see And realized my mistake But time threw a prayer to me And all around me became still I need love, love's divine Please forgive me, now I see that I've been blind Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name."

"Today, I give it, all to you, On this day we recall the memories, Of what we're goin' through,"

"In my heart a place, A most special place, And it's all for you, You're my girl, you're my, angel, The will's the same for us, Honey they can't be wrong, Cause everybody knows it was hard to break the sorrow, Then you came along"

"I took the first few years off and spent them recovering. I didn't even know what day it was or who I was anymore, so I made a conscious effort to end it all. I thought my days were numbered as a pop star anyway. My girlfriend and I had a daughter, I had some money, so I just took the time off to chill out."

"I didn't like the music business and I didn't like me. There's an element of falseness about the whole thing. Even things like doing an interview. It's not as though we just met in the pub and are having a chat — it's part of a process. If you do it all day, every day for years, you end up thinking: 'Who the hell am I?' I was lucky enough to make some money, enough to let me kick back. It was a great experience and it was nice to have a couple of No.1s but the best thing about it was that the money I made allowed me to have freedom and choice in my life."

"I did enjoy it," he says. "But it was very, very weird. You can blab on about seeing the other side of fame, but it doesn't mean shit until it happens to you. It wasn't so much the going on TV, or going to award ceremonies, or having a camera focused on your face. It was being famous in the supermarket, being famous in a restaurant. Fame is not just about being able to get out of a limo in Leicester Square, it's about trying to get into your house when there are eight photographers outside. When you think about being famous, you don't think about all that stuff. You think about the glamour. I wanted to turn the tap off when I'd done my job. But you can't."

"I had my 15 minutes of being the new boy of pop, like lots of people before and after me. Overnight, everyone starts treating you differently, and perceives you differently."

"You got Rick Roll'd!"

"Well, do you remember Rick Astley? He had a big fat hit, it was ghastly He said, I'm never gonna give you up or let you down Well, I'm here to tell you that dick's a clown"

"Rick walked away right at the height. People look at other artists like Simply Red and say they were big, but he out-sold them two to one."

"Cuz I have so much love, for you, do with it what you will; and I have nothing more to prove, do with it what you will, say it again; say it again."

"Just like the moon, I'll step aside, and let your sun shine while I follow behind..."

"My grandmother used to say before you moan about the muck on someone else's glasses make sure you're not on about the muck on your own her glasses were filthy"

"In the beginning was the dog the real name of Jehovah is Rover Adam's rib is buried in the garden"

"From Bradford Yorkshire to Bristol Temple Meads you don't have to change your underwear but you have to change at Leeds"

"This winter I hope you get a splinter if you make a toboggan and it is a mahog'un"

"You do have to be fairly selfish when you have a gift. You cannot afford to let too many outside things get in the way."

"The opera world was shocked! But the image is very classical. It's taken from Botticelli's portrait of Venus, who's standing in a seashell with her hair covering her body. It's very sensual. It represents the vulnerable side of me. Although I'm not wearing any clothes, it comes across very well."

"Sometimes they're grey/green, sometimes they're grey, and some people think they are blue. So, I can't tell you!"

"When I sing, I close my eyes. If I see a feather, everything is fine. Without this image in my mind, the sound is not 'truthful' enough and I must begin again. I have to. I first had this feeling, this instinct with Phantom of the Opera and since then have always listened to it."

"It really is strange the way I work for success but when I get there cannot appreciate it. I enjoy the road to success and the struggle — even when it gets hard. But when I achieve my goal, I feel suddenly and totally stressed. Only in retrospect can I begin to enjoy the moment and admit just how great it was."

"In the past, I always used to be looking for answers. Today, I know there are only questions. So I just live."

"I'm a very talented person, I know that. I'm a very gifted person. I have a lot of imagination. I work hard. I feel I have the attributes within myself to have achieved what I have done. There has been no luck, no miracles. The only miracle has been this voice."

"(on her marriage to Andrew Lloyd Webber) It was such a creative time. Everything was happening very fast. He was writing, I was singing. He was inspired, and I was inspired. I didn't really have time to think about it. I didn't really have time to read things about it, either. I got a sense of things, which made me quite nervous at times. But, no, we were running all the time then, doing things. It was fun, but also a lot of pressure."

"I don't know who my audience is. People have said there is an integrity about me, and I think there is. I don't try to follow a trend. I have my own little path, and although I delve into things, I stay with what I am. I'm quite natural with it. Maybe people feel comfortable with that and they trust it, so they buy it. They'll come and see me in concert. I think I always do a good job in that area."

"Laughter is the greatest music in the world and audiences come to my shows to escape the cares of life. They don't want to be embarrassed or insulted. They want to laugh and so do I - which is probably why it works."

"Did you know that a laugh is something that comes out of a hole in your face? Anywhere else and you're in dead trouble!"

"I had an idyllic childhood and when my parents bought me a Punch and Judy Show and a ventriloquist's dummy, I'd perform anywhere, anytime. My parents were wonderful when I told them I wanted to be an entertainer."

"Comedy should never be over-analysed. It's either funny or it isn't. There's a subtle difference between those who say funny things and those who say things funny."

"Television is like a great monster, eating your gags as fast as you say them."

"My dad knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby, he said, 'Is this a joke?"

"I haven't spoken to my mother-in-law for 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her."

"You think you can get away, but you can't. I'll follow you home and I'll shout jokes through your letterbox."

"So it turns out that if you bang two halves of a horse together, it doesn't make the sound of a coconut."

"I think it would a good idea now if all the ugly ones came and sat down near the front! You have! Good!"

"I sometimes wonder whether we're the last dying breath of that '60's grim working class thing! I often feel like we're that one solitary clog left in the middle of the Arndale Centre! The idea of taking that spirit of optimism and of possible change and trying to use it in '84 I don't see anything wrong with at all. But more important than that are the images we grew up with: smokey chimneys, backstreets, the impressions I get from Morrissey's lyrics. It isn't just nostalgia, it's a Northern spirit, a working man's spirit - and here I'm trying to not sound like Gary Kemp doing the working class bit. But we're more about the working class values in the '60's than Rickenbackers and Brian Jones haircuts... Certainly we don't feel restrained musically in any way by the period. What I'm saying is we do not confuse roots with formula. The formula we're prepared to slash away at, musically try things we've never done before. But the roots are the reason why we're here. That's something I'll never get away from. I'm always aware of why we started and I think that's a good thing. Those reasons are still valid."

"And now I know how Joan of Arc felt Now I know how Joan of Arc felt As the flames rose to her And her started to melt"

"I've always believed that any instrumentalist is basically just an accompanist to the singer and the words. That's born out of being a fan of records before I was a fan of guitar players -- I'm interested in melody, lyrics, and the overall song. I don't like to waste notes, not even one. Who was it that said, "The reason why all those guitar players play so many notes is because they can't find the right one"? I like to put the right note in the right place, and my influences have always been those kinds of players. Keith Richards comes to mind, and I really like Nils Lofgren's soloing, because he's so melodic. I love John Lennon's rhythm playing, and George Harrison was an incredible guitarist. There's a lot of guitar culture that I don't like at all. I find the traditional idea of the guitar hero to be really irrelevant to the 1990s. I don't think that young people are that impressed with some guy brandishing Spandex trousers and a hideously shaped guitar, playing that kind of masturbatory, egotistical noise. Being a soloist who wants to just display virtuosity is a dated philosophy, and I don't think there's any room for it in pop music. It's the last stand of late-'60s/early-'70s rockism, and it should have gone a long time ago."

"I think when something's over, events have a way of conspiring to make you realise that it's over. As cryptic as that sounds, it's true. Things would happen and I'd be like, Am I going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life? And it was a very, very emotional band. It's in the music. The relationship between me and Morrissey was very emotional. It wasn't volatile in that we would row or anything like that, but it was so intense that if rocked slightly it would be a big deal. Was the lack of a manager important? Massively, I think. I was nursemaiding people when I needed nursemaiding myself. And I couldn't see where we were going to go in the near future musically without repeating ourselves and not being as good."

"About the cover of "The world wont’ listen" It represents the band to me. On the front you've got four guys who look like, if not the band, then Smiths fans. On the back you've got the female side of it - individually they really look like the Smiths: Morrissey on the far right, me on the second right, Andy [Rourke, bass] on the second left and Mike [Joyce, drums] on the far left. To find a picture like that is really clever. We didn't discuss it, but I understood."

"Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? JM: Never get into a situation you can’t get out of. I really have stuck to it, because it’s good advice for all walks of live."

"When I crashed my BMW and managed to walk away pretty much unscathed, it was a turning point. I'd been living the life, and when people see photos of the car wreck, they can't believe I got away with it. It was like a fog had lifted. I stopped drinking a bottle of Tequila before grabbing my car keys. It was time to wise-up and get a haircut."

"Birkenstock desert boots have been a part of pop culture since the beatniks. I made such a fuzz about them being discontinued that the company send me an "lifetime supply", which initially turned out to be seven pairs at two years apiece. They weren’t giving me very long. I think that’s why I gave up smoking."

"There have been plenty of times when I've been a total dick like everybody else, you know, I mean I wanted to be a little rock'n'roller, and I was, and it was great. I had a to-do list of like "Thou shalt wear sunglasses indoors at all times." Done. "Thou shalt take drugs and have a great time." Done. "Thou shalt crash a big car into a wall." Done."

"Noel Gallagher: "There's nothing he can't do on a guitar. I've been in the studio with him. He's played on Oasis tracks and stuff. The man's a fucking wizard. I've seen Johnny Marr on the telly and he had thick black shades on, a white polo neck, a Brian Jones bowl head, a red semi-acoustic, a pair of jeans and I don't know what he had on his feet, but I thought "That's it. That's what I want to look like.""

"Marr has been described as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist", a "God-like genius", and most affectionately, "the man who would not solo". No matter the title, Johnny Marr effortlessly shrugged off once-ironclad notions. Unafraid to lay back, Marr's jangly sound, open tunings, melody-ridden arpeggios and chordal chiming are all notable components of his playing style."

"If I woke up tomorrow morning and it was just a dream, it would be the best dream I've ever had, and I would be ― I would not be happy to be waking up! [laughter]"

"[People] would ask me, "what do you want to be when you're older?" and I'd be like, "a singer", and they'd be like, "what do you really want to be?" and I'd be like, "oh, I really want to be a singer.""

"I'm not a loud, extravagant person; I'm never going to be that and, to be honest, I don't want to be like that. I don't show off or boast, and it's pointless to think I'm going to be any different."

"I'd always been quite quiet growing up, and singing was a way of having a voice."

"I was at a really low point, thinking of going to university and doing a course because the music thing just wasn't happening for me. But I went on the show and..."

"Whatever happens to me from now on, I can't ever imagine wanting to distance myself from The X Factor, or having a bad word to say about it, because the show opened doors for me that had never opened before."

"I am vegetarian, so I don't have clothes, shoes or bags made from leather or suede or any animal products. Shoes are hard to find. These are fake Uggs. And I've got a pair of vintage boots, which are PVC."

"I hate the thought of animals being killed just for our pleasure..."

"Diamonds are supposed to be a girl's best friend but it's impossible to know for sure where they have come from so I find it is safer just to avoid them altogether."

"I went to Clive Davis' Grammy party and I nearly spontaneously combusted because everyone on my iPod was there!"

"Those women are the true divas. They're amazing performers, whom I've listened to for years. These are the people who've inspired me to sing, so it's flattering that I'm being compared to them. But I have a lot of hard work to do first."

"I'm trying to stay as healthy as possible but there's no pressure to be really skinny. No. That's just a bit wrong."

"My friends are the ones I've had since primary school. They're really cool and such a good bunch of people. They came to every one of my gigs before all of this happened, you know; they were there in the smoky pubs, wherever."

"He [Simon Cowell] is actually very lovely in real life. We share the same interests, and he shares my love for animals as well."

"You have to have the courage to stand up for what you believe in – no matter how hard it is – as your beliefs make you who you are amid all the celeb madness. I'm a vegetarian and never wear leather or use products tested on animals. When I was just starting out I'd get a gazillion freebies thrown at me, so it was hard to know what contained what. Now, I've made sure that before I get to a photoshoot people know my stance on that."

"No one is "the next" anyone, especially if that person is still here, doing their thing, as she [Mariah] clearly is. The comparisons people have made to me are so flattering, but I think it's insensitive to the people I'm compared to."

"I may not be loud but that doesn't mean I'm not strong within myself. My mum and dad instilled in me to stand up for what I believe in – and I do."

"I've had no demands, no weird requests for strange-colored water or cushions. She's exactly the same person I met two years ago."

"She's a supreme perfectionist and knows her own voice better than any artist I've ever worked with. She's like a scientist when it comes to working in the studio."

"She is probably the best vocalist right now, in our time. [...] Around the world, I have seen her play live, and oh my goodness gracious, she just has the most angelic, amazing range ever."

"I recorded Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis performing Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin together... For me there were several moments that still seem a little unreal [like] realising just how technically and musically accomplished Leona Lewis is as an artist. I've not worked with many singers in the pop world who can discuss coloratura technique, and operas by Purcell and Bellini. [...] Leona can really sing with heart and soul, balanced with quite astounding technique."

"We was as ’appy as could be that day Down at the Welsh ’Arp, which is ’Endon way."

"We've been together now for forty years, An' it don't seem a day too much, There ain't a lady livin' in the land As I'd "swop" for my dear old Dutch."

"Wot cher! all the neighbours cried, Who yer gonna meet, Bill, Have yer bought the street, Bill? Laugh! I thought I should've died, Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road."

"She wears a artful bonnet, feathers stuck upon it, Coverin' a fringe all curled; She's just about the sweetest, prettiest and neatest Doner in the wide, wide world! And she'll be Missis 'Awkins, Missis 'En'ry 'Awkins, Got 'er for to name the day; Settled it last Monday, so to church on Sunday, Off we trots the donkey shay!"

"A church full of singing, out of tune Everyone's gone to the moon"

"You see a long time ago life had begun Everyone went to the sun"

"I definitely have a sexual ego thing. But if I'm suggestive, it's in a nice way. Luckily, no one's ever been hurt...a few girls have passed out, that's all."

"Life is a drink and you get drunk when you're young."

"It's so hard to understand why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam."

"If we get through for two minutes only it will be a start!"

"The fingers feel the lines, they prod the space - your ageing face, The face that was once so beautiful, is still there but unrecognisable..."

"The morning slips away in a Valium haze and catalogues, And numerous cups of coffee, In the afternoon the weekly food is put in bags - as you float off down the high street. The shop windows reflect, play a nameless host to a closet ghost - A picture of your fantasy, a victim of your misery..."

"I play out my role, I've even been out walking - They tell me that it helps, but I know when I'm beaten..."

"The lords and ladies pass a ruling That sons and girls go hand in land From good stock and the best breeding Paid for by the servile class."

"When you're knocked on your back and you life's a flop, When you're down on the bottom and there's nothing else but to shout to the top!"

"Is happiness real? Or am I so jaded I can't see or feel - like a man been tainted. Numbed by the effect - aware of the muse Too in touch with myself - I light the fuse."

"The more I see - the more I know, The more I know, the less I understand."

"I first felt a fist - and then a kick, I could now smell their breath, They smelt of pubs - and Wormwood Scrubs - and too many right-wing meetings."

"If you see me in the street - look away, 'cause I don't want to ever catch you looking at me, Mr Clean. 'Cause I hate you and your wife, and if I get the chance I'll fuck up your life."

"Some people might say my life is in a rut, but I'm quite happy with what I've got."

"You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns - And the public wants what the public gets - but I don't get what this society wants."

"Those braying sheep on my TV screen - Make this boy shout! Make this boy scream!"

"Days of speed and slow time Mondays - Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday..."

"Two lovers kissing amongst the screams of midnight, Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude."

"A whole street's belief in Sunday's roast beef gets dashed against the Co-op, To either cut down on beer or the kids' new gear, it's a big decision in a town called malice."

"If you gave me a fresh carnation, I would only crush its tender petals..."

"I am out of season all years round - watch machinery roar to my empty sound. Touch my heart and feel winter, hold my hand and be doomed forever."

"If you're wondering by now who I am, look no further than the mirror, Because I am the greed and fear - and every ounce of hate in you."

"It feels like there's hundreds of bands in Liverpool. There's some okay ones... But really we're the only one I can think of as being a potentially great band..."

"I mean, even Joy Division are a bit over-rated, I think. They're very good live, but on record..."

"I was always really dubious about them actually. I'd heard some of Morrison's rambling poetic stuff, and I thought it was really pretentious... But now I think they're a great group, I must admit."

"There was even talk at one point of getting Del Shannon to produce our first album."

"It did cause problems at one point. Part of it was down to the name of the group—people tended to think I was Echo. That's why we named the drum-machine Echo because I definitely wasn't."

"I'm basically an 'appy person, but I'm just not into fun things that much."

"I wasn't into glam-rock. I was just into him. I never really saw him as glam-rock. Actually, I liked T-Rex too. Electric Warrior was great. But Bowie made me think. I just got lost in it—Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust—that era. I thought it was just magical, although I was dead impressionable then. But I though he looked brilliant—I still do. I hated the following he had though, especially around the Aladdin Sane era—it just destroyed his mystique. He doesn't hold that mystique for me now—he's just a normal bloke, I suppose. But I remember in 1972 when he was on the telly doing "Starman"—I couldn't believe it! It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It's meant to be a bit of an embarrassing admission now to have liked that kind of thing, but I really did. And I remember when I grew out of it and I couldn't get into Ziggy Stardust the way I used to. I felt really sad about it. I played it and nothing happened."

"People who leave groups generally sell less records. I feel better and more worthwhile selling less than the last Bunnymen record. I feel more important."

"When all's said and done, I wish them well. I wasn't just the one that ranted a bit in interviews and thought he was great. I thought the group were great."

"From when Oasis first started I thought, "Thank Christ someone has picked up on that simple technique of saying they're the best thing on the planet and just fronting it." Liam is a part of a great ancestry of lippy, insecure bastard frontmen."

"I like Americans now. They're dead nice. More polite. They aren't like the English, 'Ey Mac, comin' for a pint round the corner, yer twat?' I hate all that stuff, all that wanting you to be like you were in 1982. I've made up me mind that where I'm gonna regain the lost ground is over here in America."

"People here are always asking me, "Can you play 'Lips Like Sugar' on an acoustic guitar?" And I'm like, "No!" It was an OK song, I suppose, but it didn't sound like us. We just got sucked into a new mentality on that last album, the sound of Radio America. It did great here, but by then I just thought we weren't good enough any more. It was pretty happening, the States was building and building but it didn't feel good on stage. We weren't really communicating as mates and stuff. I mean, I was used to believing that we were the best group going."

"I listen back to some of Porcupine now and... well, not blush exactly, we were great and all that... but we could have been just anyone, you know?"

"We weren't managed from the word go, like U2 or Simple Minds, to get bigger and bigger and take over the planet."

"I just can't understand why they carried on with the name. It did them no favours, and however it can be defended, it spoils the memory. It's not so much that it's unforgivable, but it is a pity that we don't see each other and never talk to each other."

"How I wanna be exciting is by hitting a great note and people going, "Whoo!" I'm more Tony Bennett. He sings notes that don't exist! The hooter, the hair, the man's like a chiseled Roman god. With the Bunnymen, I was much more Mick Jagger holdin' me willy on stage and wearin' no undies and all that. Now I'm more Cary Grant."

"I only ever wanted, since the age of 13, to be the best singer of the best band in the world."

"They were always going to be the biggest band in the world. We wanted nothing to do with success the way U2 saw it. It wasn't to do with conquering the world; it was to do with those lads, like me and Ian Curtis, who liked the Silver Surfer and Bowie. At some point everyone seemed to go toward that Live Aid goal of being seen everywhere, in every sodding street, in every sodding nook and cranny in the world. I never wanted that."

"How can you not sell the first three Bunnymen albums? It's like, how can you not sell the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch?"

"I plan on not dying, but if I have to, I want to die in Liverpool."

"”I wanna play football for the coach — Liverpool’s coach!”"

"When the Teardrop and the Bunnymen started, Mac and I wanted to be absolute megastars. We wanted to be the biggest cult heroes in the world, to be millionaires, to look brilliant, and to be total bastards."

"Suzanne Vega has mentioned me in a few interviews, Nick Cave covered 'Avalanche' and when I last toured Britain, in 1985, Ian McCulloch came to a couple of concerts and talked to me afterwards on the bus. I can see a certain kind of rapport between my work and the work of these people."

"We took loads and loads from the Bunnymen certainly in terms of being inspired, so, you know, we'd already stolen all his ideas."

"Riding through the city on my bike all day Cause the filth took away my license It doesn't get me down and I feel OK Cause the sights that I'm seeing are pricelessEverything seems to look as it should But I wonder what goes on behind doors A fella looking dapper, but he's sitting with a slapper Then I see it's a pimp and his crack whore."

"Get up in the morning and you like your tea milky, You fumble for your glasses coz without 'em you cant see, It's funny how I come round your house and I'm 20 and I still have to wear all the presents you sent me. I walk into your kitchen everything's got a label, you done your Christmas shopping and we're only in April. And you wont leave the house unless your wearing your thermals, you're covered all in cat hair and you're stinking like Strepsils, Your heading down the Bowls Club, have another orange squash. Balls are rollin rollin rollin. You can't walk right coz things aren't what they were, your ankles are swollen swollen swollen."

"I was so lost back then, But with a little help from my friends I found a light in the tunnel at the end. Now you're calling me up on the phone, So you can have a little whine and a moan. And it's only because you're feeling alone."

"I don't know what's right and what's real anymore And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore And when do you think it will all become clear? 'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear"

"I'm not trying to say, That I'm smelling of roses, But when will we tire, Of putting shit up our noses."

"I’ve actually broken up with boyfriends for inspiration."

"We are the youth, we can make coolness for our future, it's up to us. Go green and hate hate."

"And if you have a minute why don't we go Talk about it somewhere only we know? 'Cause this could be the end of everything, So why don't we go Somewhere only we know?"

"There isn't much I find interesting to write about in middle-class life."

"Everybody's a bit screwed up, you know. You can take it as symptoms of a disorder, or you can take it as personality. Me, I'd rather think it as parts of personality."

"Pornography takes all the reality out of sex and Disney does that to family life."

"Tabloids invoke freedom of speech, but they're not interested in that, they're just interested in who's shagging whom, who's got drunk. And if you take that pretend, faux moral standpoint, you end up with people in public life being completely boring. Like they've had their genitals removed."

"I used to look at older people who bothered to still attend nightclubs and couldn’t help but wonder why. Didn’t they realize how foolish they looked? Of course, now that I’m one of those people myself, I have decided that such rules don’t apply to me."

"Whilst something is unknown, it could be anything. It could be the worst thing ever and usually when something starts to happen. You realise it’s not so bad."

"Disobey Defy Take your own time Fly"

"I have seen the mystics play there Once or twice but I knew they had a reason Enchantment plays it's cards all right Hand in hand with the working of the seasons Legends can be now and forever Teaching us to love for goodness sake Legends can be now and forever Loved by the sun, loved by the sun"

"Who sings of all of Love's eternity Who shines so bright In all the songs of Love's unending spells? Holy lightning strikes all that's evil Teaching us to love for goodness sake. Hear the music of Love Eternal Teaching us to reach for goodness sake."

"Sweet songs of youth, the wise, the meeting of all wisdom To believe in the good in man."

"The Beatles could shit in my hand bag I’d still hide my polo mints in there"

"Born on a different cloud from the ones that have burst round town It's no surprise to me that yer classless, clever and free."

"I wanna love you I wanna be a better man I don't wanna hurt you I just wanna see what's in your hand."

"I'm singing this song for you and your mum that's all, And it won't be long before everyone is gone."

"A man can never dream these kinds of things Especially when she came and spread her wings Whispered in my ear the things I'd like Then she flew away into the night."

"If I'm to fall, would you be there to applaud, or would you hide behind them all? 'Cause if I have to go, in my heart you'd grow, and that's where you belong."

"I'm all lost in the supermarket I can no longer shop happily I came in here for that special offer A guaranteed personality"

"Too many songs have been written about love already, you know? Subject's covered."

"Anybody who makes speeches written by someone else is just a robot."

"For me the music is a vehicle for my lyrics. It's a chance to get some really good words across."

"[T]he toughest thing is facing yourself. Being honest with yourself, that's much tougher than beating someone up. That's what I call tough."

"Everyone has got to realise you can't hold onto the past if you want any future. Each second should lead to the next one."

"My motto is, 'What's the hurry?' I'm trying to get it across to the modern world that we need to sit around and think a little bit more."

"What I like about playing America is you can be pretty sure you're not going to get hit with a full can of beer when you're singing and I really enjoy that!"

"When you blame yourself, you learn from it. If you blame someone else, you don't learn nothing, cause hey, it's not your fault, it's his fault, over there."

"I'd like to say that people people can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. Show me any country and there'll be people in it. And it's the people that make the country. People have got to stop pretending they're not on the world. People are running about following their little tracks. I am one of them. But we've all gotta stop just stop following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything; this is something that I'm beginning to learn. People are out there doing bad things to each other; it's because they've been dehumanized. It's time to take that humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed... it ain't going anywhere! They should have that on a big billboard across Times Square. Think on that. Without people you're nothing."

"The men at the factory are old and cunning"

"In fact, punk rock means exemplary manners to your fellow human being. Fuck being an asshole, what you pussies thought it was twenty years ago."

"I just want to go back to rockin', but I'm uncertain as to what to actually do … The truth is, I never stopped thinking about rock 'n' roll for a second that I'm on holiday."

"What's holding me up is I'm confused about the nature of the music. Because the modern music doesn't reach me. I mean to say the sound of the modern electric production. A lot of sequencers... synths. That's what people are buying. Because that doesn't reach me, it throws me back to like 1948, but I don't want to be there. Back there, I'm talking about blues records.... The roots of rock 'n' roll is rhythm and blues and that's like really where I'm at, where I was always at."

"If you're allowed to make your mistakes, I think you should. But people don't really like hearing you admit them. Although I'd never wanted to dump on the musicians that were involved in that.... Because it was not their fault."

"I was trying to prove that I was the Clash and it wasn't Mick (Jones). I learned that that was kind of dumb. I learned that it wasn't anybody, except maybe a great chemistry between us four, and I really learned it was over the day we sacked Topper, and not the day we sacked Mick. There was quite some time between them. We played a whole tour between those times. But it was the day we sacked Tops."

"I kept trying to stress that — "Hang on, we're be-bop guys, we're down in the alley on 57th Street. We're not in there with John Reed and "Ten Days That Shook the World." We'd be in the alley with (Charlie) Parker shooting up junk. That's where we were at really."

"I'm a human being. I'm not dumping on what I've done. I mean I know we were doing social (stuff), all right? I just don't like boastin' about it, OK? I know what we were doin'. I know damn well what we did. But I ain't gonna start crying about it now, all right?"

"I'll tell you something. When you see you become part of the cycle of generations, you lose your ego in the process, because you ain't nothin' special. You're just another cipher in the generations. When you devote all your interest into another person, you lose your self-obsession, and that's when you understand what it is. You don't know (anything) without that moment. You don't want anything to harm this helpless being. That's a fantastic change. And that's when you understand what's happening. I never understood anything until my first baby looked at me. I didn't understand (anything). Now I understand."

"I would say it was about time that you believe in something. And sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll ain't it.... A lot of people used to think they were."

"Everything's fucked! It's down to individual people to make life enjoyable. I don't have anything more to say than that. I think people should avoid the world fucking them up. People are becoming too uptight, treating their children bad, being negative."

"I hate it when I go out and I see parents going, "don't do that", or "stop doing that" when some kid's just hanging off a staircase or something. There's too much of this, "don't do that". The whole thing baffles me."

"The way you get a better world is, you don’t put up with substandard anything."

"I have a big legacy of The Clash to live up to and I don't intend to uriny on a legend. I intend to build forward into the next century. The music has to be by the musicians, and there's too much changing things by the record company. I got a message for everyone in a record company: We don't care if you lose your job! You ruin music and I'll get all the smoothers out off the way, the people who smooth the sound off. Let the musicians have the music the way they want it, and not the way you think the grandmothers and 3-year olds will gonna buy it. Cause this is not about 3-year olds or grandmothers... This is Rock and Roll!"

"I try and keep an ear out and keep an open mind and enjoy something where I don't know what the hell is going on inside of it. That's what I really get out of it. Because to me it's new. That's what I get out of it. That joyful feeling of you don't know what's going to happen next."

"I like to just feel how I feel and not worry about it really."

"I think you have to grow up and realise that we're facing religious fanatics who would kill everyone in the world who doesn't do what they say. The more time you give them the more bombs they'll get. Bin Laden is going to try and kill more people. It helps the fanatics."

"Singing into a cold wind is the worst nightmare for any singer. You could hear it in the voice."

"We got all the influences for it [Global a Go-Go] from Willesden High Road. When you go out for milk and cigarettes you go through three countries because all the shops and cafes are playing their own music, like going through hell."

"I'd define it as self-awareness: an ability to trust your own judgment. An ability to see through veils of bullshit or spins on stories or propaganda. Maybe an ability to think for yourself."

"I think that the corporation is running it and will always make it appeal to the lowest common denominator. I think we're going to have to forget about the radio and just go back to word of mouth."

"It's good to be sent back to the underground. There's always a good side to bad things and the good side to this is that at least everyone has to go back down."

"I'd just like to say to everybody that it's best to check out the independent life: the independent stores and the independent everybodies. We should try not to give our money to any corporations, if we can help it."

"There's no tenderness, or humanity in fanaticism. Thats what Rock the Casbah is about."

"All the power's in the hands of people rich enough to buy it."

"London Calling - Yes, I was there, too, And you know what they said? Well some of it was true. London Calling at the top of the dial… And after all this, won't you give me a smile?"

"You have the right not to be killed, unless it was done by a policeman or an aristocrat."

"No man's land. There ain't no asylum here. King Solomon he never lived 'round here."

"When freedom rises from the killing floor, No lock of iron or rivet can restrain the door. And no kind of army can hope to win a war Like trying to stop the rain or still the lion`s roar, Like trying to stop the whirlwind scattering seeds and spores Like trying to stop the tin cans rapping out jailhouse semaphore."

"[Joe] Strummer was the driving force who helped give punk its "political edge". I have a great admiration for the man. His most recent records are as political and edgy as anything he did with The Clash. His take on multi-cultural Britain in the 21st century is far ahead of anybody else. Without Joe, there's no political Clash and without The Clash the whole political edge of punk would have been severely dulled.""

"I know for a fact they were offered huge amounts of money. They just said no, that isn't really what we stood for. That's truly admirable. They were very important musically but as a person, he was a very nice man."

"It's taken Joe's death to make me realise just how big The Clash were. We were a political band and Joe was the one who wrote the lyrics. Joe was one of the truest guys you could ever meet. If he said 'I am behind you', then you knew he meant it 100 per cent."

"Joe Strummer, God bless him, he's gone and he shall be missed. But how dare he preach class war with an organisation like that [the late '80s Rock Against The Rich movement]. Living in a huge house in Holland Park. Every photo opportunity to be seen on a bus in his leather jacket, and then he went back to a palace. You're not getting it quite right there! That's where his image mattered more to him than the reality. He was trying to con us. In a nice way and for the right reasons but once you start lying it carries on and on and on."

"Like thousands of teenagers growing up in the '70s, punk and The Clash changed my life in a fundamental way. Their mixture of politics and music shaped my beliefs and tastes and made me the person I am today. Christmas is ruined."

"The Clash are the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately, preferably with the engine running, which would undoubtedly be more of a loss to their friends and families than to either rock or roll. Their guitarist on the extreme left, allegedly known as Joe Strummer, has good moves but he and the band are a little shaky on ground that involves starting, stopping and changing chords at approximately the same time.""

"Joe would go into everything at a million miles an hour and then change his mind."

"[In 1982] Joe and Gaby were still living in their rented flat above an antique shop in Portland Road in Holland Park. [...]During March 1983, Joe and Gaby finally bought somewhere to live. The blue terraced building of 37, Lancaster Road in Notting Hill was situated a matter of yards away from Ladbroke Grove and the Westway, and was exactly the type of house Joe used to squat in his 101'ers days."

"We started out to finish groups like U2 - that was what it was all about. And they're still the biggest band in the world, so we failed. We didn't really do anything, people wore flares for a year or two, d'you know what I mean? That's all we did."

"We broke up mostly because we didn't have a manager and everyone was on different drugs. I don't take them so it was a bit weird for me."

"It ain't the size of the dog in the fight, It's the size of the fight in the dog on the day or the night"

"I, I wish you could swim Like the dolphins Like dolphins can swim Though nothing, nothing will keep us together We can beat them, forever and ever Oh, we can be heroes just for one day."

"When you see people like Ken Loach, David Miller, Jackie Walker, when you see those people being accused of antisemitism, you cannot help but say this is all made up."

"A way to make new music is to imagine looking back at the past from a future and imagine music that could have existed but didn't. Like East African free jazz, which as far as I know does not exist. To some extent, this was how ambient music emerged. My interest in making music has been to create something that does not exist that I would like to listen to, not because I wanted a job as a musician. I wanted to hear music that had not yet happened, by putting together things that suggested a new thing which did not yet exist. It's like having a ready-made formula if you are able to read it. One of the innovations of ambient music was leaving out the idea that there should be melody or words or a beat… so in a way that was music designed by leaving things out – that can be a form of innovation, knowing what to leave out. All the signs were in the air all around with ambient music in the mid 1970s, and other people were doing a similar thing. I just gave it a name. Which is exactly what it needed. A name. A name. Giving something a name can be just the same as inventing it. By naming something you create a difference. You say that this is now real."

"Saying that cultural objects have value is like saying that telephones have conversations."

"If you don’t call it art, you’re likely to get a better result."

"The only value of ideology is to stop things becoming showbiz."

"Ideas worth questioning: "Being an artist is a job for life.""

"The reason conservatives cohere and radicals fight: everyone agrees about fears, no one about visions."

"Try to make things that can become better in other people’s minds than they were in yours."

"My friend Peter Schmidt used to talk about ‘not doing the things that nobody had ever thought of not doing’, which is an inverse process – where you leave out an assumption that everybody has always made and see what happens (e.g. music has to be made of intentionally produced sounds was the assumption that Cage left out). In that version of this process, you discover a value in the absence of something ­– in fact you discover that the absence of something is the revelation of something else (Buñuel, the film-maker, said, "Every object conceals another" – a message that I often relay in the studio when overdubbing starts)."

"Rationality is what we do to organize the world, to make it possible to predict. Art is the rehearsal for the inapplicability and failure of that process."

"As struggles go, being an artist isn't that much of one."

"Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable [sic] as it is interesting."

"At the party, Rob Partridge said to me, "You gave hope to other balding men." My new epitaph: "Co-wrote a couple of decent songs and went bald shamelessly.""

"I'm mortified to have to pay 50%! [While] I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are shit, and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [the album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."

"I love seeing Lady Gaga's boobs and bum. I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it. But that's not what my music is about. I don’t make music for eyes, I make music for ears."

"I don't really need to stand out, there's room for everyone. Although I haven't built a niche yet, I'm just writing love songs."

"I don't have any plans for new music, at all, I want a big break after this and I think I want to do other creative things, just for a little while."

"I don't like being famous. I love that I get to make music all the time."

"I have to wait for a feeling."

"If I get antsy, that's when I know I have to go to the studio, and I am the opposite of antsy right now."

"The guy whose movie it would be, he's not mentally ready to write the script for it."

"That's the only role I ever want," she said. "Because I think I'd nail it. I think I'd do really, really, really good at it."

"I haven't played in Europe since 2016! I couldn't think of a more wonderful way to spend my summer and end this beautiful phase of my life and career with shows closer to home during such an exciting summer."

"I actually have an ear infection, which is pretty grim. I've never had an ear infection before," she said. "It is the most painful thing that has ever, ever happened to me in my life — it was worse than childbirth."

"I am no longer in pain, which is great."

"No way I was missing the f------ show."

"I hadn't quite gotten the chance to get back to full health before shows resumed, and now I am sick again and unfortunately it's all taken a toll on my voice."

"I have 10 shows to do, but after that I will not see you for an incredibly long time, and I will hold you dear in my heart."

"It sounds obvious, but I think you only learn to love again when you fall in love again."

"I've never had a problem with the way I look. I'd rather have lunch with my friends than go to a gym."

"The bigger that your career gets, the smaller your life gets."

"I never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that."

"I can't be a product; no one can do that to me. I have all the say; I have power over everything I do."

"I'm a feminist. I believe that everyone should be treated the same, including race and sexuality."

"I'm just going to sing now because I want to, and I'll make records when I want to and not because someone is forcing me to do it. Not that anyone ever has. I'd fire them if they tried."

"I have insecurities of course, but I don't hang out with anyone who points them out to me."

"Should I give up, Or should I just keep chasing pavements? Even if it leads nowhere, Or would it be a waste? Even if I knew my place should I leave it there? Should I give up, Or should I just keep chasing pavements? Even if it leads nowhere."

"You say it's all in my head And the things I think just don't make sense So where you been then? Don't go all coy Don't turn it round on me like it's my fault See I can see that look in your eyes The one that shoots me each and every time. You grace me with your cold shoulder Whenever you look at me I wish I was her. You shower me with words made of knives Whenever you look at me I wish I was her."

"You said I'm stubborn and I never give in. I think you're stubborn 'cept you're always softening. You say I'm selfish, I agree with you on that. I think you're giving out way too much in fact. I say we've only known each other one year; You say I've known you longer my dear. You like to be so close, I like to be alone. I like to sit on chairs and you prefer the floor. Walking with each other, think we'll never match at all, but we do. But we do, but we do, but we do."

"Round my hometown, Memories are fresh. Round my hometown, Ooh the people I've met Are the wonders of my world."

"I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades I like it in the city when two worlds collide You get the people and the government Everybody taking different sides."

"There's a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever pitch, It’s bringing me out the dark Finally I can see you crystal clear Go head and sell me out And I'll lay your ship bare.See how I leave with every piece of you Don't underestimate the things that I will do."

"The scars of your love remind me of us They keep me thinking that we almost had it all. The scars of your love they leave me breathless. I can't help feeling We could have had it all. Rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside of your hand And you played it To the beat."

"Bless your soul, you've got you're head in the clouds, You made a fool out of you, And, boy, she's bringing you down, She made your heart melt, But you're cold to the core, Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore."

"I can't keep up with your turning tables Under your thumb, I can't breathe.I won't let you close enough to hurt me, no. I won't ask you, you to just desert me. I can't give you, what you think you gave me. It's time to say goodbye to turning tables."

"But I set fire to the rain, Watched it pour as I touched your face, Well it burnt while I cried, Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name! I set fire to the rain And I threw us into the flames Well it felt like something died Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time!"

"Never mind, I'll find someone like you, I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don't forget me, I beg. I remember you said, "Sometimes it lasts in love, But sometimes it hurts instead.""

"Hello from the other side, I must've called a thousand times To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done, But when I call, you never seem to be home. Hello from the outside. At least, I can say that I've tried To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart, But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore."

"Send my love to your new lover, Treat her better. We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts. We both know we ain't kids no more."

"Let me photograph you in this light In case it is the last time that we might Be exactly like we were before we realised We were sad of getting old, it made us restless. It was just like a movie, It was just like a song."

"If you're not the one for me, Then how come I can bring you to your knees? If you're not the one for me, Why do I hate the idea of being free? And if I'm not the one for you, You've gotta stop holding me the way you do. Oh honey, if I'm not the one for you, Why have we been through what we have been through?"

"If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently. Don't pretend that you don't want me. Our love ain't water under the bridge."

"I can't love you in the dark, It feels like we're oceans apart. There is so much space between us, Baby, we're already defeated. Ah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, everything changed me."

"I only wanted to have fun Learning to fly, learning to run. I let my heart decide the way When I was young Deep down, I must have always known That this would be inevitable To earn my stripes, I'd have to pay And bare my soul."

"If this is my last night with you, Hold me like I'm more than just a friend. Give me a memory I can use, Take me by the hand while we do What lovers do. It matters how this ends 'Cause what if I never love again?"

"There ain't no gold in this river That I've been washin' my hands in forever. I know there is hope in these waters, But I can't bring myself to swim When I am drowning in this silence, Baby, let me in.Go easy on me, baby. I was still a child. Didn't get the chance to Feel the world around me. I had no time to choose what I chose to do, So go easy on me."

"Oh, my God, I can't believe it. Out of all the people in the world, What is the likelihood of jumping Out of my life and into your arms? Maybe, baby, I'm just losing my mind, 'Cause this is trouble, but it feels right. Teetering on the edge of Heaven and Hell Is a battle that I cannot fight."

"The distance in form, intention, mood and expression between Schubert's songs for voice and piano and those of, say, Adele, is remarkably small."

"Dissent is a legitimate and essential right in any democracy and modern politicians must accept this fact with tolerance. A sense of proportion — and a sense of humour — is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness."

"Jung believed there was a large pattern to life, that it wasn't just chaos. Our song Synchronicity II is about two parallel events that aren't connected logically or causally, but symbolically."

"We are a parliamentary democracy; we don’t function by plebiscite. It’s dangerous. I don’t believe in referendums – Hitler and Mussolini organised referendums"

"I am the first male in the family not having had to shoot against another European"

"I know a great deal about Indian music and I have tried to understand its intricacies. I am aware how complex ragas are and how specific the rhythm is. I will spend the rest of my life discovering this wonderful India. I’ve become addicted to it."

"Democracy is under attack. It's under attack in every country in the world. It's in grave danger of being lost unless we defend it."

"The alternative to democracy is a nightmare, a prison, of the mind. That alternative is tyranny. All tyranny is based on a lie. The greater the tyranny, the bigger the lie."

"Disagree with the tyrant and you risk imprisonment, torture and death. Yet that is what we must do, all of us. We must protect our right to speak the truth."

"The war in the Ukraine is an absurdity, based upon a lie. If we swallow that lie, the lie will eat us. The lie is terrified of the truth."

"We must not lose this battle."

"With one breath, with one flow You will know Synchronicity A sleep trance, a dream dance, A shared romance Synchronicity A connecting principle Linked to the invisible Almost imperceptible Something inexpressible"

"If we share this nightmare Then we can dream Spiritus mundi If you act as you think The missing link Synchronicity"

"A star fall, a phone call It joins all Synchronicity It's so deep, it's so wide You're inside Synchronicity Effect without a cause Sub-atomic laws, scientific pause Synchronicity...."

"Mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration But we know all her suicides are fake Daddy only stares into the distance There's only so much more that he can take Many miles away something crawls from the slime At the bottom of a dark Scottish lake"

"Daddy grips the wheel and stares alone into the distance He knows that something somewhere has to break He sees the family home now, looming in his headlights The pain upstairs that makes his eyeballs ache Many miles away there's a shadow on the door Of a cottage on the shore Of a dark Scottish lake"

"And they say She's in the Class A Team. Stuck in her daydream, Been this way since 18. But lately her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting, Crumbling like pastries. And they scream The worst things in life come free to us. Cos we're just under the upperhand And go mad for a couple of grams. And she don't want to go outside tonight. And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland Or sells love to another man. It's too cold outside For angels to fly; Angels to fly."

"I wanna be drunk when I wake up On the right side of the wrong bed. And every excuse I made up Tell you the truth I hate. What didn't kill me, It never made me stronger at all."

"'Cause maybe you're loveable. Maybe you're my snowflake. And your eyes turn from green to gray. And in the winter I'll hold you in a cold place. And you should never cut your hair, 'Cause I love the way you flick it off your shoulder.And you will never know Just how beautiful you are to me. But maybe I'm just in love When you wake me up."

"You were just a Small Bump unborn, in Four months you're brought to life. You might be left with my hair, but you'll have your Mother's eyes. I'll hold your body in my hands be as gentle as I can, but for now you're a scan of my unmade plans. Small bump, four months you are brought to life."

"I'm gonna pick up the pieces, and build a Lego house. When things go wrong we can knock it down."

"I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind I'll do it all for you in time And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now."

"That's you now, hello, ciao. Seems that life is great now. See me lose focus, as I sing to you loud. I can't, no, I won't hush. I'll say the words that make you blush. I'm gonna sing this now. See, I'm true, my songs are where my heart is."

"Give me love, like her Cos lately I've been waking up alone. The pain splatters teardrops on my shirt. I told you I'd let them go."

"I had a heart then But the queen has been overthrown"

"We'll be raising our hands Shining up to the sky Cause we've got the fire fire fire And we gonna let it burn"

"Goodness gracious I can't seem to stop Calling it off Calling it off just to keep crawling to your arms"

"In America you watch TV and think that's totally unreal, then you step outside and it's just the same."

"'I’m getting paid 10p per copy of every album I’m selling and they’re (EMI) selling it for 15 quid. That’s outrageous but it’s quite typical."

"I layer myself in dirt because I want to be a child; I want to scream. Sometimes I'm unhappy with myself, so I want to look aesthetically unpleasing. At the end of tours I feel completely beaten and destroyed. I kick and scream and destroy myself. I cut myself—my legs are cut to shreds—and my chest. I get up and I shout. I truly feel it's like a purge."

"That was such a perfect childhood. Up until recently I thought I saw too much too young. But now I feel truly lucky. It showed me how nice life could be and how it should be better for every person."

"I get accused of many things, promoting pedophilia and stuff like that. I find that extraordinary. I dress myself like I would paint a picture. I try to use that to project how I feel inside. I'm a complete romantic as well, but within traditional romantic images you have so much blatant sexism. So it's all those contradiction mixed up. But that's OK. We should embrace all that instead of tearing each other apart for it. That's what I'm admitting to."

"Who's to say there'll be anyone here to remember me?"

"There are no answers."

"I know what turns me on, and it's that fine line, that point where you're falling off the edge of a cliff, where your stomach turns, [and] I'm always trying to find that point in music. You rarely hit it, and again, that's the joy of playing live, because there you can be just at that point where you've lost balance. I'm always walking between polarities, trying to find the opposing sides."

"You know, in a way touring is the most grounding thing you can do."

"There isn't anyone you meet that isn't absolutely peculiar. Everyone you meet is absolutely extraordinary. I've never met a human being that isn't, that doesn't have a fantastic story and is completely valid in their...you know, madness, really."

"I'm always trying to understand myself, but it's like there's a point in the centre of the room, and there's a hundred windows to look at the same point from. All I can do is give you different angles on the same thing. God, you know, if I could find one conclusive thing in anything I would probably have something to put an anchor down on. But I can't, and I haven't met anyone that can. You can pick out anything you like in my lyrics, I don't seek to be cryptic. I love words for the sake of words, for me they're kind of free standing, and they don't really need to be explained. I think every word has its own character and colour and picture and the result you get with lyrics just depends how you put them together."

"I think drugs can be a bit of a lazy way for creativity anyway, you're better off in the cold light of day in the mirror."

"I think taking the stage is one of the most unnatural things anyone can do. In a way, just walking on stage actually creates an altered state–it's not right, no one's meant to do that, unless you're a priest or a magician, or something like that. To put somebody who's very incapable in many ways in to that position creates a combustion reaction inside me. I know that, and I take the stage knowing that."

"I strain my voice doing bad work, [but] sometimes the impulse is too huge [and] I just have to."

"We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue, And then we'll take it higher."

"On media consideration to be a reluctant rock star: I'm not a reluctant rock star, I am not one at all. I haven't an ounce of rock star in me. [...] What I despise about the rock star lifestyle is the lack of music in it. The average day is spent travelling to hotels, giving interviews, being nice to people you're told to be nice to, and maybe if you're lucky you might squeeze a bit of music in. The musician's day is music. [...] I am in that unique little club, where I went into music because I love music, not because I wanted to be rich and famous. I've always knocked on the door of the musicians' room, not the rock stars' room. The British press refuses to see the difference between them, mainly because of the capers of people like Phil Collins, a musician who behaves like a rock star. But there are people who love music and have no interest in being a rock star at all."

"On working at La Passione (1996): Day one, the damage was done. All it was meant to be was one hour of a little boy’s dreams. And I had things I wanted to do with the guitar that hadn’t been done before. Like, there’s one number called "Olive Oil", where I was actually playing slide guitar in the same scale as a saxophone. [...] But then in came millions of executives from America. So in the end, it fell flat on its arse. And it came out the same week that Britpop took off. Blair had just won the election. Oasis. Spice Girls. So something a bit Fellini-ish – about a little boy who loved red cars – went straight over the top. It was like, ‘Well, don’t you have a 335 guitar with a Union Jack on it?’"

"On Charley Patton's voice and music style: I heard this fella, and his voice sounded like my voice. I’d always thought, ‘Well, I could never be a singer with this horrible voice’. I hated it. Absolutely hated it. Still do. But he sounded like the same kind of thing. I didn’t know black American terms: a boll weevil or turnpike blues. But there was an emotion that clicked with me. I became fascinated with gospel blues. I still play more gospel than Chicago. I very rarely go anywhere near that speed, aggression, Clapton thing. Someone once reviewed me, saying the testosterone was missing from my blues solos, because I don’t do Chicago. It’s just alien to me."

"On blues in the music industry: You say that word ‘blues’ to anybody in the business – and they fucking run a mile. It’s unbelievable. I had a lot of trouble with Road To Hell. We’d actually recorded the next album – Auberge – before, as an agreement with Warner Brothers. So if Road To Hell didn’t work – and they said it won’t – we would jump straight away to Auberge and forget about it. Of course, the beginning to Road To Hell is a gospel-blues thing. Warner Brothers went, ‘This is going to be over in five minutes’. But I did stand me ground, and it went No.1."

"On modern blues: Me and the modern blues scene, we have difficulty getting on. I sometimes get the feeling that it’s all sixth-form college: ‘Oh, you shouldn’t do that.’ A lot of modern blues is academic. It’s what someone else did. But the blues is one of the biggest examples of evolution. It’s in constant change. You can’t document it and say ‘stop’. It should be free. [...] And has become some kind of technical thing. I’m fed up now of seeing, ‘Oh, this guitarist is faster than that guitarist’ – that’s got nothing to do with the fucking blues. Then you get guys who come along like Allman’s nephew (Derek Trucks): now that’s good. Fuck me. That’s what blues should be: something you haven’t heard before. The other stuff can get a bit like... you know when you fart in the bath? These scales get so fucking fast. Musically, emotionally, it ceases to do anything."

"On his refusal of a set for MTV Unplugged: It’s one of the biggest career mistakes I’ve ever made. I’d be so much more wealthy, because of America. I was offered one of the first ones. But I saw Eric Clapton on it, and it reminded me of Pebble Mill At One. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want anything to do with this’. Because he’s like God to me. [...] So I turned it down. I should have had an older brother who said, ‘Fucking do it’."

"On his first Ferrari: Yeah. It was instant disappointment. (Pink Floyd drummer) Nick Mason said to me once, ‘Chris, do yourself a favour. Stop trying to make excuses about all this. You’re a sad bastard. It could have been heroin. But it’s red cars.’ And he was right. There was nowhere to drive the fucking thing. Y’know, you put it in your garage. You didn’t want anyone to know you had it. Then you take it out, and you couldn’t find anywhere you could do more than 40 miles an hour. I’m a competent driver. I’ve raced at Monza. But it’s a terrible thing. Blues guitar and motor racing bring out real testosterone in some guys."

"On his neglect of being a rock star: There’s a certain discipline about being a rock star, and I don’t have it. If I was a rock star, I wouldn’t have let a photographer in here, dressed like this. I’d have been down the hairdressers. You try and get Sting to do something without 15 advisors. These boys are like Russian princes..."

"On the disappearance of "rock star" hysteria surrounding him: I took it rather better than some of them I could tell you about, who had nervous breakdowns because they’re not the king any more. I found fame really annoying. Anything to do with ‘celebrity’, I just don’t get."

"On the rock stars: Rock stars don’t talk to each other. They’re too important to talk to another one. They’ve all got their own little palace, their own universe, of which they are the head. So how can they possibly go to somebody else’s universe? They can’t handle it. I will one day write the book that shows just how massive some of these egos are. Because I was a slow success, I was meeting people socially whose records I had at home, who were now talking to me on a what-strings-do-you-use level. And very few of them have not disappointed. [Pink Floyd’s] Dave Gilmour is the only one that [hasn’t disappointed]. That paints everyone else as a cunt. Which they are. But Gilmour is fabulous."

"On the artist, Charley Patton, who changed him: What happened was I was going out on a Saturday night, so I went into my mam’s bedroom, she’s got a double mirror, really kitsch 50s. So I’m in there, doing that, and she’s got an old alarm clock where the radio comes on, but she never learned how to do it properly. And it came on. [...] I remember it was ten past three in the afternoon and it was winter, it was getting dark, and it was when the BBC had just started doing Telstar live things from America. It was some station in Memphis - one of those classic names, ‘RK 51’ or whatever. [...] On it came and there’s this record. The satellite thing was a bit cloudy and it was a 78 record and there was compression on the radio, so it was this strange kind of musical blur with this voice coming through: Charley Patton. [...] On that night I told the bass player of one of the local bands that I’d heard this record and it sounded weird, it sounded like a violin. He said, ‘No, it’s not a violin, it’s a slide guitar.’ I thought, ‘What’s one of them?’"

"On the change of the original version of La Passione (1996) by Warner Vision: ...they thought it was a great idea and we started - and more and more people were turning up and I didn’t know who the fuck they were. ‘Oh, that’s Arty somebody, he’s from Warner Vision, he’s flown over from…’ and they’re all yapping away and none of them could get their heads round the idea that it wasn’t meant to be a story. [...] Anyway, egos went all over the place and I lost complete control of it and what I intended it to be hardly went in to the terrible, boring film. And the other thing that really hurt was I did three tracks - which sadly we lost - where, if something mischievous happened, the original idea was to bring in the slide guitar that would start playing a Count Basie routine. All that never happened, it was a shame. [...] They didn’t understand at all, especially the Americans, I mean… I got permission at Ferrari to have their place for a day and there was no film stock left - and I think that sums up the project."

"On his experience with streaming, illegal downloading: Every Christmas we got a nice little present off God, you know, with sales of The Best Of… and since it’s gone in to YouTube the shortfall is over 90 per cent because people don’t need to buy the record. They would but you’re offering them Driving Home For Christmas for 32p. [...] You see, I’m lucky - we did very well. I feel sorry for the young Chris Reas who aren’t pop stars but love music, but they don’t have anywhere to go with the music, you know? I mean Derek Trucks, it’s just criminal what’s happened to his potential sales because of what’s happened to the business."

"Fool if you think it's over 'Cause you said goodbye Fool if you think it's over I'll tell you why New born eyes always cry with pain At the first look at the mornin' sun Fool if you think it's over It's just begun"

"There's rain on my window But I'm thinking of you Tears on my pillow But I will come through Josephine I'll send you all my love And every single step, I'll take I'll take for you"

"Driving in my car I'm driving home for Christmas With a thousand memories I take look at the driver next to me He's just the same Just the same"

"Look out world take a good look What comes down here You must learn this lesson fast And learn it well This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway Oh no, this is the road to Hell"

"(to Liam) "No, don't be sorry [for yourself]."

"I'd make Liam my slave and I would make him be my (uh) personal trainer!"

"(on Ashley Tisdale) "You don't need a prince to be a princess.""

"Join us next week... where interviewer will be eating fruit off my naked body.."

"(on "I Don't Get Down Like That" the Swedish group Play pop song) "There comes a day when you realise turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realise there is so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.""

"(on "Someday My Prince Will Come" the Ashley Tisdale pop song) "Just because your prince hasn't come doesn't mean you're not a princess.""

"If people talk behind your back, it's because you're ahead of them."

"Before you judge someone else, judge yourself!"

"(if he's ever been in a 'romcom' or 'chick flick' before) "I think there’s a strength in expressing emotion. If you were a guy, you used to have to be really masculine, but now expressing emotion is accepted and respected.""

"(on his newest iPhone) "I'm scrolling and scrolling and I’m, like, 'I have to stop,' but I can’t, so I delete the app from my phone. And download it again the next day or whatever.""

"(his answer to 'do you have a twin sister?) "He’s quite influential, that Rodger. He’s done a couple of songs on the new album. He’s off fishing today.""

"And girl, you and I"

"Give me your body and let me love you like I do"

"I don't speak to him but his girlfriend is beautiful and I wish him well. We went through an experience together that was life-changing."

"I've known Zayn for a really long time, I think his voice is one of those that is really rare and I think he's really special and wonderful and it's really, really amazing to get to work together."

"No. We don't really do that. We feel that objectifies women and that's not really what we're about."

"Despite the company outside, I believe in equal rights for everyone. I think God loves all. Thanks for coming to the show though."

"Some of them are funny. Some of them are ridiculous. Some of them are annoying. I don't want to be one of those people that complains about the rumours. I never like it when a celebrity goes on Twitter and says, "This isn't true!" It is what it is, I tend not to do that."

"Does anybody like dolphins? Don’t go to SeaWorld."

"People in general, not just girls, but people who are younger are obviously extremely impressionable. And I do think it’s important. There's obviously a lot of different body images that are thrown around in society in general. Some things look like they’re more acceptable and some things are made to feel like they’re unacceptable. So, I think it’s very important that it empowers people in general. I think that anytime you can make someone who potentially might not feel as great about themselves as they should, feel better about themselves, I think that’s always a positive thing."

"Who's to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick."

"In writing songs about stuff like that, I like tipping a hat to the time together. You're celebrating the fact it was powerful and made you feel something, rather than 'this didn't work out, and that's bad.' And if you run into that person, maybe it's awkward, maybe you have to get drunk ... but you shared something. Meeting someone new, sharing those experiences, it's the best shit ever. So thank you."

"That doesn't feel like politics to me. Stuff like equality feels much more fundamental. I feel like everyone is equal."

"We have a choice, every single day that we wake up, of what we can put into the world, and I ask you to please choose love every single day."

"I didn’t grow up in a man’s man world. I grew up with my mum and my sister. But I definitely think in the last two years, I’ve become a lot more content with who I am. I think there’s so much masculinity in being vulnerable and allowing yourself to be feminine, and I’m very comfortable with that. Growing up you don’t even know what those things mean. You have this idea of what being masculine is and as you grow up and experience more of the world, you become more comfortable with who you are. Today it’s easier to embrace masculinity in so many different things. I definitely find – through music, writing, talking with friends and being open – that some of the times when I feel most confident is when I’m allowing myself to be vulnerable. It’s something that I definitely try and do."

"A real girl isn't perfect and a perfect girl isn't real."

"We never learn, we been here before Why are we always stuck and running from The bullets? The bullets?"

"We're not who we used to be We're not who we used to be We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat"

"She's driving me crazy, but I'm into it, but I'm into it I'm kinda into it It's getting crazy, I think I'm losing it, I think I'm losing it Oh, I think she said "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your, it's none of your""

"Brooklyn saw me, empty at the news There's no water inside this swimming pool Almost over, had enough from you And I've been praying, I never did before Understand I'm talking to the walls I've been praying ever since New York"

"DESCENDANTS OF SMITH: If we manage to get out the 'back door', the technology available in four million years may perhaps rival the twentieth century christian concept of 'judgement day'. Probably much sooner. Meanwhile, which one is Smith?"

"GARDEN OF URANIUM: I moved to a house in Lincolnshire. The government were threatening to dump "low level" nuclear waste about fifteen miles away. The plans were dropped a few months before the last general election. The proposals now seem to have resurfaced somewhere under the North Sea! (among other sites proposed since the election)"

"GOVERNMENT SURPLUS: Employment figures and history books are 'cooked'. Young people are manipulated. The status quo is maintained by an insidious mafiosi piping drugs to the unsuspecting by means of an ever expanding cycloptic media."

"PINCHES OF SALT: Are the humanoids pilling the chemistry into reactions they have no control over? Have the wolves of the universal law already started to blow the door down? Is the back door still open? Who the hell cares with a hundred billion freon - filled hair sprays still on sale? Who am I to ctiticise my own crisis?"

"STILL LIFE: The short British wintertime as seen from within my cocoon. Snow three feet deep in places. Icicles. The small ones outside fighting for survival. Dusk before four. Yellow light in the crisp still. A jackdaw's wing beat precisely preserved. An atmosphere."

"Led Zeppelin recorded the song Hats off to (Roy) Harper. (Led Zeppelin III, 1970)"

"And half the blasted idiots are stuck in Yugoslavia With hardly a Dinar And looking no cleaner Than a Chinese wrestler's jock-strap Cooked in chip fat On a greasy day"

"And you know what? I don't think this little song's gonna make the charts"

"I'm sorry that you thought of us as painful and superfluous But please don't think I'm that thick skinned to want my seed in any old wind I can't believe we'll just exist as figments of each others past Where is it at to get to this, when lawyers lurk where lovers kissed?"

"Watford Gap, Watford Gap A plate of grease and a load of crap"

"One of those days in England with a sword in every pond And birds in every garden in the land"

"You ask what is the quality of life Seeking to justify the part you play And mask, what seems a worthless fate"

"A thought struck me: if my new album sounds this good on a walkman, what would sound like? A mere two years later I bought one and found out. However, on a train, a few years later still, I had negative eating a bacon sandwich and listening to a solo Ferry album, which turned me vegetarian."

"To find out where the origin of symmetry is would be to find out if God exists."

"What I know of this world is what my senses have told me."

"Often we'll verge on embarrassing territory, a certain over-the-topness. But maybe that's just trying to unveil something that's inside all of us."

"Offending people is better than no reaction at all."

"The differential between the bubble we live in — which is ‘ordinary life’ — and the reality out there is almost as heavy as what is being depicted in a film like ‘the Matrix’. It could make you puke to make that step towards finding out what’s really going on."

"You could be my unintended choice To live my life extended. You could be the one I'll always love. You could be the one who listens To my deepest inquisitions. You could be the one I'll always love."

"Musical genius Matthew Bellamy — Freddie Mercury meets Kurt Cobain meets Thom Yorke…and a hell of a nice and humble guy."

"I think Muse won because Matt Bellamy is a guitar hero for the 21st century. He's genuinely innovative, a real creative type who comes up with unique guitar parts."

"I used to dress up like Michael Jackson. I didn’t have the glove, but I had a red jacket like in Thriller."

"It's silly to call me the new Ed Sheeran. He can fill stadiums as a solo artist, but I'm not like that."

"When you make a certain sound and look your thing, it makes it all the more impactful to drop that and start with a new thing. So I cut my hair off and lost the hat. It felt only natural to me to tear that canvas down and put a new one up."

"Hold back the river Let me look in your eyes Hold back the river So I can stop for a minute and see where you hide Hold back the river, hold back"

"Now we're sleeping near the edge Holding something we don't need All this delusion in our heads Is gonna bring us to our knees So come on, let it go Just let it be Why don't you be you And I'll be me?"

"I wanna give you wild love The kind that never slows down I wanna take you high up Let our hearts be the only sound"

"Tell me how to be in this world Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt Tell me how 'cause I believe in something I believe in us"

"I know what you told me I know that it's all over And I know I can't keep calling Just every time I run I keep on falling on you"

"And I wanna kiss you, make you feel alright I'm just so tired to share my nights I wanna cry and I wanna love But all my tears have been used up On another love, another love All my tears have been used up"

"'Cause it's not right I'm magnetised To somebody that don't feel it Love paralyzed She's never gonna need me But sure as the world keeps the moon in the sky She'll keep me hanging on"

"I never believed from the day that I met you A loser like me could ever get you When we go out I hear people saying "What's that beautiful girl doing with him?""

"You should look at your reflection If you wanna see a lie You're heading in the right direction If you wanna pick a side Give me more perfection if you wanna see me cry Oh if you wanna love somebody I'm your guy"

"I'd like to say that maybe we could work it out But I know that it's no use If I ever find anyone half as good as you I think maybe that will do"

"People resent change, I think in some ways, but they forget that they've changed too. I think most of us changed for the better rather than the worst."

"I didn't invent an image. It just sorta grew on me, like a fungus or whatever it is. It was an extension of me. Well: I did say at seventeen, "I'm going to invent Dusty Springfield", but it was an extension of Mary O'Brien, convent schoolgirl. And I think that's what [Sheena]'s probably got, and there are too many people flashing around, saying "You gotta develop an image, kid!" I think that you know, singing and songs are the things that are the most important thing. An image comes when you present yourself to the public. And the public really kind of accepts you or they don't accept you. Trying to invent something that's not natural to you will be a disaster."

"Many other people say I'm bent, and I've heard it so many times that I've almost learned to accept it ... I know I'm perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don't see why I shouldn't."

"I'm glad to see that royality isn't confined to the box."

"The magic of my situation with Johnny Franz was that he allowed me the freedom to follow my enthusiasm. He’d sit in the control room while I’d go out and scowl at the musicians. It was very difficult for them because they’d never heard this stuff before. I’m asking somebody with a stand-up bass to play Motown bass-lines, and it was a shock. The ones who thought I was a cow I didn’t work with again. The ones who wanted to learn with me, they had the greatest time. Johnny had played piano for Anne Shelton, and had perfect pitch. Bless his heart, he’d sit there and read Popular Mechanics. But he had good ears, he’d suddenly look up from Popular Mechanics and go, E flat! I never took the producer’s credit for two reasons. For one, he deserved it and I was grateful. And then there was the calculating part of me that that thought it looked too slick for me to produce and sing. Because women didn’t do that. And there remains in the British audience, though less so, that attitude of ‘Don’t get too slick on us. Don’t be too smart or we won’t love you.’ And I wanted to be loved."

"Irishness is a state of mind rather than a geographic thing. I’m not English. My name is O’Brien and I’m glad it is. I’ve got nothing against the English and I’m glad I was born here. But I’m glad my mother came from Kerry and I’m glad my name is Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien and I can weep at Riverdance on TV, and it makes me laugh."

"It was that I felt that I'd done as much as I could do there [in England]. I didn't know what direction I could go, apart from across the sea."

"I was ready to work; what I couldn't was the right producer. I had considered various people like the people who do Randy Newman and talked to Ted Templeman who was doing Carly Simon at that time. Again, availability. I wasn't at the right place and right time. They were busy. And the thought of Roy was very strange, I mean, it was a bizarre combination. But I didn't know; I think a lot of people don't know what a very broad musical background he does have; He started out at Decca in the classical department and sort of regressed through Frank Chacksfield and Mantovani, passed through that into pop music and really got into heavy stuff; into rock. But I didn't know he had that background and it was nice. He has incredibly good judgments."

"Things have changed, sound systems now work - on occasion. Various things are made easier in some ways for the artists. All the things I used to want to do and get right, and became known as being difficult cause I wanted them... they are now part of a parcel of a tour, and it will be a delight to work under that system."

"...when, oh, when I see your face, yeah And, oh, when I'm in your warm embrace I know for sure our love is something special"

"Now, when you pass my way I guess I'll smile and say To think that boy was mine Once upon a time"

"...If I had to pick one artist who, song after song, always touched something deep inside me, it would be Dusty. I loved her work from the moment I heard I Only Want to Be with You in 1963, her first major hit. The sound was different from anything I had heard before - it made a visceral connection."

"Dusty sings around her material, creating music that's evocative rather than overwhelming ... Dusty is not searching – she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it."

"Going to Glastonbury is so clichéd isn’t it...I’ve seen it with groups once they get a scent of fame. He’s been waiting 25 years for it. He’s got aftershave on. It’s like Ed Sheeran. I think Sheeran and Corbyn are evil twins. See Corbyn in Europe the other day? He’s started wearing what they’ve asked him to. He’s like ‘oh it’s my first hit record’. He’s turned into Rod Stewart."

"He's a twat"

"Soft lads who blab"

"There was always privilege in music, it was always like that, but nowadays you don’t have a chance in hell. Why Blunt would talk about it I don’t know but that’s what I’m saying. He’s looked at them cutting the army back, he’s in a tank and he’s gone to Daddy, ‘What shall I do?’ In the past it would have been ‘stick at it’, now his Dad is telling him to be a jazz singer. Imagine him as a tank commander, I’d shit myself."

"We were playing a festival in Dublin the other week. There was this other group like, warming up in the next sort of chalet, and they were terrible. I said 'shut them cunts up' and they were still warming up, so I threw a bottle at them. The bands said 'that's the Sons of Mumford' or something, 'they're number five in charts!' I just thought they were a load of retarded Irish folk singers."

"Haha! I mean, if you’re new to The Fall… a lot of these groups… I don’t know what it is. I think a lot of these group use it to sound a bit hip. When I was a teenager, people used to say 'oh well this group sounds a lot like this group', and then when you go and see them they sound like a pack of shit. They sound like the Talking Heads to me, and I’m not knocking them, it’s just misleading."

"Brooklyn Vegan, 26 June 2006"

"Dickheads who couldn’t hold their beer and needed to get home to Cheshire"

"I’m much more left now, though. I think Stalin had the right idea. Take one out of five fucking newspaper editors, and MPs, and shoot them. Then they’d buck up."

"The last time it happened to me it was because by mistake I blundered into a pub next to a Pixies concert in the summer. Fucking hell. I was just walking down and I was going to meet a fella about some business and I wanted a nice empty pub. I got to the pub and it was fucking jam-packed with all these Pixies fans who wanted selfies. I am totally oblivious to these things but it turns out the Pixies cover one of our songs. I never liked the Pixies but all these fans wanted pictures. It’s just fucking weird."

"I was in Cardiff recently. You should see the shops there. They’re fantastic. I had this breakfast in Cardiff; I could have eaten it every day. All the food was great. Manchester – the food, the shops – has always been crap."

"Hey there, fuck-face!"

"Tolerance is not a virtue"

"I literally left school and went straight into music via art college for a year, and I've been so involved in my job of writing songs that the more actively involved part became channelled into standing on the stage and saying things that way. It's only now that it's come full circle and I'm using my voice again in a way that's tying everything together."

"I'm probably much more influenced by film-makers and painters than I am by other songwriters or poets…With songs I almost see the images, see the action, and then all I have to do is describe it. It's almost like watching a scene from a film, and that's what I go about trying to catch in a song."

"…I'm always looking for extremes in things. That's what I try to do in my music, push something as far as you can take it. Until it becomes almost unacceptable."

"Even when I feel really happy, it's never enough. The only way it seems that I can reach 'enough' is through music. I've never found a relationship that is 'enough'. Sometimes when I do feel really happy, I write some of the most horrible songs! It doesn't stop my songwriting at all, I don't need to be tortured and angst-ridden to write."

"LET ENGLAND SHAKE:"

"THE LAST LIVING ROSE:"

"Obviously we're English middle-class chaps - there's not much voodoo chile about us."

"It is actually, in a way, an incredibly mundane experience. Not everyone has a heart attack but everyone has something or other, so I'm not remotely special. Just because I write songs doesn't make it a better or worse near-death experience."

"Re-awakening isn't easy when you're tired. Don't push me: I was taught self-expression when I was a child"

"The streets seemed very crowded, I put on my bravest guise I know you know that I am acting, I can see it in your eyes."

"These words are not enough to save my soul, they just mock me from the mirror."

"She's here now, perfume coiled like a thuggee scarf"

"If we were always here and now, electric shiver in the spine, how could we turn away, see life as grey and drab? How come we don't see what we have?"

"Ha! It's poetry in motion. She turned her tender eyes to me, As deep as any ocean, As sweet as any harmony. Mm, but she blinded me with science (She blinded me with science!) And failed me in biology, yeah."

"The Earth can be any shape you want it any shape at all Dark and cold or bright and warm long or thin or small If love is all you're missing look into your heart: Is anybody home? There are stones buried in your soul In time you'll come to understand this flat old Earth is in your gentle hands"

"I scare myself just thinking about you I scare myself when I'm without you I scare myself, the moment that you're gone I scare myself when I let my thoughts run But it's oh so very different when we're together And I'm so, so, so much calmer, I feel better 'Cause the stars already crossed our paths forever And the sooner that we realize it, the better And then I'll be with you and I won't scare myself And I'll know what to do and I won't scare myself And my thoughts will run and I won't scare myself And I'll think of you and I won't scare myself"

"Some people sing love songs Everybody's got one This isn't my love song It's more like my love-gone-wrong song She came to breakfast And stayed a week But the lie detectors Broke down each time she tried to speak Broke down when she said: "You came close Close but no cigar You didn't miss by far You know you came this close Close but no cigar." I remember, I remember, I remember The promise in your eyes As black as the night I drove you to the airport And I remember, I remember, I remember The wide Brazilian sky that swallowed you Then I hit thirty Guess I can't complain But I must have been lonely The night I bumped into Lorraine She came for coffee And stayed all night But the lie detectors Broke down every time I tried to smile Broke down like the story of my life And each dream I missed by half a mile Broke down when I told her: "You came close Close but no cigar You didn't miss by far You know you came this close Close but no cigar.""

"It’s like when footballers run underwater in water tanks…There’s a high pressure against your body. If you can run fast in a water tank, when they take you out of the water, you can run way faster because there’s less pressure. I used to go on to radio sets and be spraying so fast, people would be like, ‘How are you doing that?’"

"I never felt like I was in the grime scene…I was the outsider. So when I veered away from it, I didn’t feel like I was leaving the circle – I felt like I was never in it…No one paid me any attention…I had to do everything on my own."

"I feel like I was more accepted by the white community than the black [one]. A lot of the time, the black kids would be like, ‘Oh, ’cause you lighter, you’re not as “gang” as us. That’s really the attitude they have. It made me misbehave more because I felt like I had to prove a point."

"If a woman [has] shared her body with me, why can I not speak of my experience?...It’s not me casting a judgment on someone, it’s something that has happened. You can rap about whatever the hell you wanna rap about – that’s why we’re rappers. You can have an opinion against it but you can’t tell me not to do it. At the end of the day, that’s the way it is."

"There is no nurturing of talent [in the music industry]. No one wants artists to grow and develop. Everyone is afraid of being fired and they didn't move with the digital age. The music industry had the power to move with the digital age, but they didn't do it and it was the biggest mistake they ever made. It fucked them really bad. And they waste so much money! It's ridiculous, they don't use it wisely. There are a lot of uncreative people in a creative industry. Most of them want to keep their jobs and don't know how to be innovative."

"My advice to a young artist is don't sign a deal. Know that there are other options out there. Because the power is taken away from you. I was 18 when I signed my record deal and it was all these older men who didn't give a fuck about my mental health and they worked me like a donkey. They're always happy to take the money, but when I experimented and changed direction musically – which every artist should be able to do – I was dropped immediately. But they're still happy to collect the cash from my first record now."

"'Females of all description' is not a music genre. It's sexist. [There would] never be a 'males of all description' section because the rest of the shop and all other music genres are considered male. Female is not a genre. Don't categorise my sex."

"The production of farming all animals is damaging the planet. The feed and grain that these animals consume, the toxins that come from farming, what it's doing to the land and the air, how we're messing with these animals' natural habitats, behaviors, patterns, their health and ecosystems. My favourite thing about being vegan is honestly that it's the most kind way to live. It gives me a sense of peace and self-worth. I feel like everything is better for me mentally. Physically I feel stronger and cleaner inside, with no hormones and toxins of a living thing being processed by my body. I feel so healthy. More focused and energized."

"Real sexiness is about confidence, intelligence, mystery, art and passion."

"I would never say "I'm straight, I'm bisexual, I'm gay". I feel like I will fall in love with a human being for who they are. I'm not afraid to say I've been attracted to a woman before and I've kissed girls before and been in love with them before. I've never really had a girlfriend or anything and I would never say I'm anything, really. I don't have an identity in that way."

"Vegetarians are hotter than meat-eaters."

"When I saw how animals are tortured on factory farms, I couldn't justify being a part of that cruelty. I thought, "Imagine if that were me". Straight away, I said, "That's it – I'm going vegetarian"."

"I have been vegetarian for almost 15 years now, and I made the transition to being vegan slowly about 5 years ago. … Hate mushrooms? Prepare to fall in love with them. always freaked you out? You ain’t cooking it right then. One of the best things about being vegan is how much you come to appreciate food … it's just about opening up your palette and trying new things. Once you get into it, you won't go back."

"I'm all lost in the supermarket I can no longer shop happily I came in here for that special offer A guaranteed personality"

"He was just there, looking fantastic... the bastard."

"“Never fancied him anyway,” I’d write when a boy dumped me. I’d leave out things that had gone wrong, or been difficult. I think it was partly an exercise in defiance, a refusal to be defeated by life’s adversities. So in that sense, my diary was a bit of a self-help manual, written by me, for me."

"So often the story of rock’n’roll is told from a male perspective. So often it feels like men own music. And I still get as angry and frustrated about that as I ever did. Reading those women’s accounts of their lives has reminded me how much they paved the way back then. And history too often erases the women, in all art forms. Every single published story of a female artist goes a small way towards redressing the balance, and is another one saved from the fire.I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer – no category…My music is my expression of what I feel and believe in a moment."

"I feel very lucky to still feel like I’m full of ideas. I think sometimes being in the beginning or the middle of things is almost the best bit. This sounds terrible, because it sounds so ungrateful, but I’m never as excited by the aftermath of things: whether or not they are successful. It’s lovely if they are, obviously, but actually the really exciting bit is when it’s an idea in your head and you’re getting working on it."

"It turned into a creature with a life of its own.There was nothing we were doing to make it happen. We couldn’t recreate it because we never really understood how it happened. People decided they were all going to play it, and you feel like it’s disconnected from you. All we could do was stand back and take the congratulations that came."

"Everything that I do is very autobiographical. I’m trying to be as much of an open book as possible and give the audience every single piece of me."

"The music industry as a whole just needs more women. There are a lot of men at the top of the ranks."

"Feminism to me is not man-hating, it’s just being like "we deserve the same opportunities". “You hear so much about all these strong important men who have changed the world, even in history and the story of mankind, somehow the fucking story starts with: ‘Well, the man did this.’"

"When the night's here, I don't do tears Baby, no chance I could dance, I could dance, I could dance Watch me dance, dance the night away My heart could be burnin', but you won't see it on my face Watch me dance, dance the night away I'll still keep the party runnin', not one hair out of place."

"As we commemorate 75 years since Victory in Europe, we must all remember the brave boys and what they sacrificed for us … they left their families and homes to fight for our freedom, and many lost their lives trying to protect us and our liberties. This year, we must commemorate this special anniversary apart. I hope that VE Day will remind us all that hope remains even in the most difficult of times and that simple acts of bravery and sacrifice still define our nation as the NHS works so hard to care for us. Most of all, I hope today serves as a reminder that however hard things get, we will meet again."

"I am so sad to hear of her passing but at the same time so glad to have met her and experienced first-hand her warm, fun-loving personality. Her voice will sing in my heart forever."

"I only arrived in the world in 1988, by which point you were already seeing many of the great things happen and by the time I started going clubbing it was all about jungle It was great fun, but a hostile environment. It wasn’t a place for a gangly, 6-foot-5-inch, mousy-haired, scarf-wearing twat like myself. More a place go and do shed loads of cocaine and try and start a fight. But I loved the sound system. The culture of taking sound systems around really interested me, and when dubstep broke, that was it."

"I would be spooning my 6'8" boyfriend. I'm the big spoon, obviously. He'll love that I said that."

"I've never felt the need to tell anyone that I'm bisexual. I don't feel like I am. I just feel like I'm attracted to who I like. I honestly feel like everyone is like that."

"What I want to do in life is make people happy. Every day I wake up and say, ‘I’m going to make people smile."

"Who the hell even asked for 5G????? Whatever you do. DO NOT GET 5G"

"Haven't I made it obvious? Haven't I made it clear? Want me to spell it out for you? F-R-I-E-N-D-S Haven't I made it obvious? Haven't I made it clear? Want me to spell it out for you? F-R-I-E-N-D-S F-R-I-E-N-D-S"

"Dancing on the hood in the middle of the woods On an old Mustang, where we sang Songs with all our childhood friends And it went like this, say Oops, I got 99 problems singing bye, bye, bye Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me Better hit me, baby, one more time, uh Paint a picture for you and me On the days when we were young, uh Singing at the top of both our lungs"

"I say, "Can we just get on and not be mean to each other?" But I feel compelled to be mean to the wokies."

"[On his vote in the 2017 general election.] I voted for "Magic Grandpa" Jeremy Corbyn last time, but then I realised he was an anti-semitic old Marxist."

"[Undecided on his vote for then forthcoming 2019 general election because of their "hate-speech laws".] You’re the Conservative Party, the clue's in the word! I would vote for a conservative party, but not this one."

"I should probably say only correct things, but I have a sneaking suspicion if everybody does that, the world’s going to die of boredom. The world needs a fool — not that I think I’m a fool. Though some may disagree."

"You know, even in 1917 they've done it with a Sikh soldier, which is great. I mean, it's brilliant, but you're suddenly aware. It's like, "there were Sikhs fighting in the this war," and you're like, "OK, you're now diverting me away from a story of what the story is..." It is kind of racist, if there is racism. If you're talking about institutional racism, which is what everyone loves to go on about - which I'm not a believer in, you know - there is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way."

"It's so easy to throw the charge of racism at everybody and it's really starting to get boring now."

"I've encountered racism from black people towards me, when I was working in Kenya for seven months. It’s the way you’re spoken to — racism can be deferential."

"I personally think it's a dreadful idea that Holocaust denial is, you know, a crime in various places because how are you going to give someone an opportunity to air their ridiculous views, without evidence, without giving someone else the opportunity to correct them?"

"Success is standing. Success is getting to the end and not losing my mind."

"[After his Question Time appearance] Suddenly, I was denounced by the whole of showbiz. I thought, Oh, it’ll be alright. But it wasn't. It just got worse and worse."

"My agent was like, "I’ll stand by you, darling ... Get out!""

"It's grim [...] but with it comes an incredible feeling of liberation. You think I can say anything because I'm not going to lose my job, because I've already lost my job. So now I can resist this disgusting religion of wokery. I'm going to resist it with all of my heart."

"[On being expelled from Harrow for having sex at the sixth-form dance with twins] My choice of venue for said escapade could have been better ["Middle of the dance floor on a bar stool"]. My ancient housemaster turned to me and said, "Your penis was visible." Those were our final words."

"Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever, ever, who wasn't an incel. That cucked little woman has been fed, spoon-fed, oppression, day after day after day after day. We need powerful, strong amazing women who make great points for themselves. We don’t need this sort of feminist 4.0. They're pathetic and embarrassing. Who'd want to shag that?"

"First of all, don’t take a pop at Dan Wootton for something I said. That’s not fair. Secondly. I stand by every word of what I said."

"It's called free speech. I realise that the new woke world is low on laughter and high on offence, but it's still worth trying to find the lighter moments in this joyless new cancel culture which has been created for us."

"So you keep trying to cancel away in your state of permanent offence, I've been cancelled already and may well be again, but I don't care one bit, and I will keep defending my right to have an opinion on issues which concern me. Without free speech and the presumption of innocence we are not free. We aren't quite communist Eastern Europe yet. We may very close, but not quite there. It's still worth fighting for. So if you are expecting a grovelling apology, I suggest you don't hold your breath. I won't ever apologise to the mob."

"If I was going to be sensible and I could replay it, I would say: "Any self-respecting man in 2023 would probably be well advised to avoid a woman who possessed that worldview because she would probably cause him nothing but harm." But what I did say was, you know: "I wouldn't shag that," and all that sort of stuff, which is not right. It's demeaning to her, to Ava, so I'm sorry for demeaning you in that way, however angry I am with you still for doing that, and it demeans me because it's not representative of who I am."

"Just completed my GB News show trial. I mean disciplinary hearing. I think the rules are that I can't speak freely about it. Which is totally on brand. For the home of free speech."

"Remember. It's OK to encourage acid attacks on Nigel Farage. It's OK to wish Boris Johnson died of Covid. It's OK to want white people dead. As long as it's on the @BBC or the propaganda media. It’s not OK to not want to shag someone. We must protect the "broadcast ecology" for Adam Boulton at all costs."

"Where are you in the menstrual cycle? Taurus."

"[Asked if she ever had childhood holidays in Blackpool] No. What do you take me for? We used to go to Vienna."

"We'd like to apologise to our viewers in the North - it must be awful for you."

"Sometimes I think that being widowed is God's way of telling you to come off the pill."

"[Song]] Not bleakly, Not meekly Beat me on the bottom with the Woman's Weekly Let's do it, let's do it tonight!"

"I was just thinking as Alan [Bennett] and I walked up the steps, how nice it would have been if one of us had come up in a stairlift."

"[On a difficult relationship with her mother, Helen] If she'd only gone out to work, we would all have been a lot happier. Being in the house drove her mad. She hated housework, cooking. She'd go into the garden and chop down trees. She was full of energy and batting against the walls with it. And this gave me a real sense that you had to have your own life. It's ridiculous to stay at home with your children if it drives you nuts. Children would much rather see a happy, smiley person come back."

"[Asked if being interviewed is a form of torture for her] No, people always think I hate doing interviews. I don't. I wouldn't do them if I didn't like them. I have to say that at the start of every interview."

"[On remaining unattached after a divorce] Well, I think there's not much of a chance for me finding somebody of my age. Gentlemen of my age are dropping down 30 years to find girlfriends. [Informed: "That's not always the case."] You're right. I need to get out of the house."

"The Italians have got opera, the Spanish have got flamenco dancing. What have we got? Weight Watchers."

"People think I hate sex. I don’t. I just don’t like things that stop you seeing the television properly."

"I once went to one of those parties where everyone throws their car keys into the middle of the room. I don’t know who got my moped but I’ve been driving that Peugeot for years."

"When you're in the middle of having a baby, it's a bit like watching two very inefficient removal men, trying to get a very large sofa through a very small doorway. Only in this case you can't say, "Oh sod it, bring it through the French windows"."

"I don’t say 'who'. I do say 'whom'. I never use the toilet, just the smallest room. I don't say gay. I still say queer. I think that Mussolini had the right idea."

"I was researching Mrs Brown’s Boys and found that, with music hall, Laurel and Hardy, Les Dawson, Dick Emery and so on, more men had played working-class women in British comedy than women. [...] That's up until Victoria Wood. She almost single-handedly changed that. She and Billy Connolly essentially prepared the way for alternative comedy and the rise of the stand-up — bridging the gap between the working men's clubs and the comedy clubs. Before her, funny women were from a rarefied sphere like Joyce Grenfell. Wood spoke the way real people spoke and she was hugely successful. She made it possible for Tracey Ullman, even Peter Kay, to think a career was possible."

"Been alone so long that I've forgotten what to do how to make the whole thing right and how to help if she's uptight and when to run and when to fight... how to make her stay the night - that's if I ever knew."

"Four pails of water and a bagful of salts. That is all we are, that is all a man comprises, chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost - nothing so bizarre. No amount of faith disguises what is true is what we fear the most"

"I scribble on oak trees Pretty please you can sing my syllables credible My cordon bleu sonnets you just wishing they edible"

"You can't rap, my friend You're white and you're from Fulham Please put down the mic there's no way you can fool them Don't be stupid, you won't get that far Turn your back on hip-hop, bruv, and go and play guitar"

"It's worse by the day now, every time I lay down words come alive in my head and they play loud It's like they can't find a way out Wanna pull the plug on their party, it's starting to worry me, can't get to sleep when I wanna do How would you feel if your lyrics just followed you everywhere you went from the street to the bed and repeated through the night everything you said Tried so many things, pen and a pad by the side of my bed but it's sending me mad Every time I recline, I decline to opine but there's always a rhyme at the back of my mind... Sentences now they form in queues... And my mind won't stop cos I always gotta finish it"

"First we made the wheel Then we made the car Then we made the bomb Now it's all gone wrong"

"She's electric, she's the current running through my veins She's a siren, hearing voices that I can't explain Now I should be thinking it over Instead I'm calling her over Now she's here and she won't go quietly I should be thinking it over Instead I'm calling her over Now she's here but she won't go quietly"

"I don't know why it happened so fast When I tried to speak your language I'm happy you laughed 'cause I'm hardly a linguist spoke through kisses cos you didn't speak English and it was hard to distinguish love at first sight or holiday romance? Don't care, I was lost in the moment I really should'a missed that flight"

"Two lives, living two lives I don't know which side of me is where the truth lies I'm living two lives, living two lives I got two sides of me try'n'a do right I got one on each shoulder both saying "I told ya" One is saying "Go" and the other's saying "No, no, no.""

"Start to think it could be fizzling out Kinda shocked because I never really had any doubts Look into your eyes, imagine life without ya And the love kick starts again"

"Time might fly girls may cry lights may die but the skies don't lie It'll all make perfect sense if you follow me Come follow me now"

"If we don't kill ourselves, we'll be the leaders of a messed up generation If we don't kid ourselves, will they believe us if we tell them the reasons why? Did we take it too far (take it too far)? Did we chase the rabbit into Wonderland, lose a hundred grand, Will they understand it was all to stay awake for the longest"

"I've never been afraid of the highest heights or afraid of flying now I've never been afraid of the wildest fights not afraid of dying But now I want off this ride cos you're scaring me and I don't like where we're going I need a new funfair cos you're scaring me and I don't like where we're going And now you're gonna miss me, I know you're gonna miss me I guarantee you'll miss me Cos you changed the way you kiss me"

"Cos we're starving We're hungry for more of the good stuff Thirsty for more of the bad stuff When you gonna show us the way?"

"Need to tell myself I don't care Need to tell myself you're not there Need some air, need some space Need some air The way I'm feeling I just don't care. This is Starship Trooper living on a whole other planet Reboot computer"

"I gotta get out of this habit we're in The weekend comes and we're at it again Sayin' it won't but it's happened again, slackin' I worship the ground you walk on but you're dragging me down We never had a day go by we were sober Sittin' in a cold room wide awake And now I've gotta say goodbye to the sofa See, I gotta go, can't hide away"

"Throw your stones (Wo-oh-oh-ohhh) We can hold our own (Wo-oh-oh-ohhh) I don't need no microphone"

"I got someone waiting at home for me staring out the door and I'll wanna stay in the zone till three all those calls ignored tomorrow she'll probably disown me happy no more keep falling into shadows. I'm playing in the shadows all night long So good to play with bad girls (I'm still young) They keep on saying hello I know what they want You'll find me in the shadows"

"If we're meant to be together, change the way you see the weather Live for now, forget forever"

"And I love being under the influence, under the influence of you And your voice sounds like it's an instrument Everything you say rings true"

"A song in my head and it won't leave me alone, I should have followed my friends, by now they're probably at home all warm and tucked up in bed Instead I'm stumbling home on my own with no charge on my phone in the east end of London"

"Maybe we should take another roll of the dice Can't believe we both let it fade away I want to stay for another day If you want to save us, give me a signal, anything will do"

"And I'm happy to admit that I lied and I'll admit that I ruined you're life You could never admit if you tried and you're so wrong, and you're so wrong And I'm happy to admit that I lied and I'll admit that I ruined you're life You could never admit if you tried that you're so wrong Until you stop lying to yourself I'll never stop lying to you And until I stop crying to myself, I'll never cry in front of you I'll fight the tallest giants and break the rules of science But I'll never stop lying to you and I've never said a word so true"

"I'm missing my halo Where did today go? Why does it rain so much when it says so? Let me show you all the beautiful things What do they know? Come taste the rainbow Always gonna live like it's my last day"

"There's light at the end of the tunnel There's fight at the heart of a struggle Your smile should've told me you're trouble No more, no more, no more You owned me when I told you I love you you buried all my worth with a shovel Your smile should've told me you're trouble No more, no more, no more No more goodbyes (So long, so long, so long now) No more white lies You used to be the one true thing in my world You told me that you loved me. You're in love with yourself Shoulda listen to my mother You messed around the others now you're dead to me I've been sleeping with the enemy"

"Wash the kisses off my neck and lock my past in the basement I've found your perfect replacement I've found something, never need your nothing again I've found something, never need your nothing again I've found something, never need your nothing again I've found something, never need your nothing again"

"Don't speak Don't speak no more Cos your eyes do the talking Don't speak Don't speak no more Cos your eyes do the talking You don't have to say nothing Say nothing Cos your eyes do the talking"

"Everything I promised you was there but I was late. Broke in two I used to blame the substance So confused but I carry no substance Lost in a cave like Sons of Mumford Kept moaning zoning in the comfort Now I blame myself Went downhill just to up my numbers You only need one, what's the point of hundreds? And I never did ask. (You said the answer would be "Yes".) I killed us, had tools to build us a castle but I never played chess Bad guess, made the wrong move Queen takes King, now I've been removed: out the back door like a famous actor Cut us in half like stupid tax laws"

"I gave up one day Such a stop one day I would stop one day, I was fallen I wake up one day, give a fuck one day I'm in love 'cause I hear you calling Nothing I can say to make you understand I guess I just have to call it The Evolution of Man The Evolution of Man The Evolution of Man It's better better It's better better It's better better that you didn't know the truth I'm getting better I'm getting better I'm living bigger"

"Lately, I'm shedding my snakeskin You know I've been changing for you lately It's time to make a fresh start It's time to make a fresh start"

"Impossible's possible I know 'cause I lost it all I know the price of my ego It's lethal I still got the hots for you"

"Standing in the light till it's over, out of our minds Someone had to draw a line We'll be coming back for you one day We'll be coming back for you one day"

"You don't have to whisper You don't have to whisper no more Just scream and we'll take you to heaven Scream and we'll light up the world If we can make the whole world hear us then I can see the whole world changing I wanna make the whole world hear us Would that be so crazy? If we can make the whole world hear us then I can see the whole world changing I wanna make the whole world hear us Would that be amazing?"

"Another lesson learnt Another page is turned Give in to your desire, say goodbye or play with fire Play with fire you'll get burnt Another lesson learnt Another page is turned It's time I have to fly and then you say those precious words Stay with me Stay with me Stay with me, stay with me for just one more day"

"If only I could fly away Revel in the moonlight Try to find a good life Find a way to break the chains Find a way to break the chains Struggle just to hear the call It's easy now, easy now Heaven is a mile away I'll burn it all and leave today"

"When life throws us obstacles and nothing seems fair at all impossible's possible 'cause you take us there Feelings ain't optional And these are our chronicles Impossible's possible And you take us there And true love isn't scared True love isn't scared True love isn't scared True love isn't scared"

"I may grow old but I'll never, grow, up (We may grow old but we never grow up) (We may grow old but we never grow up) (We may grow old but we never grow up) (We may grow old but we never grow, never grow)"

"[Her] When I look at you, yeah, there'll never be a day where I'll be afraid. When I look you, yeah, there'll never be a day when I doubt myself. [Him] I can't breathe, my heart's on fire, but you make me feel like life's just fine. Even when I'm looking in the mirror and I feel like I can't get by, I know that everything is gonna be okay from deep in your eyes."

"I for one, and one lasting reason, tell my kids the stakes Break the rules and go smash some records Make 'em learn your name (don't tell 'em) Even when they say you can't, you know you're Genghis Khan Break some hearts, respect the love and be big in Japan Fuck the beef, slow cook the brisket Take some risk, embrace the misfit Rock and roll, don't limp or be scared Look, go and change the way you kissed it Even if the leader of your generation messed up Run the world, down your drink, smile a bit, then rest up"

"And then you stepped into my life and changed my rainy day, ay ay. Now every rule I live my life by I can safely say It's all for you babe, I'll tell them straight It's all good today though we'll make mistakes And then come Tuesday we'll still be best mates"

"Ooh, I said I'd never let you down, You said you'd never let me down, And now I gotta let you let me leave. Ooh, I said I'd never let you down, You said you'd never let me down, And now I gotta let you let me leave."

"You'd like to meet her, take her home, fill her up with your testosterone but you won't get a chance to score There's a reason she wears her shades indoors (Why?) If you look closely there's something not right with her jaw She's chewin' her face like a carnivore with a piece of meat, and furthermore remove her glasses from her face: this female's lost in space Lost her sight, her eyes ain't right, eyeballs painted black not white"

"This was a strictly a one-nighter to delight us we both knew this must stay quiet It was vital we couldn't forget though We never let go we just held on tighter See I'm a lover not a fighter so I didn't fight the fact that I more than liked you"

"If only I had a Ferrari Then I'd be a Ken doll and she'd be Barbie We could ride together with the roof rolled down With the whole town jealous of my girl and my fast car"

"Hit the first stage of the hibernation This perfect darkness is a weird sensation Escape from a nation of twisted creatures where their features are lost in accrued stagnation Like a treasure chest I rest in a cave I have to be brave, there's too much to crave 'cause it hurts me dearly to leave the scheme Will I see more clearly when I lose the team?"

"World's getting hotter, not a lot you're gonna do Armageddon ensues and the rivers rise up (Chorus) There's all these monsters at work and they're burning burning burning They keep their hush (hush) they'll never stop earning Earth's needing us, it's just that no-one gives a flying fuck Why give a damn if the world's still turning, huh?"

"When the lights go out come and hunt me down, keep me in your line of sight Be my predator, I'll give in to ya Take a taste, do what you like Show me how to love ya Show me how to get you high Show me how to love ya I just wanna rock you right"

"To-ing fro-ing never knowing if I'm coming or I'm going living in the fast lane but our heartbeat's slowing"

"Now I'm going into darkness trying to find my light my heart is like an eclipse every hour's midnight Feel like time is running out I need to break free cos I'm going into darkness and you're the only one who can't see"

"Oh darling, let's stay up all night Drinking whisky, telling stories, I can keep you satisfied Oh darling, let's stay up all night Drinking whisky, telling stories, I can keep you satisfied Oh darling, let's stay up all night Drinking whisky, telling stories, I can keep you satisfied"

"Pushing my buttons again, want for your loving again Pushing my buttons again, want for your loving again, yeah Pushing my buttons again, want for your loving again Pushing my buttons again, want for your loving again It was like slow motion when you walked into the room. I sat there frozen, just sat back, enjoyed the view. If this the ocean you're some undiscovered species. You saved me from myself that night, believe me. Had so many questions on my mind. Where the hell you been all of my life? Straight out from the darkness to the light. You're the answer. You're the answer to the meaning of my life."

"Only one place we wanna be Only need the crew plus me Don't know who we're gonna see but I heard they play a couple CDs Eight quid for a G&T Probably gonna spill it on my jeans Don't really care, honestly 'cause I only need the crew plus me We stay (all night) All day (all night) UK (all night) Okay (all night) Just vibes (all night) We slide (all night) All day (all night) All night (all night)"

"You and me just click Just click, just click You and me just click You and me just click You and me just click You and me just click"

"It's just something I do Don't wanna kiss and tell I'll make it up to you And do it so well I can't do many things But one thing that I do For you, it's true I do it so well"

"'Cause we About it It's deep How we found it Sleep I doubt it When the sun hits your eyes and I'm with you"

"Run to, run to, run to, run Run together into something Run to, run to, run together into something new. Run to, run to, run to, run Run together into something Run to, run to, run together into something new."

"And we're all daydreaming now Escape to another world Live for another day Escape to another world Don't have to be told Don't have to grow old"

"Ask yourself what you really want from life Don't follow that crowd"

"No point standing alone No point wondering why No point getting it if you don't level it Gotta look 'em dead in the eye No point sitting at home Better just believe you can fly No point singing it if you're not ringing it Gotta look 'em dead in the eye"

"Take a bag with your clothes and leave your keys by the door 'cos she never wants to see you no more Never should have listened to the serpent You shot yourself in the foot again Take that sad little face and leave your pride at the door 'cos she never gonna touch you no more Never should have listened to the serpent You shot yourself in the foot again Face looks jaded Clothes look faded Keep walking on, my friend"

"Take my hand and don't let go Take my hand and don't let go oh no Come with me Temptation Avenue"

"How could I forget the day we met I had to date you, A couple months we were in love... Like Ross and Rachel, It went deranged, and then the chains... To leave, I hate you, It was kinda like that film where the Attraction's Fatal. You smash a plate, I slam the gate, (Yeah!, yeah!) You get irate, I turn up late, (We stuff our ammo) You scream and shout, I lock you out, (Who's in trouble now?) We call a truce and then we're back where we started. It's all good when we're on our best behaviour When the will turns sour it's like a scene out of Braveheart, Dark like Darth Vader, But still I love her, We fight, but there's light at the end of the tunnel."

"We been living in a world full of free love and the limit is the sky if we team up yeah, we run the world, we run the world"

"And it goes and it goes And it goes and it goes I got ten bags of funds, some rum and some dubstep Head off into the sunset, one step ahead of the game They've been attacking my brain, they ain't done yet Count to 100, open my eyes and it's fine again No sign of them, back in the open I'm hoping I'm reaching utopia Coping without her but it's all for the best No mess, let me digress One day soon, find room in my head to let another special person fully immerse themselves And we'll merge our worlds so perfectly This is paradise, certainly"

"The lights are on, but you're not home. Your mind is not your own. Your heart sweats, your body shakes. Another kiss is what it takes. You can't eat, you can't sleep. There's no doubt you're in deep. Your throat is tight, you can't breathe. Another kiss is all you need. Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh, yeah. It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough, you know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love."

"When I was young I never needed anyone and making love was just for fun. Those days are gone. All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself anymore."

"I was blinded. Yes, I was blinded, and the tender touch that said so much doesn't need me now. I was blinded, how I was blinded. When I think about how far I've got to fall it won't help that I was blinded by it all."

"So take these broken wings and learn to fly again, learn to live so free And when we hear the voices sing the book of love will open up for us and let us in Take these broken wings You got to learn to fly again, got to learn to live so free And when we hear the voices sing the book of love will open up and let us in Yeah, yeah"

"It's easily said with your gun to my head, no one wants to fight a fighter. If this is a dream then I'll stay out of bed, It's always dark before it gets lighter. I'm not being used again. No I won't be used again. I said I won't be used again. You can't keep a good man down."

"Hold on, it'll take a while. You can't always be so juvenile. Hold on while the love we had loses nothing, could be half as bad. Waiting for the right time. You never showed me one sign. Give me your lifeline, but don't you give me your sympathy."

"Don't give up 'cause you have friends Don't give up You're not the only one Don't give up No reason to be ashamed Don't give up You still have us Don't give up now We're proud of who you are Don't give up I know it's never, never been easy Don't give up 'cause I believe there's a place There's a place where we belong"

"Sitting in your easy chair looking at the wall, thinking of the things that might've been. And as you wish your life away with dreams of mystic gold, imagine all the things you could've seen, imagine all the things you could've seen. Looking out the window staring at the rain, Wonder if the sun will ever shine? And if you only realised that life won't pass you by, the only thing that's passing is your time. The only thing that's passing is your time. Oh no! Oh no! No!"

"It's not time to make a change. Just relax, take it easy. You're still young. That's your fault: there's so much you have to know. Find a girl, settle down, if you want you can marry. Look at me, I am old but I'm happy. I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy to be calm when you've found something going on, but take your time, think a lot, think of everything you've got, for you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not."

"There's once in your life if you're lucky enough to find it, that special love, deep inside your soul, opening your eyes to a bright new day, leaving loneliness behind you. No words could ever say, oh darling, how precious you are to me. Don't you see? Oh baby, now that I found you, girl, nothing's gonna take you away, 'cause, darling, I will love you for ever and ever."

"He really does shine for the ladies with painted faces. He spends his time being seen in all the right places. You only get to know him nearly, there can't be anyone who knows him really. He's doing so well and there's no one to tell you but Glamour Boy."

"Highfly, touch the sky, Whatcha gonna do now the well's dry? Good time, feeling fine. Whatcha gonna do now there's no wine?"

"Could a feeling be so wrong? Why I left you for so long. Home. Though I miss you more each day there was nothing you could say, I had to go my way: show them I was older now and not some toy that they could play with. Tell me how everything I need today is? Lost, only traces on faces that won't remember me now. Yes I'm going back there somehow. Lost where my memory waits for me. Home is where I belong"

"Just another dead end kid. Can't believe the things I did. Lots of pretty ladies by my side. Take it all for Number One. Wasted days with no harm done. Always leave tomorrow open wide. You took me by surprise, now my empty eyes had to realise that my life wasn't the way I want to be. No, I'll never change my mind, couldn't be unkind, love is hard to find, and I know by now I should say more, but I have never been in love before."

"I started working on an old song for Rosie. My mind was only halfway there. She came to my house and you know what she told me, slow dancin' in my easy chair...? I always knew one thing could lead to another, it didn't mean a thing, but now that it's over...? I took a chance. I thought you'd never discover..., Oh why, I'll never know. Now you say you're letting me go. I'll never do it again, that's the last time. Don't shake your head. Say that you believe me? I'll never do it again. Oh what a fool I am. Don't walk away, let me tell you something..."

"I need your love, I need your love. I need your love, I need your love. Sometimes I feel lost and I don't know what you believe. My wires get crossed, and I wonder how you could leave. But one thing I know, I just can't go on living from day to day, Won't you listen to me when I say, I need your love?"

"Once a close friend, now a stranger. Where the wind blows, you'll survive. You won't ever have to leave before midnight, one more fool go stay the night. If you try to find a reason, happiness could ease your mind; what you're looking for is sometimes what you came from and it's been there all the time. But if old enough could be bold enough when you're losing the show, and if young enough was strong enough to know, of all the things that I might do I will never try to write this song for you. And it's not called Angel."

"It's not over, no, it's not over yet. Yeah, we'll put all this pain behind us, recover and start again, come on. It's not over, no, it's not over yet. Sweet forgiving rain, wash away my shame, let the clouds roll by and reveal a brighter day. Yeah."

"Lady of my life, won't you comfort me tonight, when the troubles of the world are on my shoulders? Lady, make it right, please don't fuss or fight, I need some peace now I'm a little older. Lady, lady, lady, lady of my life, lady, lady, lady, lady of my life, stay with me tonight."

"Sun is shinin' in the sky There ain't a cloud in sight It's stopped rainin', everybody's in the play and don't you know it's a beautiful new day. Hey hey hey! Runnin' down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey hey. Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long (so long) Where did we go wrong?"

"Music was my first love And it will be my last Music of the future And music of the past To live without my music would be impossible to do In this world of troubles my music pulls me through"

"Nice Man Jack, you should see him when the children play! Nice Man Jack, he's the one to take their tears away. Nice Man Jack, so very warm and kind. It's a pity there aren't more like him. Nice Man Jack - and he's always there to lend a hand. Nice Man Jack, such a well-respected gentleman. Nice Man Jack, so charming in his way. It's a pity there aren't more like him. It's a pity there aren't more like him. It's a pity there aren't more like him."

"No hard feelings, no tears, no pain. No hard feelings, no fears remain. I could see you slowly drifting away like a vision into the wall but I've got no hard feelings, I've got no feelings at all. No hard feelings, no cold goodbyes. No hard feelings, too old and wise. "And what happened to forever?", they say, "A lifetime seems so small." But I've got no hard feelings, I've got no feelings at all."

"In our times of trouble we only had ourselves. Nobody else knows, no one there to save us, we had to save ourselves. Yeah. When the storms came through, they found me and you back to back together. When the sun would shine it was yours and mine, yours and mine forever."

"Maybe I'm wrong, living high and chancing. I feel an ice cold look in your eye cut me down with glances. We both said "No", but we can't let go, and I'm feeling like we try to hide. I know I've waited so long. Now that yesterday's gone you need me there by your side. Just once in your life show me that you know how to make it right. For once in your life take a look around you and hold on tight."

"Another night over. The new day begins. Remembering the dreams that you left your love in, and you wonder, can you face another day, one more day without love?"

"Take a look at the blind man wishing every day he could see. He lives his life in darkness. Be grateful, you and me. Take a look at yourself now, standing with your back to the wall. Pride will get you nowhere fast, we're waiting for the fall."

"One more day and he'll be dreamin'. Let the night time roll away. He'll do great things tomorrow (so much to do today). Another mountain he'll be climbin' to a valley down below. There's sunshine all around him where the peaceful waters flow."

"Plain Jane, chasing rainbows, building castles in the sky. Plain Jane, chasing rainbows, make the end before you die. Not for you a poor man's son, your dreams of fortune have begun, and once you're off the ground you have to fly."

"Pull the damn thing down, we're gonna build a highway, and either side we'll beautify, with concrete reaching to the sky. Pull the damn thing down. Soon you won't remember, as all the people turn their backs on cobbled stones and chimney stacks. Pull the damn thing down!"

"Days may come and days may go. Funny how the children grow so fast. Nothing can last. Always try, and try we will. Nothing ever standing still for long. Is it all wrong? Time: tell me where you've flown. Wind, where have you blown? Taking us along, and changing as you go everything we know, like the rivers flow. What have we to show? Ready to spread your wings and fly away."

"Not for me all the things you must do I am glad now that I can see through. They say that I'm crazy, I'm out of my mind, searching for something I'll never find. Don't call me a loser, call me a rebel. No one said I must run in this race. Always right, putting me in my place. I know it's not easy: believe in yourself, you won't find the answer in somebody else. Don't call me a loser, Call me a rebel. Call me a rebel."

"Misty silence of the early morning. All around another day is dawning. Goodbyes ain't easy, so no-one sees me when I go. Only time is gonna last forever. Just remember what we had together. I must be leavin' and I can't even let it show. I am on my way, Remember Yesterday."

"You're on your own, back on the street, out in the cold you feel the heat. One way ticket to nowhere at your feet. Take what you need, a word to the wise: only the weak need alibis. Stakes are too high, zero again, no second chances at the end. Run, tell me where you're gonna run to? Run, oh, oh, oh where you gonna run to? Where you gonna run?"

"People always rushing round, makin' time to fuss and to worry. Get your feet back on the ground, it's no good to live in a hurry. Take it easy on your mind, no one wants to get behind. Think about it, you will find time is on your side, slow down. (Can't slow down)"

"This is my song for you. Thoughts of winter, dreams of sunshine. Nothing that I can do changes how I feel in my mind. This is my song for you. Times I hope you will remember. Things that were meant for two, here in my heart, here in my song for you."

"You can have the world if the world is what you need. Just take me round in circles, I'll follow where you lead. Go anywhere, if it's where you wanna go. It used to be for something, but lately I don't know. "Take me far away", all the people say. You're the price I pay. Blame me. Leave you far behind. Search until I find. I could lose my mind. Shame me. Tame me."

"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune then the piper will lead us to reason and a new day will dawn for those who stand long and the forests will echo with laughter. Oh-oh-oh-oh-whoa Ooh, really makes me wonder If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now It's just a spring clean for the May Queen. Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there's still time to change the road you're on."

"Buildings tower round me like they're waiting for the kill. For days I haven't eaten and I really do feel ill. If I cry for help, would you hear my call? If I stumble now, would you let me fall? Won't you give me a hand, try to understand that I'm a stranger in the city? Stuck inside these streets it's like a human traffic jam. People walk right over me, now they don't give a damn. If I ask for death, would you give me a gun? If I took your hand, would you turn and run? Won't you pity me, just try to see that I'm a stranger in the city?"

"The right to sing, the right to play. The right to do the things I feel in my own way. And if you took it all and asked me to pretend, you'd be breaking a heart that won't mend. The right to win, the right to lose. The right to fall in love with anyone I choose. And when it's my mistake and everything goes wrong I would write what I feel in a song."

"Locked up with freedom you don't want at all, in crowds there is no-one to turn to. Down, when you're high, is a long way to fall, and all the mistakes you won't learn through. Time is for ever, and no one can say time shows, love goes Only the fears as you go through the years till the last sand of time blows away. Till last sand of time blows away."

"Why wait to give yourself a chance tomorrow? Let the feelin' grow You don't need someone else for you to follow Anywhere you go Leavin' your shell You'll never turn around! You know so well What always tied you down Is it for love, or is it only a game you're playing? Now I'm saying: Turn yourself loose Destiny calling Turn yourself loose You can't wait for a better day Turn yourself loose Go without any warning Turn yourself loose You can fly away"

"Over and over over and over we will discover we will discover that we all fall down. Yes, we all fall down. Yes, we all fall down. Yes, we all fall down."

"I never saw what was coming down. (What goes around, comes around.) My heart just shattered in pieces on the ground. (What goes around, comes around.) Twist an old cliché till the words ring true. What you do to someone, it can happen to you. Cause we're all links in this human chain, just the cause and effect of so much passion and pain."

"When you lose someone so young, how do you start again? You can't run and hide from the world outside and you lock yourself in, wonder where to begin: it multiplies the pain. When you lose someone so young, how do you start again? As time goes by and tears run dry and hope appears in place of fears it takes away the pain."

"As it was in the beginning it will be until the end. Your money buys you people but it will not buy you friends. Your life is an illusion so live it day by day. Just draw your own conclusion It's gonna happen anyway"

"You're the voice, try and understand it Make a noise and make it clear Oh, whoa We're not gonna sit in silence We're not gonna live with fear Oh, whoa Ooh, we're all someone's daughter We're all someone's son How long can we look at each other Down the barrel of a gun? You're the voice, try and understand it Make a noise and make it clear Oh, whoa We're not gonna sit in silence We're not gonna live with fear Oh, whoa"

"We wanna be like Status Quo and go on forever. Chuck Berry never changed. Little Richard never changed. I’d rather be like that and stick to a formula we’re happy with."

"You can’t keep guys faithful. If people want to get married and then run around, I think that’s dishonest. If you’re going to get married, get fucking married and that’s it. I never saw a chick that could stop me looking at all the others, so I didn’t."

"If you can give the kids a good time then that’s all it’s for. Forget art and all that – that’s bullshit. If you can send that shiver down a kid’s back then that’s what it’s all about. All else is bullshit."

"You can't have everything, can you? Where would you put it?"

"(when asked if he has any regrets) None. Life's too short."

"In your twenties, you think you are immortal. In your thirties, you hope you are immortal. In your forties, you just pray it doesn’t hurt too much, and by the time you reach my age, you become convinced that, well, it could be just around the corner."

"Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people."

"Motörhead is nothing if not democratic, but I don't think it's fair to be waving your dick around when people are minding their own business and might not want to see it."

"As the decades passed, everyone knew Lemmy from Motorhead wouldn’t really live forever. It was inevitable that the legendary rocker’s hedonistic lifestyle would catch up with him. It seemed more and more imminent as his health problem affected the touring schedule of the band especially in the last few years of his life. However, we had all hoped he would at least outlive Keith Richards. Though many might argue it was sad to see the mighty Lemmy in such a frail state towards the end of his life, the contrary can also be said. How amazing was it that a man in his late 60s lived to his last months literally partying, meeting women all over the world, gambling and playing rock music to tons of fans? Lemmy lived his life as his own, to his last days, and never regretted a thing. He was lucky in the sense that most people would have dropped dead 20 years before him with the amount of meth cigarettes and Jack Daniels he consumed. But the point was that Lemmy was a bad motherfucker till the end. He was one of rock’s most respected party animals and talented bass players. Motorhead will without a doubt continue to inspire generations of rockers to come, ensuring that Lemmy’s musical legacy will never die."

"The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy... As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could. ... I had always said, that the only time I would ever consider singing ‘IMAGINE' would be if it was the ‘End of the World’ But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide. Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time… The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for... As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families, have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere. I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of IMAGINE, to stand up for refugees everywhere! Please advocate and donate from the heart. #StandUpForUkraine"

"I never did believe in miracles, But I've a feeling it's time to try. I never did believe in the ways of magic, But I'm beginning to wonder why."

"If you wake up and don't want to smile, If it takes just a little while, Open your eyes and look at the day. You'll see things in a different way.Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow, Don't stop, it'll soon be here. It'll be, better than before. Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone."

"Can you hear me calling Out your name? You know that I'm falling And I don't know what to say I'll speak a little louder I'll even shout You know that I'm proud And I can't get the words out Oh, I I want to be with you everywhere."

"I think that actually that releases the emotional tension to be honest with you. I always think that, no matter what’s gone on prior to the, you know, treading the boards at night, I think we all kind of leave that behind when we’re on stage and you tend to even put more feeling into the songs I think"

"That’s the- another thing is, you know, the pressure is on you when you’re doing a solo record, when you come together with, you know, four tried and trusted other musicians you feel like you’ve got a very strong shoulder to lean on that’s not about to collapse under you, you know"

"I think there’s always a certain amount of romance on our records, I mean, you know, that’s ‘cause I’m writing some of the songs, I always write about romance"

"We all sensed that perhaps Lindsey would leave first. I mean, the very thought of one band member leaving was catastrophic to us, because we all felt that each one of us was irreplaceable"

"To be honest. That came from my parents. I can’t imagine better advice coming from one’s parents. I try to stick by that rule and to be as good a person as I can"

"Maybe people want to see us because they think it’s the last chance. We’re a young band at heart; you’d never think we are the age we are. We’re never static. It’s going to be fantastic"

"Not many bands have had the same longevity; there is life in the old girl yet. It’s about finding new inspiration and enjoyment for each other. As long as we have that we’ll keep going"

"I’m good at pathos. I write about romantic despair a lot. That’s my thing, but with a positive spin"

"The best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life"

"I met a man who had a dream He had since he was twenty I met that man when he was eighty-one He said: "Too many folks just stand And wait until the morning Don't they know, tomorrow never comes" And he would feel a new tomorrow coming on And when he'd smile his eyes are twinkled up in thought Everybody talks about a new world in the morning New world in the morning never comes."

"And I can feel a new tomorrow coming on And I don't know why I have to make a song Everybody talks about a new world in the morning New world in the morning takes so long."

"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing And the taste of war I know so very well Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising Their guns on fire as we sail into hell I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow But how bitter will be this last farewell For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly More dearly than the spoken word can tell."

"Ever since the days of old the Navy's ruled the waves. For years they've told the world that Britain's never shall be slaves. The Navy still remembers and you'll often hear them say What Nelson told Napoleon upon Trafalgar day:"It serves you right, you shouldn't have joined, it jolly well serves you right. It serves you right, you shouldn't have joined, you might have been sitting tight You might have been in Civvy Street instead of in the fight But it serves you right, you shouldn't have joined, it jolly well serves you right""

"“I recreated a bedroom scene – all the textiles, the bedspread, the pillows, etc. were made from shiny silver and black low-carbon steel. But Michigan is a lot like Savannah. Lots of humidity. The steel started to rust and fall apart.”"

"“When I got to SCAD and took more weaving classes, I thought back to that experience and decided to explore it more. Using their computer-aided weaving, I started blending low-carbon steel with linen, silk, cotton, and other materials. When the fabric came off the loom, the steel was monochromatic gray, but then I’d wash it in salt water to start the color changing process.” That body of work resulted in Transient Structures – her thesis show of huge woven panels of fibers and rusting metal “purposefully designed to fall apart.”"

"I started embroidering on watercolor paper – black on white at first,” but inspired by a black-on-black painting she’d seen in a show in Nashville, “I began to coat wood panels in graphite, drilled holes with my jewelry tools, and embroidered in white. I am in love with graphite because it can be perfectly matte all the way to reflectively shiny.”"

"“I’m thinking about the stitches’ repetitive structures as being an abstraction of the repetitive structures in nature.”"

"“I took a papermaking workshop at Penland last summer and have been making embossed panels out of paper pulp. It’s all recycled computer paper and junk mail.”"

"“I make a 3-D vessel form out of fabric – something I learned at the workshop last summer. I sew the form and then stuff it with perlite (the little white stones in potting soil) and sculpt it.”"

"I’m not a religious person but I find something bigger than myself and something inspiriting in nature. I see connections – the same patterns that are on a microscopic scale are on a macroscopic scale, and the way the world has organized itself into these super-efficient and beautiful patterns. I love reading science books about physics and nature and learning amazing little details about the natural world. My first instinct as an artist is to be representational, but if I abstract my work, it pulls the viewer to spend a little more time with it.”"

"“We were filling this void that maybe people didn’t even know was there. We’ve grown, but at our core are the studios and the space for artists to work and connect.” We discuss how the organization has changed from simply being about “art for artists" to sharing their vision with the community, to reaching outside of Savannah through an international artist residency and showing contemporary work from artists throughout the southeast."

"“I think it was always assumed that you graduate SCAD and move to L.A. or New York or another big city both for work and for the opportunity for community.,"

"”At Sulfur, we created studio spaces, but more than that, we created this sense of community through the artists in the studios, the artists that we show, and the people who come to our events and to all the programming we do. Now, more artists feel they can stay and work in Savannah and have that community. We just need to keep making that space to keep them here, and to make Savannah an art destination.”"

"Leaders are sort of looking to move on,” she said. “There's been some great things that have happened – flexibility and remote work and more conversations around mental health in the workplace, destigmatizing burnout … huge investments made in mental health and wellbeing, but we're still feeling like they're not being actualized at work.”"

"“Fundamentally, employees are going ‘why am I here? Life's too short,” she said. “If we don't realize that people are constantly asking themselves, why am I here? What is the point? If we don't give them the point, then they'll leave or quit or quiet-quit, remain disengaged.”"

"“That should not be a badge of honor. We need to define what ‘above and beyond’ looks like,” Moss said. “If above and beyond is you working 70 hours a week, and that's what I expect, then let's be explicit about that.”"

"We’re not looking to the edges, where there's really special things that are superpowers of people who are neurodivergent – there's the coolest superpowers, and we're just not taking advantage of that in a way that's going to make us better.”"

"“The book really is to help leaders understand that there are these very fundamental important pro-social traits that we need to be adopting within our cultures, to move the needle and to give employees time to heal,”"

"“I've had so many people say to me, ‘how can we get better, we've never had time to heal, we've never had time to recover, it’s always business as usual. It's always about GDP. It's always about productivity and doing more with less, and we've never just had the leader pause and say: ‘you're probably still hurting, and how can I help that?’”"

"“Heart-forward means a few things,” she says. “I can be a caring person and really support your team and your people without being a pushover. It also means that I always want to leave people better than when I found them.”"

"“I’ve set a gigantic goal for myself. I’m going to be in the best shape of my life by the time I’m 40. I just turned 38 in March, so I’ve got time,” she says. “But part of that journey is getting really strong and getting my athlete body back. I’m strong, but I want to be this bad ass who handles it like a boss. So I told myself, ‘I’m doing it. There’s nothing standing in my way.’”"

"“I will never forget the day we lost our largest customer in 2017. It was Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. when he walked in,” she recalls. “We were doing 30% of our business with this one customer at the time. And they walked in and said, ‘We’re liquidating the business. I hope we told you soon enough.’ And my dad sat there and said, 'I’ve got 70% of the seed planted. No, you didn’t tell us soon enough.’ So I hit the ground running. We were in the middle of launching a wholesale houseplant program at the time, so I was already on the road trying to pitch that program,”"

"“I had to pivot very quickly and start to identify a couple of chains that we could gain to make up for the loss. That’s the year I started to really earn my stripes and gain the respect of my coworkers and peers. At the end of the season, I was able to recapture 89% of the sales. It was tough. But that customer had done over a million dollars with us in 2016.”"

"I agreed with them at the time that my brother, who is younger than me, was a better choice to lead the company,” Jennifer says. “He was more level-headed, he was less emotional and he was more consistent. So that was the plan.”"

"“I wasn’t projecting what I wanted to project. I wanted to come across calm, put together, direct and driven,” she says. “So I really worked on changing my responses and my reactions. I was seeing a life coach, Brendon Burchard, who wrote High Performance Habits. It changed my life.”"

"“I outperformed the expectation, I launched myself and I earned my spot,”"

"“My parents felt that I was the good choice for the helm of the ship. My brother and I looked at it and he agreed. And we agreed that we could make this work and he became chief operations officer. My brother is an awesome partner. Where I'm weak, he's strong, and where he's weak, I'm strong. We're a good complement to each other.”"

"“Mom and dad never forced us to look at horticulture,” she says. “That’s why my brother and I have degrees in different areas. And dad said, ‘I want you to go out into the world and try something else. And if you want to come back to the greenhouse, then you can. But you have to want to come back. It wasn’t forced.”"

"“I wanted to chase serial killers like they do on the Criminal Minds television show. I was really into that because I competed in speech in high school, and one of my topics was DNA profiling and criminal profiling,”"

"“I was raised with integrity as a core value and I could not imagine myself going into such a corrupt industry,”"

"I was in Portland where I didn’t have a network, but I tried it for a year. Then I called mom and dad and said, ‘Hey, I need to move home. How do you feel about a dog?’”"

"They quickly promoted me to a manager and a trainer, and I worked there for a year to get my feet back under me,”"

"“Candidly, that was the worst job I’ve ever had. However, it taught me a lot,” “Those hard jobs are actually really good for you. They build character and you learn what you can do and what you’re not willing to tolerate. It was at that job where I was put in a couple of situations that I could not stomach. Going back to that core value of integrity, I put in my two-weeks’ notice. That’s when I went to my parents and said, ‘Let’s give it a go at the greenhouse.’”"

"The hardest part about coming from restaurant and hospitality management into the greenhouse is, in a restaurant, dinner's on the table and if the customer's upset, you have to solve it right then. And when I saw an issue at the greenhouse, I’d say, ‘We need to change this.’ Since I came on in January and our fiscal year is September through August, I’d hear, ‘No, we don't need to talk about that for eight or 10 months.’"

"I'm like, excuse me, what? But I didn't understand the seasonality, that kind of process. That the minute hand has to go all the way around the clock. You can't make a decision at 7 that affects 2. And so I just had to learn to slow down. That was probably the hardest transition.""

"“I went through a period where I was just the boss’ daughter for a long time, yet my brother didn’t have that stigma of being just the boss’ son. And it pissed me off. That’s when I became more aware of what and how I was projecting things,”"

"And my competitive athlete background taught me to ask, ‘What is your win?’ So I started finding those small wins, even in the hard days,”"

"Our parents taught us about hard work and consistency. They showed up. They were driven, even in the hard years, the really good years and the completely average years,” she says. “They showed me that you dive in during the spring, you kick ass, then you get to enjoy your summers and winters. And take the time, get offsite, use your vacation days. I’m still not very good at that part.”"

"“My mom showed me how to generate trust with people and to have faith in your decisions. My father taught me how to lead a team and how to hold people accountable. With my mom's softer approach combined with my father's drive for results, I developed a hidden talent I didn't realize I had until the last year, which is building teams and creating loyalty in my employees,”"

"“I tackle hard things. And if it’s really hard, I just dig my feet in a little bit deeper so that I’m completely anchored. I’m not afraid to do hard things at all,”"

"“I have no problem with change. I disarm the emotional fear of it and other hard things, and I just keep moving. I think that's probably a lot of people's hardest moments – when they get stalled with indecision and fear. I read an incredible book earlier this year called The Gap and the Gain. And being an engineer's daughter, everything's a math equation. I just have to figure out the right variables to solve for X. And I approach all of life like that.”"

"“I’ve learned that failing forward is the best way to approach it. Failure doesn’t disarm me, it doesn’t scare me. I tell my employees that if you don’t fail forward, the universe will continue to bring you that lesson and it will get harder and harder every time. So when something bad happens, don’t ask, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ Ask, ‘Why is this happening for me?’”"

"“If something really hard comes in front of me, I ask myself, ‘Will this matter in a year? In five years? In 10 years? And if the answer is no to any of those questions, then I need to make sure I’m not giving it too much energy in that moment,”"

"“That has been a really hard lesson, though,” she says. “I had FOMO — fear of missing out. I wanted to be in all places and all things. But that’s not the case anymore. I know where I stand as a human. I know what I want to show up for, and I know how much currency I have in the tank to be able to accomplish things.”"

"“When I was managing the restaurant, I had to make very big decisions on the fly. And I didn't have a super strong mentor in that space, per se. I didn't have a bad one, they were a little bit more passive. And because of that, I was abrasive in my management, and I would anger easily. And that trickled into the greenhouse for a little while. I started to pay a lot more attention to how I was showing up to conversations. What was my body language, was my tone of voice right or how did I leave people feeling? And I have really worked on that over the last four or five years and fine-tuned it.”"

"“I worked on walking away and taking a couple of hours to come back with a clear head. My brother is very good at this. I really started to practice that. And that huge miss became a huge win. And it's very unusual for me to get angry now. I can still hold people accountable, and we can walk away from a situation after a positive conversation where we all feel that we succeeded in being heard and solved the situation.”"

"They said, ‘You always bring me step five and you make me figure out one through four. If you could please include me so that I can be a part of all five steps.’ They were absolutely right. I was giving them directives without the right tools. I've really listened to those moments because if I'm managing one person like that, am I managing all people like that?”"

"I do not like the status quo. I am a person who holds space for everyone and I don’t make judgments,”"

"Our offerings as a supplier were very traditional. When we lost King’s Discount Store, it was an opportunity in disguise. We started to change our basket combinations and move away from that flat footprint into more container gardening with more perceived value on the baskets,”"

"“I think it was in 2018 at Cultivate where I challenged all of our brokers and suppliers saying, ‘I want to be two years ahead of the market. I want to try everything I can in Idaho before you release it.’ I want to be on point as soon as that new variety hits the market.”"

"“I was named CEO in September of 2022 and we’ve made some big shifts. We have gone from focusing on top-quality plants to becoming an employee-centric company. My best asset is people and I want to treat that asset the best way possible,”"

"Don’t be afraid to put the guy with 30 years of experience on the bench and let him consult a group of younger folks to lead a project and challenge the status quo,” she advises. “If you are going to get people interested in this industry, it can’t continue to look how it’s always looked. It’s okay if everybody’s skin color is different at a table. It’s okay if half of the people in the board room are covered in tattoos. It’s okay if someone came from the cannabis industry and is now growing lettuce in a vertical farm. We’ve got to be able to cross over into the next stage of this industry’s evolution.”"

"I went into a supplier’s booth and stood there, ignored, for about 20 minutes, despite having 12 workers in the booth,” she explains. “It was right when the show floor opened, and they weren’t busy. I now call it the khakis and polo club because that’s what every one of those guys were wearing. It’s the traditional footprint of so many in our industry, but I don’t participate. I’m tattooed. I’m young. I’m female. So was like, ‘Okay, here’s a bias.’ So now I'm very sensitive to the gender gap in our industry.”"

"That's something I value in a leader — somebody who has heart. They have their heart in it, and they care while still being consistent, strong and business-oriented. That's hugely valuable to me in every single way. And that's how I want to show up at that table and every other table that has an opportunity for growth, anywhere, in any industry, in any room.”"

"I guess my nipples are nicer to look at."

"[In 2000], we were pretty bad people. I got arrested for arson of a car outside a police station. Tim [Bagshaw, bass] went to nick a crucifix off a church roof so we could use it onstage, then slipped, fell off through the window and sliced his arm open. He got community service for that. Then Mark [Greening, drums] got nicked for robbing an offie. He smashed the window, nicked a bottle of whiskey, then sat there drinking it outside! We weren't very nice people, to be honest. We were feeding off that shit at the time. It made us feel like we were more of a heavy metal band."

"Younger generations might remember the song ["Roundabout" by Yes] as a meme. But no matter how you got to it, there's no denying that [it] is one of the most important rock pieces of all time. Just take a listen to that bass, performed by Chris Squire."

"In the world of progressive rock, Squire was a relative superstar, which is saying quite a lot. He co-founded legendary prog-rockers Yes, which he was part of, in some form, for almost a half-decade. Squire was known for having a melodic touch to his bass playing, which proved highly influential to many prog rock/metal bassists that followed."

"A towering figure in the folk-rock realm, Richard Thompson’s characteristic sound and distinct songwriting voice will not be denied. An innovator, hybrid picking his way into the hearts of aficionados across the globe, there are few that come close to Thompson’s mastery of his instrument. Can you play like that? No, you cannot, but don’t worry - that’s what Richard Thompson is for."

"Is John Gomm the finest acoustic guitarist Blackpool ever produced? We’re going to go ahead and say ‘yes’, for this humble Englishman’s emotive, all-action guitar playing has captured literally millions of ears around the world since he went viral in 2011. Banging, booming, tapping and scratching his way through dramatic performances that burst with emotion and invention, it’s no great surprise that the internet took Gomm to its heart. A modern marvel."