Women guitarists

"Artists shouldn't be made famous. You know... they're just ... as important as... um doctors, and priests ... or maybe not as important sometimes, and yet they have this huge aura of almost god-like quality about them, just because their craft makes a lot of money. And at the same time it is a forced importance — you know, football stars and theatre stars — It is man-made so the press can feed off it."

"It's about a relationship between a man and a woman. They love each other very much, and the power of the relationship is something that gets in the way. It creates insecurities. It's saying if the man could be the woman and the woman the man, if they could make a deal with God, to change places, that they'd understand what it's like to be the other person and perhaps it would clear up misunderstandings. You know, all the little problems; there would be no problem."

"I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman, can't understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other's roles, if we could actually be in each other's place for a while, I think we'd both be very surprised! ...And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either... you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, "well, no, why not a deal with God!" You know, because in a way it's so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called "Deal With God", that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn't play it, France wouldn't play it, and Australia wouldn't play it! Ireland wouldn't play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title."

"For me to get into that creative process I have to have a sort of quiet place that I work from. And if I was living the life of ... somebody in the industry, as a pop star or whatever, it's too distracting. It's too to do with other people's perceptions of who you are, and what's important to me is to be a human being who has a soul, and who hopefully has a sense of who they are, not who everybody else thinks you are. And I think, you know, that's something that's very difficult for people who become extremely famous. I mean, I find it completely ridiculous this obsession with celebrities. ... Why are celebrities so important to people? It's absolute crap. I mean, the important people are surgeons and doctors and people actually put people back together and make a difference to people's lives. Not somebody who's in an ad on telly. I mean, okay, so that's valid for what it is, too. But why so much attention on something that's so shallow?"

"I do think I go out of my way to be a very normal person and I just find it frustrating that people think that I'm some kind of weirdo reclusive that never comes out into the world. Y'know, I'm a very strong person and I think that's why actually I find it really infuriating when I read, 'She had a nervous breakdown' or 'She's not very mentally stable, just a weak, frail little creature'."

"There were so many times I thought, "I'll have the album finished this year, definitely, we'll get it out this year." Then there were a couple of years where I thought, "I'm never gonna do this." If I could make albums quicker, I'd be on a roll wouldn't I? Everything just seems to take so much time. I don't know why. Time... evaporates."

"There was a story that some EMI execs had come down to see you and you'd said something like: "Here's what I've been working on," and then produced some cakes from your oven. True? "No! I don't know where that came from. I thought that was quite funny actually. It presents me as this homely creature, which is all right, isn't it?""

"For the last 12 years, I've felt really privileged to be living such a normal life. It's so a part of who I am. It's so important to me to do the washing, do the Hoovering. Friends of mine in the business don't know how dishwashers work. For me, that's frightening. I want to be in a position where I can function as a human being. Even more so now where you've got this sort of truly silly preoccupation with celebrities. Just because somebody's been in an ad on TV, so what? Who gives a toss?"

"Now all the shows are over, it's pretty difficult to explain how I feel about it all. It was quite a surreal journey that kept its level of intensity right from the early stages to the end of the very last show. It was also such great fun. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I loved the whole process.... I was really delighted that the shows were received so positively and so warmly but the really unexpected part of it all was the audiences. Audiences that you could only ever dream of. One of the main reasons for wanting to perform live again was to have contact with that audience.They took my breath away. Every single night they were so behind us. You could feel their support from the minute we walked on stage. I just never imagined it would be possible to connect with an audience on such a powerful and intimate level; to feel such, well quite frankly, love. It was like this at every single show. Thank you so very much to everyone who came to the shows and became part of that shared experience. It was a truly special and wonderful feeling for all of us."

"David Bowie had everything. He was intelligent, imaginative, brave, charismatic, cool, sexy and truly inspirational both visually and musically. He created such staggeringly brilliant work, yes, but so much of it and it was so good. There are great people who make great work but who else has left a mark like his? No one like him."

"I think musicians have a responsibility to try and do something that is good. It's so hard. It's very difficult to pull something out of the hat creatively. Although I say it's their responsibility, it's really just people trying to do the best that they can."

"I'm really very happy if people can connect at all to anything I do. I don't really mind if people mishear lyrics or misunderstand what the story is. I think that's what you have to let go of when you send it out in the world. I'm sure with a lot of paintings, people don't understand what the painter originally meant, and I don't really think that matters. I just think if you feel something, that's really the ideal goal. If that happens, then I'm really happy."

"As an artist, you're never happy with anything you do. It's part of the process. You're never really happy. I'm certainly not. That's a good thing. It means you're always striving to do better. You hope the next piece will be better."

"The great thing about art on any level is that it can speak to all people if it's achieved properly. When I've heard a piece of music or seen a painting that moves me, it gives me something. That's such an incredibly special experience. I have intentions as a writer, but people — when they're listening to a track — will take from it what they interpret. Sometimes people mishear my lyrics and think a song's about something it isn't. That doesn't matter. If it speaks to them and they get something positive from it, it's great."

"Moving stranger, Does it really matter, As long as you're not afraid to feel?"

"Touch me, hold me. How my open arms ache! Try to fall for me."

"How I'm moved. How you move me With your beauty's potency."

"There's something very special indeed, In all the places where I've seen you shine, boy. There's something very real in how I feel, honey. It's in me. It's in me, And you know it's for real. Tuning in on your saxophone..."

"You'll never know that you had all of me. You'll never know the poetry you've stirred in me. Of all the stars I've seen that shine so brightly, I've never known or felt in myself so rightly, It's in me..."

"Soon it will be the phase of the moon When people tune in. Every girl knows about the punctual blues, But who's to know the power behind our moves?"

"We raise our hats to the strange phenomena. Soul-birds of a feather flock together."

"There's a hole in the sky with a big eyeball Calling me: "Come up and be a kite, On a diamond flight!""

"A diamond kite On a diamond flight. Over the lights, under the moon. Over the lights, under the moon. Over the moon, over the moon!"

"I hear him, before I go to sleep And focus on the day that's been. I realise he's there, When I turn the light off and turn over."

"Nobody knows about my man. They think he's lost on some horizon. And suddenly I find myself Listening to a man I've never known before, Telling me about the sea, All his love, 'til Eternity."

"Ooh, he's here again, The man with the child in his eyes."

"Out on the wiley, windy moors We'd roll and fall in green. You had a temper like my jealousy: Too hot, too greedy. How could you leave me, When I needed to possess you? I hated you. I loved you, too."

"Bad dreams in the night. They told me I was going to lose the fight, Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering Wuthering Heights."

"Heathcliff, it's me — Cathy."

"Ooh, it gets dark! It gets lonely, On the other side from you. I pine a lot. I find the lot Falls through without you. I'm coming back, love. Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream, My only master."

"Ooh! Let me have it. Let me grab your soul away."

"Ooh, James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?"

"You're a coward, James. You're running away from humanity. You're running away from reality. It won't be funny when they rat-a-tat-tat you down."

"Nobody else can share this. Here comes one and one makes one, The glorious union. Well it could be love, Or it could be just lust, But it will be fun. It will be wonderful."

"God, but you're beautiful, aren't you? Feel your warm hand walking around. I won't pull away. My passion always wins. So keep on a-moving in. So keep on a-tuning in. Synchronise rhythm now."

"I could have been anyone. You could have been anyone's dream. Why did you have to choose our moment? Why did you have to make me feel that? Why did you make it so unreal?"

"Oh! To be in love, And never get out again."

"All the colours look brighter now. Everything they say seems to sound new. Slipping into tomorrow too quick, Yesterday always too good to forget. Stop the swing of the pendulum! Let us through!"

"You came out of the night, Wearing a mask in white colour. My eyes were shining On the wine, and your aura."

"You look like an angel, Sleeping it off at a station. Were you only passing through?"

"I'm dying for you just to touch me, And feel all the energy rushing right up-a-me. L'amour looks something like you."

"Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me..."

"I must work on my mind. For now I realise: Everyone of us has a heaven inside."

"Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot. Them heavy people help me."

"They open doorways that I thought were shut for good. They read me Gurdjieff and Jesu. They build up my body, break me emotionally. It's nearly killing me, but what a lovely feeling!"

"I love the whirling of the dervishes. I love the beauty of rare innocence. You don't need no crystal ball, Don't fall for a magic wand. We humans got it all, we perform the miracles."

"Hey there, you lady in tears, Do you think that they care if they're real, woman? They just take it as part of the deal."

"Like it or not, we were built tough, Because we're woman."

"No, we never die for long, While we've got that little life To live for, where it's hid inside."

"Like it or not, we keep bouncing back, Because we're woman."

"I'm giving it all in a moment or two. I'm giving it all in a moment, for you."

"This kicking here inside Makes me leave you behind. No more under the quilt To keep you warm. Your sister I was born. You must lose me like an arrow, Shot into the killer storm."

"You and me on the bobbing knee. Didn't we cry at that old mythology he'd read! I will come home again, but not until The sun and the moon meet on yon hill."

"I spend a lot of my time looking at blue, The colour of my room and my mood..."

"When that feeling of meaninglessness sets in, Go blowing my mind on God: The light in the dark, with the neon arms, The meek He seeks, the beast He calms, The head of the good soul department."

"My terrible fear of dying No longer plays with me, for now I know that I'm needed For the symphony."

"The more I think about sex, the better it gets. Here we have a purpose in life: Good for the blood circulation, Good for releasing the tension, The root of our reincarnations."

"I no longer see a future. I've been told when I get older That I'll understand It all. But I'm not sure if I want to."

"They took the game right out of it. When I am a man I will be an astronaut, And find Peter Pan."

"We're all alone on the stage tonight. We've been told; we're not afraid of you. We know all our lines so well, ah-ha, We've said them so many times: Time and time again, Line and line again."

"You say we're fantastic, But still we don't head the bill. Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Unbelievable!"

"Ooh, yeah, you're amazing! We think you are really cool. We'd give you a part, my love, But you'd have to play the fool."

"Emma's come down. She's stopped the light Shining out of her eyes."

"Oh, come on, you've got to use your flow. You know what it's like, and you know you want to go. Don't drive too slowly. Don't put your blues where your shoes should be. Don't put your foot on the heartbrake."

"Oh! England, my Lionheart! Dropped from my black Spitfire to my funeral barge. Give me one kiss in apple-blossom. Give me one wish, and I'd be wassailing In the orchard, my English rose, Or with my shepherd, who'll bring me home."

"I am my enemy Mowing me over, And towing the light away."

"Remember yourself. You've got a Full House in your head tonight..."

"Surely by now I should know I can control My highs and my lows By questioning all that I do, Examining every move, Trying to get back to the rudiments."

"In the warm room She'll touch you with your Mamma's hand. You'll long to kiss those red lips, But when you do It'll feel like kicking a habit."

"Kashka from Baghdad Lives in sin, they say, With another man, But no one knows who."

"At night They're seen Laughing, Loving. They know The way To be Happy."

"Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna — in the coffee, And you won't get me with your aresenic — in the pot of tea, And you won't get me in a hole to rot — with your hemlock On the rocks."

"Maybe you're lonely, And only want a little company, But keep your recipes For the rats to eat, And may they rest in peace with coffee homeground."

"You stood in the belltower, But now you're gone. So who knows all the sights Of Notre Dame?"

"Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror, Won't leave me alone. The first time in my life, I leave the lights on To ease my soul."

"I've got a hunch that you're following, To get your own back on me. So all I want to do is forget You, friend."

"She wanted to test her husband. She knew exactly what to do: A pseudonym to fool him. She couldn't have made a worse move."

"She sent him scented letters, And he received them with a strange delight. Just like his wife But how she was before the tears, And how she was before the years flew by, And how she was when she was beautiful."

"Just like his wife before she freezed on him, Just like his wife when she was beautiful."

"Ooh, he's a moody old man. Song of Summer in his hand. Ooh, he's a moody old man. ...in...in...in his hand. ...in his hand."

"To be sung of a summer night on the water. Ooh, on the water. "Ta, ta-ta! Hmm. Ta, ta-ta! In B, Fenby!""

"One of the band told me last night That music is all that he's got in his life. So where does it go? Surely not with his soul. Will all of his licks and his R'n'B Blow away?"

"Our engineer had a different idea From people who nearly died but survived, Feeling no fear of leaving their bodies here, And went to a room that was soon full of visitors."

"Put out the light, then, put out the light. Vibes in the sky invite you to dine. Dust to dust, Blow to blow."

"The whims that we're weeping for Our parents would be beaten for."

"Leave the breast And then the nest And then regret you ever left."

"All we ever look for — a god. All we ever look for — ooh, a drug. All we ever look for — a great big hug. All we ever look for — a little bit of you. All we ever look for — a little bit of you, too. All we ever look for, But we never do score."

"Follow the Nile Deep to much deeper. The Pyramids sound lonely tonight. The sands run red In lands of the Pharoahs. Their symmetry gets right inside me."

"Oh, I'm in love With Egypt."

"My Pussy Queen Knows all my secrets. I'll never fall in love again."

"Somehow this was it, I knew. Maybe fate wants you dead, too: We've come together in the very same room, And I'm coming for you!"

"All I see is Rudi. I die with him, again and again. And I'll feel good in my revenge. I'm gonna fill your head with lead And I'm coming for you!"

"Four strings across the bridge, Ready to carry me over, Over the quavers, drunk in the bars, Out of the realm of the orchestra..."

"Get the bow going! Let it scream to me: Violin! Violin! Violin!"

"Give me the Banshees for B.V.s."

"I say good night-night I tuck him in tight. But things are not right. What is this? An infant kiss That sends my body tingling?"

"His little hand is on my heart. He's got me where it hurts me. Knock, knock. Who's there in this baby? You know how to work me. All my barriers are going. It's starting to show."

"I cannot sit and let Something happen I'll regret. Ooh, he scares me! There's a man behind those eyes. I catch him when I'm bending."

"I want to smack but I hold back. I only want to touch. But I must stay and find a way To stop before it gets too much! All my barriers are going. It's starting to show."

"What could he do? Should have been a father. But he never even made it to his twenties. What a waste — Army dreamers. Ooh, what a waste of Army dreamers."

"Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know, Like a chicken with a fox, He couldn't win the war with ego. Give the kid the pick of pips, And give him all your stripes and ribbons. Now he's sitting in his hole, He might as well have buttons and bows."

"Outside Gets inside Through her skin."

"Breathing my mother in, Breathing my beloved in, Breathing, Breathing her nicotine, Breathing, Breathing the fall-out in, Out in, out in, out in, out in."

"We've lost our chance. We're the first and the last, ooh, After the blast."

"I love my Beloved, ooh, All and everywhere, Only the fools blew it. You and me Knew life itself is Breathing..."

"Some say that knowledge is something that you never have. Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap. Some say that heaven is hell. Some say that hell is heaven."

"I must admit, just when I think I'm king,"

"I hold a cup of wisdom, But there is nothing within."

"The sense of adventure Is changing to danger. The signal has been given."

"My excitement Turns into fright. All my words fade. What am I gonna say? Mustn't give the game away."

"Just one thing in it: Me or him. Just one thing in it: Me or him. And I love life!"

"He's big and pink, and not like me. He sees no light. He sees no reason for the fighting..."

"Out in the garden There's half of a heaven, And we're only bluffing. We're not ones for busting through walls, But they've told us Unless we can prove That we're doing it, We can't have it all."

"I don't know why I'm crying. Am I suspended in Gaffa? Not until I'm ready for you, Not until I'm ready for you Can I have it all."

"I won't open boxes That I am told not to. I'm not a Pandora. I'm much more like That girl in the mirror. Between you and me She don't stand a chance of getting anywhere at all."

"Mother, where are the angels? I'm scared of the changes."

"My door was never locked, Until one day a trigger come cocking. (But now I've started learning how,) I keep it shut."

"Harm is in us. Harm in us, but power to arm. Harm is in us. Leave it open!"

"We let the weirdness in."

"See the light ram through the gaps in the land. Many an Aborigine's mistaken for a tree 'Til you near him on the motorway And the tree begin to breathe."

"'Coming in with the golden light In the morning. Coming in with the golden light Is the New Man."

"The civilised keep alive The territorial war... Erase the race that claim the place And say we dig for ore, Or dangle devils in a bottle And push them from the pull of the Bush."

"See the sun set in the hand of the man."

"If you go, I'll let the law know, And they'll head you off when you touch the ground. Ooh, please, don't go through with this. I don't like the sound of it."

"In Malta, catch a swallow, For all of the guilty — to set them free. Wings fill the window, And they beat and bleed. They hold the sky on the other side Of borderlines."

"Give me a break! Ooh, let me try! Give me something to show For my miserable life! Give me something to take! Would you break even my wings, Just like a swallow?"

"We needed you To love us too. We wait for your move."

"Only tragedy allows the release Of love and grief never normally seen. I didn't want to let them see me weep, I didn't want to let them see me weak, But I know I have shown That I stand at the gates alone."

"I needed you To love me too. I wait for your move."

"All the love, all the love, All the love we should have given. All the love, all the love, All the love you could have given. All the love..."

"The tambourine jingle-jangles. The medium roams and rambles. Not taken in, I break the circle. I want this man To go away now."

"With a kiss I'd pass the key And feel your tongue Teasing and receiving. With your spit Still on my lip, You hit the water."

"Rosabel believe, Not even eternity Can hold Houdini! "Rosabel, believe!""

"I will not let you in. I face towards the wind. I change into the Mule."

"It doesn't hurt me. Do you want to feel how it feels? Do you want to know that it doesn't hurt me? Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making? You, it's you and me."

"And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God, And I'd get him to swap our places, Be running up that road, Be running up that hill, Be running up that building."

"You don't want to hurt me, But see how deep the bullet lies. Unaware I'm tearing you asunder. Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts."

"Is there so much hate for the ones we love? Tell me, we both matter, don't we? You, it's you and me. It's you and me won't be unhappy."

"C'mon, baby, c'mon darling, Let me steal this moment from you now. C'mon, angel, c'mon, c'mon, darling, Let's exchange the experience, oh..."

"If I only could Be running up that hill With no problems..."

"It's in the trees! It's coming!"

"I found a fox Caught by dogs. He let me take him in my hands. His little heart, It beats so fast, And I'm ashamed of running away From nothing real — I just can't deal with this, But I'm still afraid to be there, Among your hounds of love..."

"Do you know what I really need? I need love love love love love, yeah!"

"They look down At the ground, Missing. But I never go in now. I'm looking at the Big Sky."

"You never really understood me. You never really tried."

"This cloud, this cloud — Says "Noah, C'mon and build me an Ark." And if you're coming, jump, 'Cause We're leaving with the Big Sky."

"She knows that I've been doing something wrong, But she won't say anything."

"Am I the cat that takes the bird? To her the hunted, not the hunter."

"Mother stands for comfort. Mother will hide the murderer. Mother hides the madman. Mother will stay mum."

"I still dream of Orgonon. I wake up crying. You're making rain, And you're just in reach, When you and sleep escape me."

"I just know that something good is going to happen. I don't know when, But just saying it could even make it happen."

"On top of the world, Looking over the edge, You could see them coming. You looked too small In their big, black car, To be a threat to the men in power."

"I hid my yo-yo In the garden. I can't hide you From the government. Oh, God, Daddy — I won't forget..."

"Little light shining, Little light will guide them to me. My face is all lit up, My face is all lit up."

"If they find me racing white horses, They'll not take me for a buoy. Let me be weak, Let me sleep And dream of sheep."

"Ooh, their breath is warm And they smell like sleep, And they say they take me home. Like poppies heavy with seed They take me deeper and deeper."

"There's something moving Under, under the ice, Moving under ice, Through water, Trying to get out of the cold water. "It's me." Something, someone — help them. "It's me.""

"Wake up!...You must wake up!"

"Don't you know you've kept him waiting?" "Look who's here to see you!"

"I question your innocence! Help this blackbird! She's a witch! There's a stone around my leg."

"What say you, good people? "Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!" Help this blackbird..."

"Get out of the waves! Get out of the water!"

"You can't hear me. You can't hear me. You can't hear what I'm saying. You can't hear what I'm saying to you."

"I should have been home Hours ago, But I'm not here. But I'm not here..."

"I'll be sitting in your mirror. Now is the place where the crossroads meet. Will you look into the future?"

"Never, never say goodbye To my part of your life."

""This moment in time," (She said.) It doesn't belong to you," (She said,) It belongs to me, And your little boy and your little girl, And the one hand clapping: Where on your palm is my little line, When you're written in mine As an old memory?"

"Can't you see where memories are kept bright? Tripping on the water like a laughing girl. Time in her eyes is spawning past life, One with the ocean and the woman unfurled, Holding all the love that waits for you here. Catch us now for I am your future. A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land. Come over here to where When lingers, Waiting in this empty world, Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools. For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave, And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools. We are of the going water and the gone. We are of water in the holy land of water And all that's to come runs in With the thrust on the strand."

"Watching storms Start to form Over America. Can't do anything. Just watch them swing With the wind Out to sea."

"I was there at the birth, Out of the cloudburst, The head of the tempest. Murderer! Murder of calm..."

"The light Begin to bleed, Begin to breathe, Begin to speak. D'you know what? I love you better now."

"I'll kiss the ground. I'll tell my mother, I'll tell my father, I'll tell my loved one, I'll tell my brothers How much I love them."

"He said I was a flower of the mountain, yes, But now I've powers o'er a woman's body, yes. Stepping out of the page into the sensual world. Stepping out... To where the water and the earth caress And the down on a peach says mmh, Yes..."

"Do I look for those millionaires Like a Machiavellian girl would When I could wear the sunset?"

"You don't need words — just one kiss, then another."

"Stepping out, off the page, into the sensual world. And then our arrows of desire rewrite the speech..."

"I said, mmh... yes, But not yet, mmh... yes, Mmh... Yes."

"It lay buried here. It lay deep inside me. It's so deep I don't think that I can speak about it. It could take me all of my life, But it would only take a moment to Tell you what I'm feeling, But I don't know if I'm ready yet."

"Take away the love and the anger, And a little piece of hope holding us together. Looking for a moment that'll never happen, Living in the gap between past and future. Take away the stone and the timber, And a little piece of rope won't hold it together."

"If you can't tell your sister, If you can't tell a priest, 'Cause it's so deep you don't think that you can speak about it To anyone, Can you tell it to your heart? Can you find it in your heart To let go of these feelings..."

"We could be like two strings beating, Speaking in sympathy..."

"We're building a house of the future together. (What would we do without you?)"

"You might not, not think so now, But just you wait and see — someone will come to help you."

"Just like a photograph, I pick you up. Just like a station on the radio, I pick you up."

"Just like a feeling that you're sending out, I pick it up. But I can't let you go. If I let you go, You slip into the fog..."

"This love was big enough for the both of us. This love of yours was big enough to be frightened of. It's deep and dark, like the water was, The day I learned to swim."

"Is this love big enough to watch over me? Big enough to let go of me Without hurting me, Like the day I learned to swim?"

"See how the child reaches out instinctively To feel how fire will feel. See how the man reaches out instinctively For what he cannot have. The pull and the push of it all."

"Reaching out for that hand to hold. Reaching out for the Star. Reaching out for the Star that explodes. Reaching out for Mama."

"See how the flower leans instinctively Toward the light. See how the heart reaches out instinctively For no reason but to touch..."

"You talked me into the game of chance. It was '39, before the music started, When you walked up to me and you said, "Hey, heads we dance.""

"They say that the Devil is a charming man. And just like you I bet he can dance."

"Well, I couldn't see what was to be So I just stood there laughing A picture of you, a picture of you in uniform Standing with your head held high Hot down to the floor but it couldn't be you It couldn't be you, it's a picture of Hitler"

"As the people here grow colder I turn to my computer And spend my evenings with it Like a friend."

"Hello, I know that you've been feeling tired. I bring you love and deeper understanding. Hello, I know that you're unhappy. I bring you love and deeper understanding…."

"I turn to my computer like a friend. I need deeper understanding. Give me deeper understanding..."

"He said it was her fault. She said it wasn't at all. But the truth lies somewhere in the middle."

"Where angels fear to tread, You go rushing in. Stay out of this You must not interfere Don't you see this is Between a man and a woman?"

"I look at you and see my life that might have been your face just ghostly in the smoke. They're setting fire to the cornfields as you're taking me home. The smell of burning fields will now mean you and here."

"This is where I want to be. This is what I need. This is where I want to be, But I know that this will never be mine."

"I want you as the dream, Not the reality. That clumsy good-bye kiss could fool me. But looking back over my shoulder at you happy without me."

"The thrill and the hurting Will never be mine."

"I thought you were crazy, wishing such a thing. I saw only a stick on fire, Alone on its journey Home to the quickening ground, With no one there to catch it."

"I am a rocket On fire. Look at me go, with my tail on fire..."

"I know you have a little life in you yet. I know you have a lot of strength left."

"I should be crying, but I just can't let it show. I should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking Of all the things I should've said, That I never said. All the things we should've done, That we never did. All the things I should've given, But I didn't."

"We're calling out for Middle Street."

"We hang on to every line, And walk straight down the middle of it."

"He thought he was gonna die, But he didn't. She thought she just couldn't cope, But she did. We thought it would be so hard, But it wasn't... It wasn't easy, though!"

"See those trees Bend in the wind I feel they've got a lot more sense than me You see I try to resist..."

"A rubberband bouncing back to life A rubberband bend the beat If I could learn to give like a rubberband I'd be back on my feet..."

"We let it in We give it out And in the end What's it all about? It must be love."

"We used to say "Ah Hell, we're young" But now we see that life is sad And so is love."

"What really matters? It's all we've got Isn't that enough?"

"All for love Just for the sake of love."

"Split me open With devotion You put your hands in And rip my heart out Eat the music."

"All is revealed Not only women bleed."

"What am I singing? A song of seeds — The food of love. Eat the music."

"I think about us diving Diving off a rock, into another moment..."

"Just being alive It can really hurt These moments given Are a gift from time.Just let us try To give these moments back To those we love To those who will survive..."

"And I can hear my mother saying "Every old sock meets an old shoe" Isn't that a great saying?"

"Here come the Hills of Time"

"The Song of Solomon The song of everyone Who walks the path Of the solitary heart."

"The soul cries out Hear a woman singing Don't want your bullshit, yeah Just want your sexuality. Don't want excuses, yeah Write me your poetry in motion Write it just for me, yeah And sign it with a kiss."

"I'll do it for you I'll be the Rose of Sharon for you Ooh I'll come in a hurricane for you I'll do it for you..."

"Oh thou, who givest sustenance to the universe From whom all things proceed To whom all things return Unveil to us the face of the true spiritual sun Hidden by a disc of golden light That we may know the truth And do our whole duty As we journey to thy sacred feet"

"I said "Lily, Oh Lily I'm so afraid I fear I am walking in the Veil of Darkness" And she said "Child, take what I say With a pinch of salt And protect yourself with fire""

"Gabriel before me Raphael behind me Michael (archangel) to my right Uriel on my left side In the circle of fire."

"With no words, with no song You can dance the dream with your body on And this curve, is your smile And this cross, is your heart And this line, is your path Oh it's gonna be the way you always thought it would be But it's gonna be no illusion Oh it's gonna be the way you always dreamt about it But it's gonna be really happening to ya..."

"Feel your hair come tumbling down Feel your feet start kissing the ground Feel your arms are opening out And see your eyes are lifted to God With no words, with no song I'm gonna dance the dream And make the dream come true..."

"I don't know if I'm closer to Heaven but It looks like Hell down there. These streets have never been paved with gold."

"It's no good for you baby It's no good for you now Keep looking up for the ladder."

"I don't mind if it's dangerous I don't mind if it's raining Take me up to the top of the city And put me up on the angel's shoulders."

"We take all the telescopes And we turn them inside out And we point them away from the big sky. Put your eye right up to the glass. Here we'll find the constellation of the heart. Steer your life by these stars On the unconditional chance 'Tis here where Hell and Heaven dance. This is the constellation of the heart."

"Well we think you'd better wake up capt'n There's something happen'n up ahead We've never seen anything like it We've never seen anything like it before."

"Who said anything about it hurting? It's gonna be beautiful It's gonna be wonderful It's gonna be paradise."

"Ooh find me the man with the ladder And he might lift me up to the stars."

"Without the pain there'd be no learning Without the hurting we'd never change."

"All young gentle dreams drowning In life's grief Can you hang on to me?"

"Your name is being called by sacred things That are not addressed nor listened to. Sometimes they blow trumpets."

"Hey all you little waves run away. Mmm... run away."

"This chapter says "Put it out of your mind" Mmm, give it time...."

"The fine purple The purest gold The red of the Sacred Heart The grey of a ghost The "L" of the lips are open To the "O" of the Host The "V" of the velvet The "E" of my eye The eye in wonder The eye that sees The "I" that loves you."

"Have you ever seen a picture Of Jesus laughing? Mmm, do you think He had a beautiful smile? A smile that healed."

"Let's change things. Let's danger it up. We're crazy enough. I just can't take it."

"You're the only one I want..."

"I know where I'm going. But I don't want to leave. I just have one problem We're best friends, yeah? We tied ourselves in knots Doing cartwheels 'cross the floor Just forget it alright."

"Could you see the aisles of women? Could you see them screaming and weeping? Could you see the storm rising? Could you see the guy who was driving? Could you climb higher and higher? Could you climb right over the top?"

"Elvis are you out there somewhere Looking like a happy man? In the snow with Rosebud| And King of the Mountain."

"Another Hollywood waitress Is telling us she's having your baby And there's a rumour that you're on ice And you will rise again someday."

"Sweet and gentle and sensitive man With an obsessive nature and deep fascination For numbers And a complete infatuation with the calculation Of π."

"He does love his numbers And they run, they run, they run him In a great big circle In a circle of infinity 3.14159 26535897932 3846 264 338 3279..."

"Here comes the sunshine Here comes that son of mine Here comes the everything Here's a song and a song for him."

"You bring me so much joy And then you bring me More joy..."

"Oh and the waves are going out Oh and the waves are coming in Out of the corner of my eye I think I see you standing outside But it's just your shirt Hanging on the washing line Waving it's arm as the wind blows by And it looks so alive Nice and white Just like it's climbed right out of my washing machine..."

"I found a book on how to be invisible You take a pinch of keyhole, And fold yourself up, You cut along the dotted lines. You think inside out. You're invisible."

"I found a book on how to be invisible On the edge of the labyrinth Under a veil you must never lift Pages you must never turn in the labyrinth You stand in front of a million doors And each one holds a million more Corridors that lead to the world Of the invisible"

"All the banners stop waving And the flags stop flying And the silence comes over Thousands of soldiers..."

"Who is that girl? Do I know her face?"

"Joanni, Joanni wears a golden cross And she looks so beautiful in her armour Joanni, Joanni blows a kiss to God And she never wears a ring on her finger..."

"There's a city, draped in net Fisherman net And in the half light, in the half light It looks like every tower Is covered in webs Moving and glistening and rocking It's babies in rhythm As the spider of time is climbing Over the ruins."

"Put your hand over the side of the boat What do you feel?"

"My mother and her little brown jug It held her milk And now it holds our memories..."

"Mummy... Daddy... The day is full of birds Sounds like they're saying words..."

"We're gonna be laughing about this We're gonna be dancing around It's gonna be so good now."

"It's gonna be so good now It's gonna be so good Can you see the lark ascending?"

"Oh will you come with us To find the song of the oil and the brush?"

"Watching the painter painting And all the time, the light is changing And he keeps painting That bit there, it was an accident But he's so pleased It's the best mistake, he could make And it's my favourite piece. It's just great."

"So all the colours run See what they have become A wonderful sunset"

"Who knows who wrote that song of summer, That blackbirds sing at dusk, This is a song of colour, Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust, Then climb into bed and turn to dust."

"Every sleepy light Must say goodbye To the day before it dies In a sea of honey A sky of honey Keep us close to your heart So if the skies turn dark We may live on in Comets and stars."

"It was just so beautiful."

"This is where the shadows come to play twixt the day And night Dancing and skipping Along a chink of light"

"Somewhere in between The waxing and the waning wave Somewhere in between What the song and the silence says Somewhere in between The ticking and the tocking clock Somewhere in a dream between Sleep and waking up Somewhere in between Breathing out and breathing in Like twilight is neither night nor morning"

"Not one of us would dare to break The silence And, oh how we have longed For something that would Make us feel so..."

"Could be in a dream Our clothes are on the beach These prints of our feet Lead right up to the sea No one, no one is here No one, no one is here We stand in the Atlantic We become panoramic..."

"The stars are caught in our hair The stars are on our fingers A veil of diamond dust Just reach up and touch it The sky's above our heads The sea's around our legs In milky, silky water We swim further and further..."

"We dive deeper and deeper Could be we are here Could be in my dream It came up on the horizon Rising and rising In a sea of honey, a sky of honey."

"Bright, white coming alive jumping off of the aerial All the time it's a changing, like now..."

"All the time it's a changing And all the dreamers are waking."

"Oh the dawn has come And the song must be sung And the flowers are melting. What kind of language is this?"

"I can't hear a word you're saying Tell me what are you singing In the sun"

"All of the birds are laughing Come on let's all join in."

"I was born in a cloud... Now I am falling. I want you to catch me. Look up and you'll see me. You know you can hear me. The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you."

"I am ice and dust. I am sky. I can see horses wading through snowdrifts. My broken hearts, my fabulous dances. My fleeting song, fleeting. The world is so loud. Keep falling. I'll find you."

"Lying in my tent I can hear your cry Echoing round the mountainside You sound lonely"

"You were playing in the snow You were banging on the doors You climbed up on the roof Roof of the world You were pulling up the rhododendrons Loping down the mountain They want to know you They will hunt you down Then they will kill you Run away, run away... We found your footprints in the snow We brushed them all away... You're the wild man."

"Excuse me I'm sorry to bother you, But don't I know you? There's just something about you. Haven't we met before? We've been in love forever."

"When we got on top of the hill, We saw Rome burning. I just let you walk away. I've never forgiven myself."

"And I'd never know where you'd gonna be next But I'd know that you'd surprise me."

"Only you can do something about it. There's no-one there, my friend, any better."

"Aren't we all the same? In and out of doubt. I can see angels standing around you. They shimmer like mirrors in Summer. But you don't know it. And they will carry you o'er the walls. If you need us, just call."

"There's someone who's loved you forever but you don't know it. You might feel it and just not show it."

"So much for all the prayers you've learned. They are no help to basic needs. And all the worlds they've shown you Just make you even greedier."

"I feel so sorry for you, Believing because they control. And of all the guardian angels They chose me to save your soul! Oh, I'm just trying to explain, I'm a disbelieving angel."

"Passing through air. You mix the stars with your arms. Walking through there. The doom of eternity balms. Skies of grey are not today."

"Oh! Don't you throw my love away, I need your loving, I need your loving..."

"When you reach for a star Only angels are there And it's not very far Just a step on a stair Take a look at those clowns And the tricks that they play In the circus of life Life is bitter and gay There are clowns in the night Clowns everywhere See how they run Run from despair ..."

"When the fantasy bells Of the universe ring You can fly through the sky On a dragonfly's wing. There is magic within There is magic without Follow me and you'll learn Just what life's all about."

"December will be magic again. Take a husky to the ice While Bing Crosby sings White Christmas. He makes you feel nice. December will be magic again."

"See how I fall like the snow, Come to cover the lovers, (But don't you wake them up) Come to sparkle the dark up, With just a touch of make up. Come to cover the muck up. Ooh with a little luck — December will be magic again."

"December will be magic again. Don't miss the brightest star, Kiss under mistletoe, I want to hear you laugh, Don't let the mystery go now."

"Warm and soothing That's how I remember home. Walking into arms through the back door Hearing voices I know well and long for."

"I'm reeling in the music, And I've only had a few... And I'm afraid by the way we grow old... My darling..."

"This little girl inside me Is retreating to her favourite place. Go into the garden. Go under the ivy, Under the leaves, Away from the party. Go right to the rose. Go right to the white rose (For me.)"

"It's not easy for me To give away a secret — It's not safe..."

"I know it works for me. As we cross the bridge — the burning bridge — With flames behind us, We front the line. It's you and me, baby, against the world."

"I don't know you, And you don't know me. It is this that brings us together."

"What a lovely afternoon On a cloudbusting kind of day. We took our own 'Mystery Tour' And got completely lost somewhere up in the hills. And we came up on a bee-keeper, And he said "Did you know they can change it all?""

"They got alchemy. They turn the roses into gold They turn the lilac into honey They're making love for the peaches. And they'll do it, Do it for you."

"One of the main things that brings people to the Brontë Museum from all over the world is Kate Bush. We have copies of her No 1 hit single "Wuthering Heights" in our collection of Brontë-related items. People often arrive at the Brontë novels through that song."

"To me, Kate Bush will always represent the age of exploring your sexuality, when you change from a girl to a woman. I guess that's what I found fascinating about Kate, she totally stuck out. She created her own look and sound. There's a timelessness to her music."

"I think she is still relevant. It's nice to see people reinvent themselves. She was a great performer and a great singer. I like that song, you know the one, "It's me, I'm Cathy…" I love that song. I remember listening to it growing up."

"I know this may give her a mystique and make the press all the more curious about her, but that's not the intention; it's not a ploy to get her more attention. She genuinely doesn't see why people should be interested in her personal life and she certainly doesn't like going out to clubs or trendy restaurants. It's just not her."

"For me, it's not important how well the songs will be received because I think she's already an amazing influence in what she's done. I listen to her stuff a lot while I sketch and I think there is a weird sense of emotional encouragement in her work. There's something therapeutic in her voice and in her attitude, so that sometimes just listening to it can encourage you or give you some kind of energy."

"I didn't realise how commercially successful she might be. I thought of her more really, I suppose, in the terms of someone like Joni Mitchell — the level of a lady who's very talented, but would appeal to a more esoteric audience. But she had different ideas."

"Kate Bush's celebrated full return to the stage after a 35-year absence is proving that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Eight positions of the current British albums chart are occupied by the art-rock icon's albums, according to The New York Times, which sets a new record for the artist, whose 1978 debut single "Wuthering Heights" made her the first female in British charts history to have a self-written Number One. In addition to being the only woman in U.K. charts history to have that many albums in the Top 40, Bush is now trailing Elvis Presley and the Beatles for having simultaneous Top 40 records; Presley had 12 at one point in his career, while the Beatles, at another time, had 11."

"One of music's most reclusive and enigmatic figures has re-emerged into what some have seen as a rich era for British female singer-songwriters. Bush's new double album, Aerial, is due out in November, only her eighth after three decades in the business. It will be treated with due reverence."

"That's a song where we were listening to a lot of Kate Bush last summer, and we wanted a song which had a lot of tom-toms in it,I just had my daughter up also, and was kind of feeling in a sense of awe and wonderment, so the song is kind of a Kate Bush song about miracles."

"Of course she's 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."

"Her music remains reassuringly the same ecstatic alchemy of the humdrum and otherworldly. Recalling the hello-clouds wonder of The Big Sky from 1985's Hounds of Love or the frank paean to menstruation that is Strange Phenomena from her debut, The Kick Inside, Aerial finds Bush marvelling in the magic of the everyday: the wind animating a skirt hanging on a clothes line, the trace of footprints leading into the sea, the indecipherable codes of birdsong."

"I simply think she is one of the greatest figures in British music over the last 30 years. There are an awful lot of people in the business wandering around claiming to be artists, but she is one of the few who can genuinely make that claim... I don't think there is any competition, she's on a different level and quite outside them all."

"Could Keely Garfield be the Kate Bush of downtown dance? The question is raised by “Wow,” the bizarre, hilarious, enthralling, confounding and cathartic new work that Ms. Garfield presented on Thursday at Danspace Project. Surely it is the recent comeback tour of Ms. Bush that has put that singer-songwriter on Ms. Garfield's mind. But it is “Wow” that suggests the comparison: two British-born women, intensely idiosyncratic and theatrical with outlandish taste in costumes, who follow their imaginations uninhibitedly. The salient difference would seem to be irony. Much of Ms. Bush's power stems from her absolute sincerity, the sense that she is unaware that anyone might find what she's doing ridiculous. But Ms. Garfield has always been wry, droll, deadpan. Her assertion in a program note that she meant “Wow” to be “entirely sincere without a hint of irony or cleverness” cannot and should not be taken as entirely sincere. The program also credits Matthew Brookshire with “music inspired by the poetry of Kate Bush.” What we actually hear, though, are Kate Bush songs. Some are played in the original recordings, some chopped up and looped, but most are performed live by the marvelous Mr. Brookshire, on vocals and piano, joined by Ms. Garfield and her four terrific dancers. The arrangements are stripped down and seductively vibrant. Some lyrics are recited in a manner between sports cheer and Greek chorus. Some singsongy melodies are swapped for the tunes of actual nursery rhymes. Ms. Garfield, in other words, does not shy from the naïveté of her material. Much of her choreography illustrates the lyrics literally, in the manner of a children's pageant."

"With a voice you either love or hate, she belts out a song with a desperation that grabs you and won't let go."

"Bush has always teetered dangerously at the edge of sentimentality and cliché, and her early songs (what one reviewer called her “soft-focus Victorian melodramas”) could have gone all wrong had her bizarre phrasing not somehow let us know how serious she was. Bush sang melodramas, but she meant them like truth; those “oohs” aren't filler. The conviction in her voice, the baldness and great crushing desperation of it, is overpowering. It's the kind of music that grabs your innards and you turn it up, squint your eyes with the strain of it. Kate Bush was younger than 20 when she wrote “Wuthering Heights.” She couldn't (and still can't) read or write music, but she knew how to make a song true, how to up the tension with a key change, repeat the chorus with a hardness in her voice. She was a prodigy, an 18-year-old who looked 35, with an ethereal voice and a knack for inventive songwriting. She looks, in photos of the time, simultaneously naive and defiant, like someone who doesn't need other people. Much later in life, when she was asked in an interview with Rolling Stone why she toured so infrequently, Bush replied: “The more I got into presenting things to the world, the further it was taking me away from what I was, which was someone who just used to sit quietly at a piano and sing and play. It became very important to me not to lose sight of that.” In other words, Bush decided early on that our approval didn't matter. She was doing this from herself and largely for herself and if people didn't like her, or if they didn't understand her, well then, screw them."

"I'm really looking forward to Kate Bush's return — I'm no expert on her work but I know some of it and I think she's an incredibly original and talented artist. Anyone who writes most of an album like her first album, The Kick Inside, at 15 years old has got to be pretty special."

"When EMI invites a group of journalists to the Royal Academy of Music, in London, for a one-off listen to Kate Bush's new album, they are sending a clear signal — this album is not to be dismissed lightly."

"A Sky of Honey is, in a sense, a lyric poem set to music. Full of lush, fecund melodies which swing from jazz to rock, it is threaded through with bird song and chatter and feels distinctly organic and earthy.... Side two is the album Pink Floyd might have made if Kate Bush had been their lead singer and lyricist in 1979."

"A Sky of Honey is a celebration of song itself, which has a child's joyful lack of inhibition about it — Kate Bush is heard laughing freely towards the end while a young child, possibly her son, is heard several times... Aerial stands alongside The Hounds of Love and The Kick Inside as her finest work."

"I always heard about Kate Bush being considered one of the most influential female artists during the modern era of pop/rock music, but never understood what her appeal was... But when I recently stumbled upon her debut 1978 single, "Wuthering Heights," I found myself spending hours absorbing as much of her pre-1985 material as possible . . . Listening to an early Kate Bush album brings you far, far, away to a dreamworld filled with pixies and love and Peter Pan and pure hearts . . . "Wuthering Heights" and the rest of The Kick Inside display all of Bush's trademarks: a literary consciousness; flourishing, heartfelt waves and the ability to successfully incorporate just about every eccentric vocal style you've never heard into each song."

"Illusion, dance, mime, even magic — the Tour of Life, as it was called, had the lot. I shan't forget the way those Pink Floyd-like whale sounds that open The Kick Inside album heralded Kate's entry to the stage as waves were projected on huge screens and her band launched into Moving. For a split second, the audience thought Kate was lip-synching because there was no microphone, but in pre-dating Madonna by a couple of decades, she was wearing a headset to allow free movement around the stage. Every song from that first album was performed before the switch to stuff from follow-up Lionheart, virtually every number warranting a change of costume and stage set. ... The entire show was pure theatre."

"We've been holding our breath for a long time. Three years of playing the old songs and wondering "whatever next?" Would it be even weirder than The Dreaming? Would it leave more admirers by the wayside, shaking their heads?... The real fans will happily go along for the ride, even if she isn't going the pretty way."

"Kate journeys into new and exciting territories. She is an original in a music world dominated by cover versions, regressive movements and identikit superstars. The direct opposite of the archetypal rock star: compulsively introvert in a world of screaming extraverts, middle-class and deeply English amid England's all-pervasive working class American ethos, boldly feminine in rock's macho climate. Her melodic genius and articulate lyrics make the rest seem moronically simplistic."

"After a thousand songs on the theme of boy-meets-girl-boy-loses-girl or Thatcher's Britain, exposure to her music comes as an imaginative release as we go giddily flying into the limitless possibilities of the poetic viewpoint. Here is talk of whales, of Peter Pan, kites, Houdini, mysticism... Acquaintances have observed, "She lives in a world of her own." But it's a world that lives within all of us, and her songs shine light into neglected areas of our minds."

"Her subjects come tripping from library shelves, television and cinema screens and musty books of fairy tales, the stuff that dreams are made of. She spins tunes that haunt, twist and turn the mind, triggering long forgotten moods. Listening intently to her albums is an experience akin to having a lucid and feverish dream. Jungian symbols of youth, innocence, spiritual escape and the dark, feminine realm abound. Ghosts haunt the black vinyl grooves... But it's not all brooding intensity. There are jokes, too..."

"It's a mischievous paradox that, while rock at its ultra-macho best is exhilarating and energizing, yet just at the moment when it is most strident and loud it leaves you needing something more. Then along comes a shy doctor's daughter from Welling who out-screams the best, out-powers the noisiest and tops it with the satisfying impact of musical and psychological depth. It's almost Wagnerian."

"Her talent was precocious. "The Saxophone Song" and "The Man With the Child in His Eyes" were recorded as demo tapes when Kate was still at school. The first album, The Kick Inside (1978), caused tremendous media interest and is still the public's favourite. Her voice, criticized at the time, was small and childlike, the range erratic, if impressive. Since then it has improved enormously, deepening and gaining power and flexibility, until now it is a great asset, individual and capable of both subtle and stunning effects."

"The album Never for Ever came next and starts in happy mood, with a summer night of a cha-cha-cha tribute to a new-found hero, "Delius". The philosophic All We Ever Look For creates a remarkable and rare mood of reassurance and upbeat resignation, a Bush specialty . . . The end comes in the horrifying "Breathing", a vision of the nuclear holocaust through the eyes of an unborn child."

"On to The Dreaming, a strange, alien album full of mysticism and obscurantae. Its impact owes much to sheer production quality. Kate has gradually taken over this aspect of her records since Lionheart, and each LP is technically more impressive. Her voice here is forward and strong and, on "Leave It Open", deliberately distorted to create a surreal effect. Get Out of My House is a shattering trip into madness, with a stunning culmination which finds Kate braying like a mule amid a chorus of Indian drum talk."

"The new album, Hounds of Love, breaks new ground for Kate with the b-side. This is a story — The Ninth Wave — told in a series of songs, like a Pink Floyd concept album."

"Casual listeners will miss the depth of the music. You must sit down with the lyric sheet and find out what's going on. All the vocal acrobatics and weird sounds click into place when you know what ideas, stories and situations they are expressing. In most rock and pop, the music and words may be linked, but are basically separate. Kate creates, more and more, a fusion between the two — the sounds directly expressing the subject. This is a throwback to Wagner's music-drama, with its leitmotifs, turning music into an idea. The Beatles revived the technique, and bands of the hippy era like Pink Floyd carried the banner. . . Kate is fast becoming a master in the use of this sonic montage, perhaps because the ideas she is using are far more complex, have more "resonances", than those of her contemporaries."

"Kate will never be an academic artist, drily applying intellectual music theory to the delight of a handful of peers, forging into new areas for the sake of "progress". Her style is personal, individual, impressionistic. Like Delius, her music will always flow from poetic necessity, breaking from the confines of tradition because expression demands it. I just hope that she will have the confidence to follow her instincts and not be discouraged by the music press, who in the main are baffled and annoyed by her uniqueness. Unable to pigeon-hole her music, they turn instead to ridicule and condescension to fill the pages. Which is a disservice to the British public who, to their undying credit, have made Kate Bush such a popular success."

"When the conductor Richard Hickox rang me one day in 1984 to ask if I could help with a rather unusual job for which he and his choir had been engaged, I was intrigued. Kate Bush, it transpired, was working on her new album, Hounds of Love, and for one track, Hello Earth, she wanted a chorus to recreate the orthodox singing/chanting that made such a contribution to the film Nosferatu."

"I had always considered Kate Bush truly original both as a performer and as a songwriter with an unusually fresh sense of harmony. If her new album next month is awaited with some excitement after a long fallow period, then in 1985 it was assumed that Hounds of Love would be something of a final fling at the conclusion of a waning career. I soon realised how wrong this assumption was when Kate sent me a cassette: it was zany, ambitious and yet utterly Kate Bush, but with gaps where I was to do her bidding. Having chatted at length, she sent me a long letter with the words of the song and precise instructions on how it should unfold... Structure was carefully delineated, verses and choruses written out fully and marked up in colour, and she talked of the sound quality in the most graphic terms."

"Although she had piano and violin lessons at school, Bush is essentially self-taught. I have always been fascinated by the difference of dynamics at work between popular artists and conventionally trained classical musicians, and had a similar experience with the Edge, of U2, when we worked together on the score of a film called Captive. In fact, gifted "pop" musicians like Bush and U2 are far more demanding of themselves in the studio than classical musicians can afford to be, and will spend days working on a tiny fragment."

"Come the recording day, a group of male choristers, more accustomed to singing church services than backing vocals, descended on Bush's home, which was equipped with its own studio. Doubtless they were imagining that they were about to meet a wild-eyed rock babe, but Kate, quiet and unassuming — the kind of sympathetic, slightly shy girl who greets you from behind the counter at the local chemist — introduced us to her friend the bass player Del Palmer, who engineered the session. None of the singers or Richard had ever gone over and over four or five phrases so exactingly. No measure of Bach or Mozart had, in their experience, been subjected to such surgical scrutiny, and I began to worry that their voices might begin to tire. But Bush knew and got what she wanted and "Hello Earth" is, I think, a remarkable track on the album that finally broke the American market and established her as an iconic and hugely influential figure. I can't wait to hear what she has been up to now."

"For me, Kate Bush was always a trump card when the tiresome 'question' of female artistic genius came up. ... Before disgust stopped me getting dragged into these skirmishes, I had a ready arsenal of Girl Greats — Patti Smith, Björk, Nina Simone, Delia Derbyshire, Polly Harvey, and so on. And yet, there would often be some caveat why genius eluded my candidates (ripped off Dylan etc). Until we would get to Kate. Female genius? Kate Bush. End of. Aerial, the first Kate Bush album in a young lifetime (12 years), re-establishes the fact. It is extraordinary — jaw-dropping, no less."

"Aerial succeeds because it's all there for a reason. And because the good stuff is just so sublime. 'King of the Mountain', Bush's Elvis-inspired single, is both a fine opener and a total red herring. Bush's juices really get going on 'Pi', a sentimental ode to a mathematician, audacious in both subject matter and treatment. The chorus is the number sung to many, many decimal places. It's closely followed by a gushing ode to Bush's son, Bertie, that's stark and medieval-sounding. The rest of disc one (aka A Sea of Honey) sets a very high bar for disc two, with the Joan of Arc-themed 'Joanni' and the downright poppy 'How to Be Invisible' raising the hair on your arms into a Mexican wave. Disc two, subtitled A Sky of Honey, is a suite of nine tracks which, among other things, charts the passage of light from afternoon ('Prologue') to evening ('An Architect's Dream', 'The Painter's Link') and through the night until dawn. Things get a little hairier here."

"It's clear Bush is still a force to be reckoned with. The problem, though, with female genius — for many men at least — is that very frequently it is not like male genius. And with its songs about children, washing machines going 'slooshy sloshy', Joan of Arc, Bush's mother, not to mention the almost pagan sensuality that runs through here like a pulse, Aerial is, arguably, the most female album in the world, ever. ... the artistry here is so dizzying, the ambition and scope so vast, that even the deafest, most inveterate misogynist could not fail to acknowledge it. Genius. End of."

"Such is the idiosyncratic nature of her work that she could probably disappear for a half-century and still sustain her own unique position in the pop firmament. But then, who else would write about an obsessive-compulsive housewife or attempt a vocal duet with trilling birds, or, in the most courageous of the album's many unusual strategies, sing huge strings of numbers, a gambit that brings new meaning to the old critic's chestnut about being happy to listen to someone singing the telephone directory?"

"Many years ago, back near the start of her career, she regarded the domestic demands of motherhood as a dubious prospect, claiming her work was her love, and how could she do that and bring up a child at the same time? The answer, presumably, was not to work for a dozen years."

"She has always freely admitted being like a little girl in many ways, and furthermore, happily presumes she'll still be that way in her dotage. It's certainly still a factor on Aerial , both in the track "Bertie" itself and in the memories and reminiscences that cobweb some other songs. But compared to the darker corners of the mind sometimes mined in earlier songs, the new album seems a much sunnier affair: an enduring image I took away from it — not necessarily a lyric, though it might have been — was of windows flung wide open, their curtains billowing out in the breeze, a room's long-dormant dust stirred into life again."

"She's unafraid, too, of tackling more problematic areas of sexuality, as for instance when she dealt with cradle-snatching in "The Infant Kiss" and incest in "The Kick Inside". But not all that seems erotic in her music is about sex, as an EMI employee discovered when he found her working on the hypnotic "out-in-out-in" chant section of "Breathing" (from 1980's Never For Ever), and expressed outrage at EMI's young pop princess making such an overtly sexual record. The song is, of course, about breathing. Duhhh!"

"At around an hour and a half, Aerial is unquestionably a substantial piece of work, and its manifold peculiarities and quirks offer much more interesting fare than that available from today's AOR mainstream. It's also a more mature undertaking than any of her previous albums, an extended meditation on art and light, fame and family, creativity and the natural world. Indeed it seems, come to think of it, like an expansion of the theme of Laura Veirs' gorgeous "Rapture". And since that was the finest song of last year, I'd have to say that leaves Kate Bush still operating at the cutting-edge of intelligent adult pop, every bit as relevant now as at any point in her career. Just a little bit weirder, thank heavens."

"When Kate Bush came along, sort of '78, I was in The Slits , and I remember I was sitting in a van outside our singer's house, waiting to do a gig, and "Wuthering Heights" came on the radio, and I was like "Ooh, WHAT? What's this?" And I kept waiting for the melody to repeat, because, you know, at that time, pop music was very much Radio One, you know it was repeating melodies very quickly, and this melody it meandered on, and this high-pitched voice warbling and dropping, but I was absolutely spellbound."

"Babooshka's just one of those song's you just can't get out of your head, can you? You know, how she just takes a word, and you start seeing images and pictures. To a word that maybe you haven't used ... it's "Babooshka" and she's turned that into an emotion, that's just how she's able to use a combination of a word and a combination of a melody and the rhythm of that, and it creates a new language."

"I just remember pulling aside, I was driving, and I heard it on the radio, in the states — and she didn't really get played a lot in the states, until that song — that really got played — a lot. I remember, I had to pull over, and listen to it, because I'd never heard anything like it."

"The intention is to tell a story, to create a sonic world for us, a sonic painting, for us to walk into, without having to see her. She's transcending that. She's choosing to transcend that. And that's a very powerful thing to do."

"I don't think she's ever particularly wanted to "play the game", has she? But when you've done great work, like she's done, and then you retract from the public, people almost have to make up their own version of you, don't they?"

"I've spent many, many hours listening to that 30 minutes of music. It's an incredible piece of music, and I would advise anyone who's never heard it to go and listen to it, because it's one of the great pieces of music."

"She's sort of stretching the fabric, not just of her voice, but of the whole kind of pop form. ... It's like a child, it's like a kind of reveling in what her voice can do."

"It's as if, within her voice, there's everything — every possible facet of human experience is their under her surface, and her work as a writer is to constantly draw that out. Not just the particularity of her experiences as a female body, but her experience as a person, which is to be prey to all kinds of forces and sensations."

"That's one of like my all-time favorite songs, dude. Music is supposed to evoke emotion, you know what I'm saying, It makes you feel a certain way, you know, that's what the vibrations are. Its, its not stagnant, its not just, not just plain — every time you listen to it, it touches you, it strikes a chord."

"You can hear one note of a Kate Bush song, or one note of her voice even, and know immediately what it is. And that is the biggest feat of any artist, especially when you consider, you know, all the roads that she's gone down."

"For that to have come out of someone's brain, period, is a remarkable feat. For that to have come out of someone's brain, at 17 years old — this incredible song, incredible song ... there aren't that many amazing pop songs that have two or three key changes in them —‚ and I'm not talking about some modulations, I'm talking: "Okay, now we're in the key of Q." It's like WHAT? But it's so brilliant, it's so memorable. I always karaoke that song — if I drink enough."

"I read an interview with her one time, where she was asked, something along the lines of "Why do you write from the perspective of a lot of characters?" and she said very simply and eloquently "because they're more interesting than I am.""

"I'm convinced that, as great as that record sounds, if you had anyone else sing it, you know, anyone else try to kind of weave and make it do that thing where it burns like wildfire and it comes alive, no one else could do it. It's incredible the way she kind of brings this cold arctic atmosphere, It's just like fire, you know? It's like all aaarh coming out of her mouth. ... and now I'm listening to the song in my head. "Do you know what I really need? Do you know what I really need? I need lalalala yea yo yea yo your love.""

"I still remember going to the CD store and buying The Sensual World when I was 16, and the cover — there was a rose in front of her mouth, that has bloomed, she's got big wide eyes, and I remember, you know, putting it on the shitty car stereo on the way home, you know — and my life was forever changed."

"You don't ever get the sense that she's making music to pander to anyone. I think you always get her absolute best attempt at her true vision whenever you get a Kate Bush record."

"She's a gift for satirists. Of course it's easy, because dull artists, especially in pop music, are very difficult to satirize. It's all there on a plate wasn't it?"

"I was called by my agent, who said "Would you like to record a track with Kate Bush?" To which there is only F-ing one possible answer. Unless its me singing. I said, "She does know I can't sing?" "No-no-no, it would be voicing, saying words for snow. … I still can't believe it says "Kate Bush-Stephen Fry.""

"She has a very intense poetic mind. That's what makes it — that voice that comes in."

"The Man with the Child in His Eyes is still one of those things, which right from the get-go ... has its own life, because it's just a great song. ... For all the time that she or I or anyone spend decorating and creating moods, its actually the key element of what your saying, the melody and the chords which still speak louder than all the stuff around, on a great song."

"Creativity comes from the freedom to fail. And freedom to fail comes from experimentation, and that's what gives something its individuality. And, you know, I think her courage, which is the positive way of interpreting it, or bloody-mindedness, which is the negative, is part of what gives her real value as an artist."

"It's extraordinary what that song has been used for — I think a lot of people who have gotten into trouble, have attached themselves to that song, and I think a lot of it is Kate's wonderful voice is there, in a sort of reassuring and loving way, and it just makes them think that perhaps there is going to be that type of love out there for them."

"I'd never heard anything like it before. It was like banshee music. This absolutely otherworldly voice, singing about a book, and as a bookish kid, I was always fascinated by anything, any music that seems to be about or inspired by books."

"One of the things I love about Kate Bush is her absolute ability to take things, to pluck things that you would never expect to see on a rock album, and put them there and make them work. James Joyce's Ulysses — one of the greatest passages in all of English or Anglo-Irish literature, is Molly Bloom's glorious soliloquy ending in a sequence of Yeses. It's about embracing the world of the senses, embracing yourself, embracing sex, embracing love, embracing the future, embracing all possibility, and it goes all the way back to me, to "Wuthering Heights" — this is somebody who is not afraid of books. This is somebody who is not afraid of reading, somebody who's not afraid of writers, and who's not afraid of translating, being an intermediary, being a door, between the world of books and the world of rock."

"Kate Bush makes a record, and you don't hear from her. And you play the stuff she has made, and one day you are surprised, and she brings out something else, and she's been quietly working away on it, for however long she wanted to work on it, and I love that. I love the willingness to be quiet, until its time to speak — which is something that she does over and over."

"Its funny no one ever applies the term "progressive rock" to Kate Bush, but to me its prog. It's the same think I love about the best prog, it's like, the really sort of brash stuff, people showing technical ability, I have no interest in, but the experimental dreamy stuff, that sort of came from many places at once, I set her stuff next to, well next to Janis, is the obvious comparison..."

"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."

"This is a whole universe I can dive into — and for me, it was very avant-garde, and expressive and kind of from a complete different planet to everything else that you see from the eighties ... it's like she was definitely out their on her own. ... She seems to have an endless kind of ability to put herself in and with empathize with different characters and viewpoints."

"I really thank Kate, because these touchstones like "This Woman's Work", that kind of song, it's celebrating everything that's so wonderful about being a woman, and being nurturing, and intuitive and emotional, and gentle and sensual, and just like really intimate. People don't put their hearts on the line in that vulnerable way very much, and me, as an artist myself, it's helped me to not be frightened, to show all, as much of my vulnerability as a woman as possible, and in that be powerful."

"They're not "normal" songs. None of her songs have been "normal." She's just who she is, she's unique. She's — a mystery. She's the most beautiful mystery. ... Let me tell you a story: when I had my civil partnership, nine years ago, in 2005, and Kate — we invited Kate, we didn't think she'd come but she came, she came with her husband Danny, and there were a lot of very famous people in that room, there were like 600 people — and all anybody wanted to meet was Kate Bush. I mean, musician, anybody, they couldn't believe Kate Bush was there. She's kind of an enigma."

""Wuthering Heights" was not your normal type song — but that's why it was so brilliant. It was something out the norm. When something like that comes along, they don't come along that often. When does the next Kate Bush come along, after Kate Bush? There hasn't been one."

"That record she did with Peter Gabriel saved my life. That record helped me get sober. So she played a big part in my actual downfall and kind of "rebirth'" as it were. That record helped me so much. I never told her that, but it did."

"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 favorite 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."

"I was teaching at the Dance Centre in Covent Garden. Kate turned up, dressed very properly in her ballet tights and things, and her hair straight back, looking very, very professional indeed, a very, very serious student. But as timid as hell, and of course she took a place at the back of the class, you know, I had to coax her forward. I mean she was extremely shy, extremely timid, and of course the first thing I had to do was, you know, bring her out of herself, give her courage. I have to say that once Kate actually started dancing, she was a wild thing, she was wild. … One day, some months after knowing her, I got back to my home … and there was this LP pushed under the door, The Kick Inside — and there, dedicated to me was this beautiful song "Moving" — I didn't know she had any aspirations of being a singer. She never talked about herself."

"I knew from day one, I knew ... there was no way this girl was not going to make it. She was going to be a huge success. There was no way, because she was so driven for it. And her enthusiasm for it all was infectious."

"The working relationship was never a problem, you know. We always worked together reasonably well, you know, we always argue, and we always have and always will. I've always argued with Kate, and she's always argued with me, but I guess that's just the way it is, you know, so I feel I'm emotionally involved with it all, to a great extent, you know, much more so than most people would imagine. Not only did we have a personal relationship, and I work with her — I really love her music, I really do... to the point, where I virtually work with nobody else — because nobody else comes close."

"I only like extreme talent. It's the only thing I can listen to. Where does Kate Bush come from? You can't hear her influences. It's like Billie Holiday, when I first heard Billie Holiday, I'd never heard anything like that in my life — the same with Kate Bush. I can't figure out musically, artistically, who her mother and father is."

"My butt-crack showing is like my trademark. I wear my pants loose, and lately Ive been so busy I've lost a few pounds. My ass-crack is always showing!"

"She wants to go home, but nobody's home. It's where she lies, broken inside."

"Some chick came up to me and said something, so I kicked her in the box and shoved her."

"I’m on a vegan diet, I do yoga every day, I work out, I’m totally spiritual — I’m completely opposite of what everyone thinks I am right now."

"I know my fans look up to me and that's why I make my songs so personal; it's all about things I've experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say."

"I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen."

"[Of a medical examination and being diagnosed by a physician] He stuck a camera down my throat....ew... I GAGGED! It was kinda funny though.....he said I have "Acute Laryngitis"."

"[On Lyme disease] I could barely eat, and when we went to the pool, I had to leave and go lie in bed, My friends asked, "What’s wrong?" I didn’t know. I had no idea a bug bite could do this, I was bedridden for five months. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk and I couldn’t move, I thought I was dying. There were definitely times I couldn’t shower for a full week because I could barely stand. It felt like having all your life sucked out of you. They were asking about me since I was MIA, so I mentioned to one fan directly that I wasn’t feeling good, The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply. This was a wake-up call, I really just want to enjoy life from here on out."

"I’ve gone through so much, (referring to Lyme disease and divorce from Chad Kroeger) it put things in perspective and showed me how much the small things in life—friends, love, family, just your health—matter the most. (Referring to the debuting of album Head Above Water) It gave me a purpose, and made me find myself all over again. I'd give anything just to relax with a glass of wine 'cause it just means so much to me. There's still a part of me that loves punk rock."

"I was hanging out with a guy and he said; "You're a dumb blonde" and I was like; "Ah, Thanks!" I think it's a good slap in the face to someone who can't handle a strong independent woman."

"I get all these loser preps coming up to me asking for autographs and all this crap, and I really want to tell them, 'My music is not for people like you!"

"Chill out, what're you yelling for? Lay back. It's all been done before, and if? You could only let it be? You will see, I like you the way you are. When we're driving in your car and you're talking to me one and one. But you've become somebody else, like everyone else! You're watching your back, like you can't relax. You're trying to be cool; you look like a fool to me."

"Tell me, why do you have to go and make things so complicated? I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else; get's me frustrated. Life's like this: You fall and you crawl and you break and you take what you get and you turn it into. Honestly, you promised me I'm never going to find you faking. No, no! No!"

"He was a boy, she was girl. Can I make it any more obvious? He was a punk; she did ballet. What more can I say? He wanted her, she'd never tell secretly she wanted him as well. All of her friends stuck up their nose, they had a problem with his baggy clothes. He was a skater boy. She said: 'see you later, boy'. He wasn't good enough for her. She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space. She needed to come back down to Earth!"

"He was a skater boy. She said: 'see you later, boy'. He wasn't good enough for her. Now, he's a superstar. Slamming on his guitar, to show pretty face what he's worth."

"Sorry, girl. But, you missed out. Well tough luck; that boy's mine now. We are more than just good friends; this is how the story ends. Too bad that you couldn't see; see the man that boy could be. There is more than meets the eye; I see the soul that is inside. He was a boy, she was girl. Can I make it any more obvious? We are in love, haven't you heard? How, we rock each other's world!"

"I'm standing on the bridge; I'm waiting in the dark. I thought that you'd be here by now. There's nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground. I'm listening, but there's no sound. Isn't anyone trying to find me? Won't somebody come take me home?"

"Why is everything so confusing? Maybe I'm just out of my mind. Won't you, take me by the hand? Take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I? I'm with you, I'm with you."

"If you're trying to turn me into something else? It's easy to see, I'm not down with that."

"It’s virtually impossible to make a list of influential women from the 2000s without mentioning Avril Lavigne. Undoubtedly, she defined pop punk for young women who wanted to break into the industry. Not only did she come with a bounty of talent, but Lavigne had statements to make and critiques to deliver in the form of musical expression. Throughout her entire discography, she’s openly commentated on the mistreatment of women in the music industry versus that of men. Lavigne was one of the first women to make a name for herself in alternative rock in the 2000s and blew the door off its hinges for the future generation of women in rock."

"They call me "Snorah", but Jesus, that slow music touches people!"

"I realize my strengths. The truth is, I sing ballads. People like it when I sing ballads. I seem to have a way with them. And if the cool kids can’t say anything nice about me, that’s how it is."

"I’m too sensitive. All I have to do is pick up Newsweek and glance upon a bad review and it will crush me for a week. Some Joe Schmo writes a snarky comment in a blog and I’m destroyed."

"I’m like, "Oh, I make slow music." I guess that’s okay. Maybe it's a good thing to sound like yourself."

"Something has to make you run I don't know why I didn't come"

"Lonestar Where are you out tonight? This feeling I'm trying to fight It's dark and I think that I would give anything For you to shine down on me"

"How far you are I just don't know The distance I'm willing to go I pick up a stone that I cast to the sky Hoping for some kind of sign"

"If I were a painter I would paint my reverie If that's the only way for you to be with me"

"I want to walk with you On a cloudy day In fields where the yellow grass grows knee high"

"I want to wake up with the rain Falling on a tin roof While I'm safe there in your arms So all I ask is for you To come away with me in the night Come away with me"

"It never rains when you want it to You humble me, Lord"

"I can't hold on very long Forgive me, pretty baby, but I always take the long way home"

"I love the things that you've given meI cherish you my dear countryBut sometimes I don't understand the way we play"

"What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is Norah Jones? "Shady, wait a minute, baby, leave the whore alone. Just go up there and be humble and take them awards home.""

"Every year we went, I would be up for "Album of the Year" and then the winner is Norah Jones? Who? And I'm not even trying to say anything bad about her music. At that point, I had never heard of her and none of my friends did either and then Steely Dan. Okay, I know who Steely Dan is. Steely Dan back in the day. More than The Marshall Mathers LP impact? Okay, fine. I watched 50. 50 did not win Best New Artist at the Grammys. Nobody since Snoop came out the gate like that. My first album didn't do it. I never saw someone's first album and the wave happen like he had. And then he doesn't get it."

"I got a Jones like Norah for your soror."

"There's a lyric in the middle of the song that says, "I want to decide between survival and bliss." Basically I'm talking about the difference between really being alive and really embracing the reason why I'm here on this earth versus my just being asleep and sleep walking and accepting the status quo and accepting somewhat of a suffering mentality to being here. It really is my responsibility to distinguish the difference between the two and choose which one I want. It's so easy for me to want to not take responsibility for my life and relinquish it and look outside of myself for the answers that I know very well are within me. It's so scary to be silent and it's so scary to go within, until I do it. And once I'm doing it, I just wonder why I wasn't doing this all the time. So that decision to be fully alive is one that is preceded by some pretty intense decisions and some choices and responsibility-taking that at times can be very intimidating, again, before I do it."

"When [Jagged Little Pill] came out, I feel like I immediately went into survival mode to keep the 'overwhelm' that comes from being famous at bay. Ten years later, I have the luxury of time and distance to formally honor it."

"For a long time, I didn't understand the idea of not being able to appeal to a human heart. And then Marianne Williamson (if I can dare drop her name)... we were doing a Q&A on stage, and there was a question about evil, and my quick, sort of spiritual response was (and I actually stand by it in some senses)... was that human beings are... maybe we're traumatised, maybe we're disconnected, and our behavior, ideally, would be separate from the truth of who we essentially are."

"Can't feel no pain when I'm thinking about you Dreaming isn't black and white Can't make no gain until my vision comes true Give it to me like I'd like to give it to you."

"I had high expectations It's something I could not compromise And when I saw you I wasn't ready It completely took my heart by surprise."

"And we hurt the ones that we love the most Why we do only heaven knows And I don't know why I'm still holding on, holding on.I reach in my heart to see If your love is alive in me But now I feel alone My feelings turn to stone My heart makes no apologies."

"Do I stress you out? My sweater is on backwards and inside out And you say, "How appropriate!""

"And there I go jumping before the gunshot has gone off, Slap me with the splintered ruler. And it would knock me to the floor if I wasn't there already. If only I could hunt the hunter."

"I want you to know that I'm happy for you, I wish nothing but the best for you both. An older version of me, Is she perverted like me? Would she go down on you in a theatre? Does she speak eloquently? And would she have your baby? I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother."

"'Cause the love that you gave that we made Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide, no. And every time you speak her name Does she know how you told me You'd hold me until you died? Till you died, but you're still alive.And I'm here to remind you Of the mess you left when you went away. It's not fair to deny me Of the cross I bear that you gave to me. You, you, you oughta know."

"'Cause the joke that you made in the bed that was me And I'm not gonna fade as soon as you close your eyes. And you know it. And every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back I hope you feel it. Well, can you feel it?"

"Sometimes is never quite enough If you're flawless, then you'll win my love. Don't forget to win first place. Don't forget to keep that smile on your face."

"I'm broke, but I'm happy. I'm poor, but I'm kind. I'm short, but I'm healthy, yeah. I'm high, but I'm grounded. I'm sane, but I'm overwhelmed. I'm lost, but I'm hopeful, baby.And what it all comes down to Is that everything's gonna be fine, fine, fine. 'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket And the other one is givin' a high five."

"Wait a minute, man You mispronounced my name You didn't wait for all the information Before you turned me away. Wait a minute, sir, You kind of hurt my feelings. You see me as a sweet back-loaded puppet And you've got meal ticket taste."

"I sang Alleluia in the choir (Alleluia) I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man. My brothers, They never went blind for what they did, but I may as well have. In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son, I had one more stupid question."

"I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone Yeah, oh. I recommend walkin' around naked in your living room Yeah.Swallow it down (What a jagged little pill) It feels so good (Swimming in your stomach) Wait until the dust settlesYou live, you learn. You love, you learn. You cry, you learn. You lose, you learn. You bleed, you learn. You scream, you learn."

"I had no choice but to hear you. You stated your case, time and again. I thought about it. You treat me like I'm a princess. I'm not used to liking that. You ask how my day was.You've already won me over In spite of me. And don't be alarmed if I fall Head over feet. And don't be surprised if I love you For all that you are. I couldn't help it, It's all your fault."

"A traffic jam when you're already late, A "No Smoking" sign on your cigarette break. It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife. It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife.And isn't it ironic? Don't you think? A little too ironic, And yeah, I really do think."

"There's an obvious attraction To the path of least resistance in your life Well there's an obvious aversion no amount of my insistence Could make you try tonight 'Cause it's easy not to So much easier not to And what goes around never comes around to you To you, to you, to you, to you, to you."

"Must be strangely exciting To watch the stoic squirm.Must be somewhat heartening To watch shepherd need shepherd But you, you're not allowed. You're uninvited An unfortunate slight."

"How 'bout me not blaming you for everything? How 'bout me enjoying the moment for once? How 'bout how good it feels to finally forgive you? How 'bout grieving it all one at a time?Thank you India. Thank you terror. Thank you disillusionment. Thank you frailty. Thank you consequence. Thank you, thank you silence."

"That I would be loved even when I numb myself That I would be good even when I am overwhelmed That I would be loved even when I was fuming That I would be good even if I was clingy.That I would be good even if I lost sanity That I would be good whether with or without you."

"How can you just throw words around? Like grieve and heal and mourn I feel fine we may not have been born As awake as you were It was much harder in those days We had paper routes uphill both ways We went from school to a job to a wife To instant parenthood."

"To all the unheard wisdom in the schoolyard, You think you're the right ones. You think you're the charmed ones, I'm sure. And how can you go on with such conviction? And who do you think you are? Why do you question me?"

"Supposed former infatuation junkie, I sink three pointers and you wax poetically."

"I remember vividly a day years ago, We were camping. You knew more than you thought you should know. You said I don't want ever to be brainwashed And you were mind-boggling, you were intense. You were uncomfortable in your own skin, You were thirsty. But mostly, you were beautiful."

"If we were their condemnations, If we were their projections, If we were our paranoias, I'd be joining you. If we were our incomes, If we were our obsessions, If we were our afflictions, I'd be joining you."

"Do you derive joy when someone else succeeds? Do you not play dirty when engaged in competition? Do you have a big intellectual capacity, But know that it alone does not equate to wisdom? Do you see everything as an illusion, But enjoy it even though you are not of it? Are you both masculine and feminine, politically aware, and don't believe in capital punishment?These are 21 things that I want in a lover, Not necessarily needs but qualities that I prefer."

"Dear popular boy, I know you're used to getting everything so easily, A stranger to the concept of reciprocity. People honor boys like you in this society."

"If it weren't for your maturity, none of this would have happened. If you weren't so wise beyond your years, I would've been able to control myself. If it weren't for my attention, you wouldn't have been successful and if If it weren't for me, you would never have amounted to very much.Ooh, this could be messy But you don't seem to mind, and Ooh, don't go telling everybody And overlook this supposed crime.We'll fast forward to a few years later And no one knows except the both of us. And I have honored your request for silence And you've washed your hands clean of this."

"I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful, So unloved and for someone so fine. I can feel so boring for someone so interesting, So ignorant for someone of sound mind."

"But this won't work as well as the way it once did Because I want to decide between survival and bliss. And though I know who I'm not I still don't know who I am, But I know I won't keep on playing the victim.These precious illusions in my head Did not let me down when I was a kid And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend."

"My misery has enjoyed company, And although I have ached, I don't threaten anybody. Sometimes I feel more bigness than I've shared with you. Sometimes I wonder why I quell When I'm not required to. I've tried to be small, I've tried to be stunted, I've tried roadblocks and all My happy endings prevented. Sometimes I feel it's all just too big To be true. I sabotage myself for fear of what My bigness could do."

"You're unsure and you're not ready, So that must mean I want you. You're unavailable and disinterested, To you I look for comfort. A million times in a million ways, I will try to change you. A million months and a million days, I'll try to convince you."

"When I'd speak of artistry you would roll your eyes skyward. When I'd speak of spirituality you would label it absurd. When I spoke of possibility you would frown and shake your head. If I had stayed much longer, I'd have surely imploded. These are my words. This is my house. These are my friends of which you've had no part of."

"How to lie to yourself and thereby to everyone else, How to keep smiling when you're thinking of killing yourself, How to numb a-la-holic to avoid going within, How to stay stuck in blue by blaming them for everything.I'll teach you all this in eight easy steps, A course of a lifetime, you'll never forget. I'll show you how to in eight easy steps, I'll show you how leadership looks when taught by the best."

"My tendency to want to do away feels natural and My urgency to dream of softer places feels understandable, But I knowThe only way out is through, The faster we're in, the better. The only way out is through ultimately."

"I wanna be naked running through the streets. I wanna invite this so-called chaos that you'd think I dare not be. I wanna be weightless flying through the air, I wanna drop all these limitations but the shoes upon my feet."

"Not in contact, not a letter, Such communication, telepathic. You've been vilified, used as fodder. You deserve a piece of every record."

"I feel this, truly proclaimed Will help the curbing of this tendency. I know this sharing of shame Will ensure that I won't forget myself so easily."

"I am the funniest woman that you've ever known. I am the dullest woman that you've ever known. I'm the most gorgeous woman that you've ever known and you've never met anyone Who's as everything as I am sometimes."

"There is no difference in what we're doing in here That doesn't show up as bigger symptoms out there. So why spend all our time in dressing our bandages When we've the ultimate key to the cause right here? Our underneath."

"Day one, day one, Start over again. Step one, step one, I'm barely making sense. For now, I'm faking it Until I'm pseudo making it. From scratch, begin again, But this time "I" as "I" And not as "we"."

"This is in praise of the vulnerable man, Why won’t you lead the rest of your cavalry home?"

"I'll be your keeper for life, as your guardian. I'll be your warrior of care, your first warden. I'll be your angel on call, I'll be on demand. The greatest honor of all, as your guardian."

"So now it's your, your religion against my, my religion My humble opinion against yours This does not feel like love It's you, your conviction against my, my conviction And I'd like to know what we'd see Through the lens of love Love, love, love."

"I wake up and first things first I’m of service I make sure your needs are met, as a selfless I give hard and serve hard and now I, I need a break I give big, I give all and now it’s time to regenerate."

"This is a life of extremes Both sides are slippery and enticing These are my places off the rails And this, my loose recollection of a falling I barely remember who I failed I was just trying to keep it together.This is my first wave of my white flag This is the sound of me hitting bottom This, my surrender, if that's what you call it In the anatomy of my crash."

"First thing that you'll notice is some separation from each other Yes, it's a lie, we've been believing since time immemorial There was an apple, there was a snake, there was division There was a split, there was a conflict in the fabric of life.One became two, and then everyone was out for themselves Everyone was pitted against each other, conflict ruled the realm All our devotions and temperaments are pulled from different wells We seem to easily forget we are made of the same cells."

"These are the reasons I drink The reasons I tell everybody I'm fine even though I am not These are the reasons I overdo it I have been working since I can remember, since I was single digits Now, even though I've been busted I don't know where to draw the line 'cause that groove has gotten so deep."

"There's nothing ironic about being stuck in a traffic jam when you're late for something. [pause] Unless you're a town planner. If you were a town planner... and you were late for a seminar of town planners at which you were giving a talk on how you solved the problem of traffic congestion in your area, and couldn't get to it because you got stuck in a traffic jam, that'd be well ironic! [mimicking a town planner] 'I'm sorry, lads, you'll never guess!'"

"I love all those great 'f' words - feminism, folk music.."

"In any marginalized community, whether people identify themselves or not affects us all."

"I believe in that step of not just making revolutionary music but making it in a way that challenges the system, Especially in this day and age when the tools for producing and distributing are more and more accessible to the average Joe and Josephine. The possibility of emancipation and control and independence is so much greater now."

"I think I'm done gunnin to get closer. To some imagined bliss. I gotta knuckle down. And just be ok with this."

"There's this brutal imperial power, that my passport says I represent. But it will never represent where my heart lives, only vaguely where it went."

"I don't always feel lucky, but I'm smart enough to try."

"Every tool is a weapon - if you hold it right."

"They're gonna be mad at us. They're gonna be mad at me and you. They're gonna be mad at us and all the things we wanna do."

"I used to be a superhero. No one could touch me, not even myself. You are like a phone booth that I somehow stumbled into, And now look at me, I am just like everybody else."

"I am still praying for revolution."

"Some of life's best lessons are learned at the worst times."

"Because the world owes me nothing And we owe each other the world."

"I am writing graffiti on your body. I am drawing the story of how hard we tried."

"Somedays the line I walk turns out to be straight - Other days the line tends to deviate."

"And their eyes are all asking Are you in or are you out? And I think, oh man What is this about? Tonight you can't put me Up on any shelf Cuz I came here alone And I'm gonna leave by myself."

"They say that the truth will set you free But then again, so will a lie... It depends if you're trying to get to the promised land Or if you're just trying to get by."

"I’m going to go ahead and go boldly Cuz a little bird told me That jumping is easy That falling is fun Right up ‘til you hit the sidewalk Shivering and stunned."

"So we're led by denial like lambs to the slaughter Serving empires of style and carbonated sugar water And the old farm road's a four-lane that leads to the mall And our dreams are all guillotines waiting to fall."

"My distraction's my defense against this lack of inspiration Against this slow deflation Yeah the further the horizon The more it holds my gaze The foreground's out of focus but you know I kinda hope it's just a phase Just a phase."

"They can call me crazy if I fail All the chance that I need Is one in a million And they can call me brilliant If I succeed…"

"The windows of my soul are made of one way glass Don't bother looking into my eyes If there's something you want to know - just ask."

"Because I know the biggest crime Is just to throw up your hands And say "This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can."

"You've got your whole life to do something, And that's not very long. So why don't you give me a call When you're willing to fight For what you think is real, For what you think is right."

"Girl, next time he wants to know What your problem is Next time he wants to know Where the anger comes from Just tell him this time the problem's his Tell him the anger just comes It just comes."

"And God help you if you are a phoenix, and you dare to rise up from the ash. A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy, while you're just flying past."

"Now let's get talking: reefer madness. Like some arrogant government can't, By any stretch of the imagination, outlaw a plant."

"So I walk like I'm on a mission cuz that's the way I groove. I got more and more to do, I got less and less to prove. It took me too long to realize that I don't take good pictures Cuz I have the kind of beauty that moves."

"And we hold these truths to be self-evident: Number one-- George W. Bush is not president. Number two-- America is not a true democracy. And, Number three-- the media is not fooling me."

"Now I wonder who is gonna be president: Tweedle Dumb, or Tweedle Dumber-- And who is gonna have the big block buster box office this summer."

"Maybe you don't like your job, maybe you didn't get enough sleep-- But nobody likes their job, nobody got enough sleep. Maybe you just had the worst day of your life; Well, you know, there's no escape. That's no excuse. Just suck up and be nice."

"My country tis of thee, To take swings at each other on talk-show TV."

"Art is why I get up in the morning; my definition ends there. You know it doesn't seem fair, That I'm living for something I can't even define. And there you are right there, in the mean time."

"My thighs have been involved in many accidents, And now I can't get insured, And I don't need to be lured by you. My cunt is built like a wound that won't heal, And now you don't have to ask Because you know how I feel."

"So my heart finally broke. It was so long bent. And it broke in three places when it finally went. It wanted only to say what it meant. So it suffered every punishment."

"'Course numb is an old hat, old as my oldest memories. See that one's my mother, and that one's my father, and that one in the hat, that's me. It's a skill I'd hoped to abandon, when I got out on the open road, But any more pent up emotion and I think I'm gonna explode."

"And I was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station, if we drive out of range."

"If you're not angry, you're just stupid, or you don't care."

"There's a crowd of people harbored in every person, there are so many roles that we play. And you've decided to love me for eternity. I'm still deciding who I want to be today""

"Let's grow old and die together. Let's do it now."

"When I need to wipe my face, I use the back of my hand, And I like to take up space just because I can, And I use my dress to wipe up my drink. I care less and less what people think."

"So I’ll walk the plank and I’ll jump with a smile. If I’m gonna go down, I’m gonna do it with style, and you won't see me surrender, you won't hear me confess, 'Cuz you've left me with nothing, but i've worked with less."

"You know Taken out of context I must Seem so strange."

"And everything seems to have gone terribly wrong that can. But one breath at a time is an acceptable plan, She tells herself."

"My life may not be something special But it's never been lived before."

"We discovered we are both pleasantly furious half of the time, When we're not just toeing the line."

"I was blessed with a birth and a death, and I guess I just want some say in-between."

"Freedom and democracy, That's the word from Washington every day. Put America to sleep with warm milk and clichés, And people are expendable along the way."

"They put you in your place, and they tell you to behave But no one can be free until we're all on even grade."

"Life is a b movie. It's stupid and it's strange, A directionless story, And the dialogue is lame. But in the he said, she said, Sometimes there's some poetry, If you turn your back long enough, And let it happen naturally."

"I fight with love, and I laugh with rage. You've gotta live light enough to see the humor, And long enough to see some change."

"I remember now how our bright spring green deepened. With the years the seasons changed, And we were lush as the underside of August."

"Love sets fire to your schedule, And then calls an end to time."

"I still define myself by the places that I've been."

"I always wanted to be commander-in-chief of my one-woman army, But I can envision the mediocrity of my finest hour."

"I know there is strength in the differences between us, And I know there is comfort where we overlap."

"I think you're the least fucked-up person I've ever met, And that may be as close to the real thing as I'm ever gonna get."

"Sometimes the beauty is easy. Sometimes you don't have to try at all. Sometimes you can hear the wind blow in a handshake. Sometimes there's poetry written right on the bathroom wall."

"She says “Do I know you?” I say “Well, no, not biblically, But I've been waiting for you to come and talk to me. I have been playing too many of those boy-girl games.” She says, “Honey, you are safe here. This is a girl-girl thing.”"

"I am looking for the holes, The holes in your jeans Because I want to know: Are they worn out in the seat, Or are they worn out in the knees?"

"When we patch things up, They say a job well done. But when we ask the question why Where did the rips come from?, They say we are subversive, And extreme, of course. We are just trying to track a problem to its source."

"I always feel I have to take a stand, And there's always someone on hand To hate me for standing there. I always feel I have to open my mouth, And every time I do, I offend someone, somewhere."

"But what if no one's watching? What if when we're dead, we are just dead? What if there's no time to lose? What if there's things we gotta do, Things that need to be said?"

"We have to be able to criticize what we love, Say what we have to say, 'Cause if you're not trying to make something better, Then as far as I can tell, you are just in the way."

"People used to make records, as in the record of an event, the event of people playing music in a room, and now everything's cross-marketing, its about sunglasses and shoes, or guns and drugs that you choose.""

"Chons, on rhythm guitar, had long black hair and blue eyes and was the first person I ever met who said she never ate meat, and when she told me that, I never ate it again either. Best thing that ever happened to me. All it took was the mere suggestion. Nobody else was vegetarian that I knew of, but I started to think of meat-eating as a very weird practice and secretly regarded meat-eaters with distaste, almost contempt. Why would anyone kill an animal if they didn’t need to? I learned to live and associate with “the majority,” but never respected them. I got used to having this lack of regard for 97 percent of the population."

"Being vegetarian was to inform everything, the course of my destiny. I was baffled that the entire hippie nation hadn't become vegetarian en masse. It made no sense as eating meat went against the whole dialogue. Were the hippies just as hypocritical as the rest of them? I couldn't admit that but I understood why I loved songs like “The Loner” so much. I didn't want to be like the majority anyway. The majority were always wrong."

"Everything in nature lives according to some order so it seems unlikely that humans live outside this system, even if they try to resist their instincts. That's how we can be sure we're not animals, this refusal to abide by what we know is good for us. If an animal's instinct tells him to avoid something he has no trouble keeping a wide berth. We, on the other hand, run in the direction of danger if it offers a thrill or satisfies a curiosity."

"I think acting is something that I want to make sure that, if I do make that transition, I want to make sure that it's really dramatic, and put my energy into acting, you know, fully instead of trying to balance a whole lot of things at once, 'cause I really don't want to become one of those singer-trying-to-be-actor-but-didn't-really-work kind of thing."

"I don't know, it's not like I was thinking about it being my trademark or whatever it is. I mean I don't think I'll get it removed or anything. But, I don't know - it's part of me, I'm used to it."

"We caught a lot of people off guard, which is cool. And I think we made things more enjoyable for the boyfriends who had been dragged to the concert."

"Our bios are sort of similar, but guys in rock bands all wear T-shirts and jeans and nobody ever says they're all the same."

"If things blow up then that's awesome and if things don't, I still can live a normal life and be able to go to the grocery store without people following me."

"I like being very loud and noisy, as the title of my album says."

"I co-wrote all the songs on my album, and co-produced a lot of them as well, So being involved in the creative aspect and not just singing is so important to me because, above everything, I love to create and I love to express myself.""

"To me, song writing is so therapeutic, it's just part of my life and I can't go through the day without having some kind of song idea pop into my head where I have to write Sharpie all over my arm trying to remember the song idea.""

"Performing, for me, is like oxygen. Performing, for me, is like the only thing that is a constant in my life, because you're in all different places doing all different things, but when I get up on stage, that's where I know exactly what to do, that's where I own it."

"Was Ashlee Simpson nice to me? Yes. She said "hi" very clearly in a nice voice!"

"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."

"Crouching down inside a deep ravine, Those angry cries pass quickly by, he can't be seen. So many ways spent hiding in so many undone plans; Forgetting what it's like to fight when no one understands."

"You're always waiting on the tide, It's time you decide. I've walked down long roads that seem to have no end at all. You never wanted time to end, To let my life offend."

"In the desert of my dreams I saw you there; And I'm walking towards the water steaming body cold and bare. But your words cut loose the fire and you left my soul to bleed. And the pain that's in your truth's deceiving me, has got me scared. Oh why?"

"Open the doors that lead on in to Eden Don't want no cheap disguise. I follow the signs marked back to the beginning, No more compromise."

"I knew you wanted to tell me; In your voice there was something wrong. But if you would turn your face away from me, You cannot tell me you're so strong. Just let me ask of you one small thing. As we have shared so many tears, With fervor our dreams we planned a whole life long Now are scattered on the wind..."

"Don't tell me I haven't been good to you. Don't tell me I have never been there for you. Don't tell me why Nothing is good enough."

"I will remember you; Will you remember me? Don't let your life pass you by; Weep not for the memories."

"I'm so tired but I can't sleep, Standin' on the edge of something much too deep. It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word; We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard."

"I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to lose, Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose. Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night; You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light."

"You come out at night; That's when the energy comes. And the dark side's light, And the vampires roam. You strut your rasta wear And your suicide poem And a cross from a faith That died before Jesus came. You're building a mystery."

"What ravages of spirit conjured This temptuous rage; Created you a monster, Broken by the rule of love."

"Every moment marked With apparitions of your soul. I'm ever swiftly moving Trying to escape this desire."

"In the arms of the angel, Fly away from here. From this dark cold hotel room, And the endlessness you feel. You are pulled from the wreckage Of your silent reverie. You're in the arms of the angel; May you find some comfort here."

"Hearts are worn in these dark ages; You're not alone in this story's pages. Night has fallen amongst the living and the dying, And I try to hold it in, yeah I try to hold it in."

"Love has made me a fool; It set me on fire and watched as I floundered, Unable to speak Except to cry out and wait for your answer. But you come around in your time, Speaking of fabulous places. Create an oasis; Dries up as soon as you're gone. You leave me here burning In this desert without you."

"I will be the answer At the end of the line. I will be there for you, Why take the time? In the burning of uncertainty, I will be your solid ground. I will hold the balance If you can't look down."

"So what are we saying? Our Eden's a failure. A made-up story to fit the picture-perfect world. The one with "I do"s and "I love you." And "we are made for each other." Is forever over now?"

"I think each person knows what's good for them. I don't think you need to be drastic. But it's finding where's passion in your life. We can't live without dreams."

"I kept getting typified as this Pollyanna neohippie. I think it's because I have a different definition of optimism. I've noticed a belief that somehow optimism lacks intelligence and that optimism stems from a lack of experience and naiveté. I don't believe that. I believe optimism is a choice. Cynicism isn't smarter, it's just safer."

"Pieces of You is not a good record. It's an embarrassing record, ultimately. It's like having your dirty laundry aired out. I didn't think people would hear it. But it made me realize that all people want is to be touched. They don't care if it's Celine Dion or Meat Loaf or me."

"I love supporting women and sports. It’s funny, ya know, I don’t think I started off young as a feminist. I read a lot of books in Alaska, I was pretty isolated where I grew up, and I think that I never thought I was any different than a man; I was raised in a place where pioneer women were very strong still. They’d shoe horses and build their own homes and were very self-sufficient. It wasn’t really until I’ve gotten older that I really became a fan of women. And a fan of what women are capable of balancing and achieving, by just being them. I’m proud to support it in any and every avenue."

"People living their lives for you on TV They say they're better than you, and you agree"

"Another doctor's bill, a lawyer's bill, another cute, cheap thrill You know you love him if you put him in your will, but Who will save your souls?"

"Who will save your souls? After all those lies that you told, boy Now, who will save your souls? If you won't save your own?"

"Another day, another dollar, another war, another tower Went up where the homeless had their homes So we pray to as many different gods as there are flowers But we call religion our friend We're so worried about savin' our souls Afraid that God will take His toll that we forget to begin, but Who will save your souls? When it comes to the beggars now Who will save your souls? After those lies that you told, boy And who will save your souls? If you won't save your own?"

"There are addictions to feed and there are mouths to pay So you bargain with the Devil but you're okay for today Say that you love them take their money and run And say, "It's been swell, sweetheart But it was just one of those things""

"I'd sit on logs like pulpits listen to the sermon of sparrows and find god in Simplicity, there amongst the dandelion and thorn"

"the greatest Grace we can aspire to is the strength to see the wounded walk with the forgotten and pull ourselves from the screaming blood of our losses to fight on undaunted all the more"

"She was my closest friend. She was the one person, other than my husband, I could turn to in a crisis. There was a lot of resentment when I first came to town. But Patsy was strong-willed and always taking up for me. If it hadn't been for her, I don't think I would have lasted."

"Well, I was born a coal miner's daughter In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher Holler We were poor but we had love That's the one thing that daddy made sure of He shoveled coal to make a poor man's dollar."

"Yeah, I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter I remember well, the well where I drew water The work we done was hard At night we'd sleep 'cause we were tired I never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler."

"Well a lot of things have changed since a way back then And it's so good to be back home again Not much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymore Except the memory of a coal miner's daughter."

"I come from Butcher Holler, Kentucky, and I ain't never forgot it. I'm always making Butcher Holler sound like the most backward part of the United States — and I think maybe it is. I've traveled all over this country, down South and out West, and I ain't never seen anything like it. And I ain't making fun of it, because I'm the most backward person you ever saw. I never knew where babies came from until it happened to me."

"This might give you an idea of how backward we are, but first, to appreciate this story, you've got to know that in eastern Kentucky we say the word "press" instead of "closet." Anyway, one of my best friends is Dr. John Turner, who took care of me when I was younger. Doc swears he saw this patient standing in front of the hospital elevator, looking confused. Doc asked him what was the matter, and the patient said, "Doc, I just seen a nurse get into that press — and when the door opened she was gone!" See, that patient lived in a holler all his life and never saw an elevator before. Myself, I never rode in an automobile until I was twelve."

"Sure, I wanted men to like me, but the women were something special. They'd come around the bus after the show and they'd ask to talk to me. They felt I had the answers to their problems because my life was just like theirs. Of course, it was impossible to find time to talk to each one or to answer every letter that came along. I ain't Dear Abby with nine secretaries answering the mail. Besides, I had a few problems maybe they could have solved for me. Sometimes I think some people were disappointed when they met me and found out I wasn't any smarter or happier than they were. I'm proud and I've got my own ideas, but I ain't no better than nobody else. I've often wondered why I became so popular, and maybe that's the reason. I think I reach people because I'm with 'em, not apart from 'em. It's not the fancy clothes I wear, or the way I fix my hair, and it sure ain't my looks because I don't think I'm anything special. It's the way I talk to people. You can tell when you meet somebody — in their eyes, or the way they stand — if they think they're above you or below you. After I was performing for a while, I got to like being with a crowd. I loved to get right down with 'em, with a long cord on my microphone, if I could. And if I was at a state fair or something, where they put you too far from the audience, I'd say, "This ain't the way I like it.""

""Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" is inspired by old blues, Nashville psycho hillbillies & hazy memories. It tells the story of finding yourself lost on your path, and a choice has to be made. It's about gambling, fate, listening to your heart, and having the strength to fight the darkness that's always willing to carry you off."

"I went down to London with the idea that I was going to do vocals over this crazy, crazy trip-hop digital beat. Within two or three months, I heard Hunky Dory by David Bowie and that changed me in one way, and I realized what I actually wanted was to have an E Street Band — individuals, not session musicians."

"Growing up in such a stunning landscape is inevitably going to have an effect on you, whether you rebel or whether you embrace, because it's so striking. I lived on this rugged, rugged coastline with the North Sea hammering at the cliffs, and the weather changes literally every half hour. My parents met as rock climbers, so they're absolute outdoors fiends, and we were constantly up hills and under canvas and camping and tramping around. They're very fond memories and something I still love to do."

"I was traveling in Greece as a teenager, and for those who haven't been to Greece, it's absolutely covered in olive groves — stunted, gnarly little bonsai-type trees. And I was driving on a moped and a huge black stallion had pulled away from its stake and was just going nuts in this tiny, tiny, hobbit-like forest. It was just such a powerful image, this enormous beast let loose and going wild in a fairy-tale wood of tiny trees... The song itself is really about going through the process of making the first album. It was a very strange experience and a very steep learning curve. For the previous 10 or 15 years, I'd been completely my own boss — when you play a gig, you just play your new song, the new song is always your favorite. And here I was having to make an album of stuff that's never gonna go away. I was being asked to make these huge decisions, so really the song is just about learning to listen to your guts again. There's actually very few times in our lives now when we have to do that."

"It's lovely to get to say hello to people you've always admired from afar, but the fun really starts out front with people going commando whilst wearing daring mud suits."

"I had that Paul McKenna come up to me once and he said, 'I love that song of yours about bicycles.' So I said to McKenna, 'And I loved the stunt you did in that glass box above the Thames.'"

"Many good things come from the left! [at the House of Blues on August 12th, 2008, while instructing the crowd to do a 'side-wave.']"

"Over the sea and far away She's waiting like an iceberg Waiting to change But she's cold inside She wants to be like the water. All the muscles tighten in her face Buries her soul in one embrace They're one and the same Just like water. Then the fire fades away And most of everyday Is full of tired excuses But it's too hard to say I wish it were simple But we give up easily You're close enough to see that You're the other side of the world to me."

"Can you help me Can you let me go And can you still love me When you can't see me anymore? The fire fades away."

"Well my heart knows me better than i know myself So I'm gonna let it do all the talking."

"I can feel everything you do Hear everything you say Even when you're miles away Coz I am me, the universe and you."

"When you're on your own I'll send you a sign Just so you know I am me, the universe and you."

"Her face is a map of the world Is a map of the world You can see she's a beautiful girl She's a beautiful girl. And everything around her is a silver pool of light The people who surround her feel the benefit of it — It makes you calm She holds you captivated in her palm."

"Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me."

"I grew up knowing I could have had a million different lives. It makes your life mysterious and your imagination go wild."

"My songs examine and explore little specific emotions or situations or stories... They're kitchen table songs, like a conversation between me and one other person. It's almost like an alien has been sent to get emotional samples from human beings and put it all together on a record."

"I was really into sci-fi books as a kid. My dad is a physicist and he used to take my brothers and I into his lab when we were little. We played games with liquid nitrogen and Van de Graaff generators. He had the keys to the observatory at St Andrew's University and he'd get us up in the middle of the night to show us Halley's Comet. That's partly why the album is called Eye To The Telescope."

"I managed to win Battle Of The Bands with one mandolin player! It was me and eleven goth bands and I won."

"On the whole, I'm a positive, skippity-la-la person but I love the dark side of music and I will always want to explore that. It's a positive-sounding album but there's stuff underneath for sure."

"It was blazing sunshine and I went on in a turquoise neck muff, glamorous dress and muddy boots and just had the best gig, really emotional. I've had emails from people saying that they cried. They promised it wasn't the drugs."

"I'm not exactly sure what has driven me so hard... I've never questioned it. I've never had a back-up plan. I was never going to do anything else."

"I never really cared about achieving commercial success. As soon as I was signed to a record company, I felt like I made it because I was able to quit my day job. To me, success was just not having to have a boss and not having a day job. So I’ve been living my own version of success since the early ’90s when I first got signed and I haven’t had a job since then. I’m pretty happy about that. When I did have a little bit of commercial success, it really didn’t suit my temperament at all. I’m a terrible public person. I’m happier where I am now."

"A lot of so-called Christian souls are not fine. People need to look inside themselves and look at the lives they’re leading and fix themselves before they try to fix other people."

"The most rabidly religious people are the most rabidly evil."

"I am only human, I am weak. I want his power inside of me. And I'm not talking about a piece of meat. I'm saying something really deep."

"I'm a goddess in your eyes, and I will never die. I was born of people's needs, and what they don't wanna believe. But I am a liar, that's the truth, go home and think it through. That's the harm in mystery, all you know is what you see.I got no idols."

"What a life, you wear it like propriety What a life, you do it like you really mean it What a life, I watch it like a scary movie What a life, what a life, what a life."

"Beauty can be sad. You're proof of that. When the damage is done, you're damaged goods. That's not to say it's not okay. I wouldn't have it any other way.A heart, a heart that hurts, is a heart, a heart that works."

"Reach inside carefully. Feel my psyche. Make it last. Put this moment under glass."

"Love is everywhere I'm not allowed. I feel he's been to hell, but he's near to heaven now. I need to see it. I can't not have it, so inscrutable, so beautiful."

"This can't be real I've never seen so much This must be a joke.I don't know how to feel I haven't earned it yet Everything fades so fast."

"Okay I gotta go Maybe I don't want to know There's too much truth in this room."

"How do you get up in the morning? Another wasted life it's so boring The system never failed you You failed yourself and all of your friends Now your heart is failing too A total system failure they pronounce you"

"I showed you how to touch a star I helped you forget who you are Baby, you can drive my car Over to the right side of the tracksYou pushed your greatest chance away But still I really want to sayI forgive you."

"I never needed this I never needed anyone I meant every word that I said It's true I wasn't talking to you And I'm sorry that I must go so soon Please forgive me for finding something real and pure and trueSomebody is waiting for me"

"I've been sleeping through my life Now I'm waking up And I want to stand in the sunshine I have never been ecstatic Had a flower but it never bloomed In the darkness of my wasted youth It was hiding in the shadows Learning to become invisible Uncover me"

"Impossible to love Is all that I know how to be But in my heart I keep repeating You didn't mean to hate meI still love my enemy."

"Can you take it when I break it give it back to the posers who fake it Suck the milk out of the lilacs we were so innocent you can't go back What the fuck it's a miracle I’m even here You're over me but I’m alive so what do i care Standing in the cement"

"There's a hole in the sky I stood and stared I feel it inside what isn't there The children are lost we can't find them anywhere Hole in the sky I'm crying still crying for you."

"Hole in the sky I'm coming I’m coming with you."

"In the dark, I like to read his mind But I'm frightened of the things I might find."

"When I tell him that Im falling in love Why does he say "Hush, hush, keep it down now. Voices carry"?"

"I try so hard not to get upset Because I know all the trouble Ill get Oh, he tells me tears are something to hide And something to fear And I try so hard to keep it inside So no one can hear."

"He wants me, but only part of the time. He wants me if he can keep me in line."

"I look in your eyes I realize what you've sold me is love in a vacuum. Love in a vacuum."

"Living on silence, Living by the book. You get it to a science Of living on one good look. So put out all the fires And blow away the smoke. I'm getting pretty tired Of living on hope."

"Coming up close Everything sounds like welcome home. Come home and oh, by the way, Don't you know that I could make a dream that's barely half-awake come true? I wanted to say — but anything I could have said I felt somehow that you already knew."

"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."

"I should've known It was coming down to this. I should've known You would betray me but without the kiss. I should've known The kind of set-up it is."

"I don't know how to break the news, but It's pretty clear you'll be asked to choose between What you lack and what you excuse In this tug of war You can't say that they didn't warn you Though you'd rather that they just ignore you Cause your devices are not working for you anymore What you want, you don't know You're with stupid now"

"Though you pay for the hands they're shaking The speeches and the mistakes they're making As they struggle with the undertaking Of simple thought What you want, you don't know You're with stupid now What you know, you don't want to know You're with stupid now."

"In our endeavor we are never seeing eye to eye; No guts to sever so forever may we wave goodbye. And you're always telling me that it's my turn to move, When I wonder what could make the needle jump the groove. I won't fall for the oldest trick in the book, So don't sit there and think you're off of the hook. By saying there is no use changing 'causeThat's just what you are. That's just what you are."

"Oh, for the sake of momentum I've allowed my fears to get larger than life. And it's brought me to my current agendum Whereupon I deny fulfillment has yet to arrive.And I know life is getting shorter, I can't bring myself to set the scene. Even when it's approaching torture, I've got my routine."

"Now that I've met you, Would you object to Never seeing each other again? 'Cause I can't afford to Climb aboard you. No one's got that much ego to spend.So don't work your stuff, Because I've got troubles enough. No, don't pick on me When one act of kindness could be Deathly, Deathly, Definitely."

"The sex you're trading up for What you hope is love Is just another thing that He'll be careless of. But though there are caveats galore, You've only got to love him more — And you do; You really do. Even when it's all too clear."

"You're sure There's a cure. And you have finally found it. You think One drink Will shrink you 'til you're underground And living down. But it's not going to stop. It's not going to stop. It's not going to stop 'Til you wise up."

"You look like a perfect fit For a girl in need of a tourniquet."

"You struck me dumb, Like radium Like Peter Pan, or Superman, You have come... to save me. Come on and save me... Why don't you save me? If you could save me, From the ranks of the freaks, Who suspect they could never love anyone, Except the freaks, Who suspect they could never love anyone, Except the freaks, Who could never love anyone."

"I can't do it, I can't conceive You're everything you're trying to make me believe 'Cause this show is too well designed Too well to be held with only me in mind And how, how am I different? How, how am I different?"

"I can't do it, and as for you Can you in good conscience even ask me to? 'Cause what do you care about the great divide As long as you come down on the winner's side?"

"They're all still on their honeymoon, Just read the dialogue balloon. Everyone loves you — Why should they not? And I'm the only one who knows That Disneyland's about to close. I don't suppose you'd give it a shot Knowing all that you've gotAre cigarettes and Red Vines. Just close your eyes, 'cause, baby — You never do know. And I'll be on the sidelines, With my hands tied, Watching the show."

"He's a serious mister Shake his hand and he'll twist your arm. With Monopoly money We'll be buying the funny farm. So I'll do flips, and get paid in chips From a diamond as big as the Ritz — Then I'm calling it quits."

"I'll tell you a secret I don't even know. Baby, there's something wrong with me Baby, there's something wrong with me Baby, there's something wrong with me That I can't see."

"Tell me why I feel so bad, honey Fighting left me plenty of money But didn't keep the promise of memory lapses Like a building that's been slated for blasting I'm the proof that nothing is lasting Counting to eleven as it collapses"

"You know it I know it Why don't you Just show it You got a lot of money but you can't afford the freeway"

"I thought my life would be different somehow I thought my life would be better by now But it's not, and I don't know where to turn"

"Little tornado You and the hurricane Close your eyes and go campaign Make it go faster Baby go faster Make it go twice the speed of you and me"

"When you’re a charmer people respond they can’t see the hidden agenda you got going on"

"When you’re a charmer the world applauds they don’t know that secretly charmers feel like they’re frauds When you’re a charmer you hate yourself a victim of sideshow hypnosis like everyone else."

"You lie so well I could never even tell what were facts in your artful rearranging But I came back for more and you laughed in my face and you rubbed it in cause I’m a Labrador and I run when the gun drops the dove again"

"When we first met I was glad to be your pet like a Lab I once had that we called Maisie but fetching sticks was the best I had for tricks you got bored you got mad then you got crazy"

"I could almost shed a tear but let’s shine in the time we have remaining you’re a tough old gal but a dog is just a pal and believe me, my dear, I’m not complaining"

"Everybody’s got their differences too bad here’s a circumstance in which the stakes are high everybody’s got their secrets out so sad go around the room and see who doesn’t cry Soon enough you’ll be free to write it off you don’t know enough to call a bluff and the one who does will never ever tell"

"Soon enough you can say we made it up just for fun I guess to make a mess cause what’s more fun than other people’s hell"

"You can tell By the laugh in the dark at the sound of the bell You can tell It's the nucleus burning inside of the cell…"

"On tour I'm so invisible to myself, it's just one task after another. In a way as much as I love reading autobiographies, I'm fascinated with them partially because I would have no sense of how to talk about my own life with any perspective. Like half of what I like about autobiographies isn't what happen in their lives, it's ... I'm so curious on how they remember things that happened. Then I think, oh maybe it's not accurate, maybe it's just the way they need to couch an event, they need to remember something that happened 30 years ago as a certain way in the present to make it, you know bearable, and so then half the adventure of reading an autobiography is thinking like, "oh, what does it say about them in the present that they need to think about the past like that," if they sound really altruistic or if they sound really benevolent and kind. Very seldom do you see someone say, "yeah, I was a real asshole," or if they do it's a charming asshole, it's not the mean spirited person, you know?"

"Because there's just so much in a day now, I keep writing in much more abstract terms, like I don't try to write about what happened anymore. It would be impossible."

"By nature of me being the one singing it and writing it there is always an innate bit of autobiography there ... but I think I learned years ago that you don't get songs that have that long stride and that pivot-hinge ability if it's too much diary entry."

"Bring all the spaces together And all the silences ever Bring all the spaces together Come close again Be my pause before the end I miss you, oh, like a fading dream And I have a feeling you know what I mean"

"I know I'm sane I don't give a care for the crown or the shield I will not protect you or happily yield To the one who makes me come undone"

"Helping the kids out of their coats But wait the babies haven't been born I'm unpacking the bags and setting up And planting lilacs and buttercups But in the meantime I've got it hard Second floor living without a yard."

"It may be years until the day My dreams will match up with my pay."

"Old dirt road (Mushaboom) Knee deep snow (Mushaboom) Watching the fire as we grow (Mushaboom)"

"I got a man to stick it out And make a home from a rented house And we'll collect the moments one by one I guess that's how the future's done."

"Don't you wish that we could forget that kiss And see this for what it is That we're not in love"

"The tragedy starts from the very first spark Losing your mind for the sake of your heart The saddest part of a broken heart Isn't the ending so much as the start."

"Ooh, I'll be the one who'll break my heart I'll be the one to hold the gun."

"I know more than I knew before I didn't rest I didn't stop Did we fight or did we talk."

"No one likes to take a test Sometimes you know more is less."

"The truth lied And lies divide Lies divide"

"One Two Three Four Tell me that you love me more Sleepless, long nights That was what my youth was for Old teenage hopes are alive at your door Left you with nothing But they want some more."

"Oh, oh, oh You're changing your heart Oh, oh, oh You know who you are."

"Sweet heart, bitter heart Now I can't tell you apart Cozy and cold Put the horse before the cartThose teenage hopes Who have tears in their eyes Too scared to own up To one little lie."

"One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, and ten Money can't buy you back the love that you had then."

"The cold heart will burst If mistrusted first And a calm heart will break When given a shake"

"I'm a stem now Pushing the drought aside Opening up Fanning my yellow eye On the ferry That's making the waves wave Illumination This is how my heart behaves."

"She really poured it on. She always pours it on. That's Feist."

"Feist comes from an indie-rock world, where it's sacrilege to admit any kind of ambition. But I had 100 percent in my mind the idea that we should have as much material as possible that could be played on the radio or resonate with a huge bunch of people. We already have the built-in reflex not to get behind anything that's going to be hollow. And when you have an artist with this kind of credibility, the idea is to communicate to as many people as possible without doing something ridiculous."

"Apple has really done its job. I thought it was a cute but harmless song (I first heard the song when she performed it on Letterman this past summer, and thought the chorus part was fun. That was about it). But now? I'm at the point where I'm thinking, "the next time I'm on iTunes I should download that song." And there's a reason for that. If I don't hear the entire song, the thirty-second snippet Apple gave us in the ad will rattle around in my cranium for months. So it's either download the song or go out and yell at the college kid who's going to serve me my latte tomorrow morning. You can see that I have no choice."

"Feist's third album of new material, "The Reminder" is ... the album that should transform her from the darling of the indie-rock circuit to a full-fledged star, and do it without compromises. "The Reminder" is a modestly scaled but quietly profound pop gem: sometimes intimate, sometimes exuberant, filled with love songs and hints of mystery. ... In her new love songs Feist apologizes, confesses to longing, hints at betrayals and misunderstandings and wonders what might have been. Her voice is self-possessed yet unguarded, and it hovers in arrangements that are often modest — just a handful of musicians playing together in a room — but can also proffer gleaming instrumental hooks and nonsense syllables that invite singalongs. The songs find equipoise within heartache."

"To me, fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you've been hurt before. Fearless is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again...even though every time you've tried before, you've lost. It's fearless to have faith that someday things will change. Fearless is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them. I think it's fearless to fall in love with your best friend, even though he's in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they'll never stop doing, i think it's fearless to stop believing them. It's fearless to say "you're NOT sorry", and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is fearless. Letting go is fearless. Then, moving on and being alright...that's fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince temu charmings and happily ever afters. Because I think love is fearless."

"If you listen to my albums, it's like reading my diary."

"I want to say to all the young women out there: there will people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame, but if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going you'll look around and you'll know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world."

"What does it mean to be the woman of this decade? Well, it means I've seen a lot. […] I saw that people love to explain away a woman's success in the music industry, and I saw something in me change due to this realization. This was the decade when I became a mirror for my detractors. Whatever they decided I couldn't do is exactly what I did. Whatever they criticized about me became material for musical satires or inspirational anthems. […] In 10 years I've seen forward steps in our industry, in our awareness, our inclusion, our ability to start calling out unfairness and misconduct. I've seen the advent of social media, the way it can boost the breakthrough of emerging artists and I've seen fans become more engaged and supportive than ever before. […] Thank you for a magnificent, happy-free, confused, sometimes lonely but mostly golden decade."

"No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship. I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform. I’m so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again."

"I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of."

"Let go of the people who bring you down, and surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you."

"No matter what happens in life, be good to people."

"This is the proudest and happiest I've ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I've ever been."

"Like many of you, I watched the [September 9, 2024 presidential candidate] debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country. Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades. I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story. With love and hope, Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady"

"I’m not going anywhere. I’m not retiring. I’m not stopping. I’m just evolving."

"I’m not the art police. I welcome the chaos."

"You should think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if it’s like a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it."

"What you spend your energy on, that’s the day."

"This is a dream come true. I now own all my music, my videos, my photos, and my unreleased tracks."

"He'll never fall in love He swears, as he runs his fingers through his hair. I'm laughing 'cause I hope he's wrong. And I don't think it ever crossed his mind. He tells a joke, I fake a smile That I know all his favorite songs."

"Wish I had concentrated; they said love was complicated. But it was something I just fell into. And it was overrated, but just look what I created!"

"You lift my feet off the ground, You spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I'm fallin' and I Am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier."

"Every time you smile, I smile And every time you shine, I'll shine for you."

"I don't wanna lose your face And I don't wanna wake up one day and not remember what time erased. I don't wanna turn around 'Cause I'm not scared of what love gave me and took away. And I don't wanna lose your face."

"But when you think: Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. The one we danced to all night long: The moon like a spotlight on the lake. When you think happiness, I hope you think: "That little black dress." Think of my head on your chest, An' my old faded blue jeans. When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me."

"I hate that stupid old pickup truck You never let me drive. You're a redneck heartbreak Who's really bad at lying. So watch me strike a match On all my wasted time. As far as I'm concerned you're Just another picture to burn."

"He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar, The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star. He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do."

"You should've said no, you should've gone home. You should've thought twice before you let it all go. You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her Would get back to me...And I should've been there, in the back of your mind. I shouldn't be asking myself why. You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet... You should've said no, baby and you might still have me."

"I was sixteen when suddenly I wasn't that little girl you used to see. But your eyes still shined like pretty lights, And our daddies used to joke about the two of us. They never believed we'd really fall in love. And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes And said oh my my my..."

"Our song is the slamming screen door, Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window. When we're on the phone and you talk real slow 'Cause it's late and your mama don't know. Our song is the way you laugh, The first date "man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have." And when I got home, before I said amen Asking God if he could play it again."

"We're drivin' down the road, I wonder if you know. I'm tryin' so hard Not to get caught up now. But you're just so cool. Run your hands through your hair, Absent mindedly makin' me want you."

"Cause when you're fifteen And somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them. And when you're fifteen, Feeling like there's nothing to figure out, Well count to ten, take it in. This is life before you know Who you're gonna be, You're fifteen."

"Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, It's a love story, baby, just say yes."

"'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel; Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so... Come feel this magic I've been feelin' since I met you, Can't help it if there's no one else."

"I'm not a princess, This ain't a fairytale. I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, Lead her up the stairwell. This ain't Hollywood, This is a small town. I was a dreamer before You went and let me down. Now it's too late for you and your white horse To come around."

"But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers, Dreaming 'bout the day when you wake up and find That what you're lookin' for has been here the whole time.If you could see that I'm the one who understands you, Been here all along so why can't you see? You belong with me; You belong with me."

"Music starts playing like the end of a sad movie. It's the kind of ending you don't really wanna see. 'Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down. Now I don't know what to be without you around."

"Lookin' so innocent, I might believe you if I didn't know. Could'a loved you all my life, If you hadn't left me waiting in the cold. And you got your share of secrets, And I'm tired of being last to know. And now you're asking me to listen 'Cause it's worked each time before."

"And I stare at the phone, he still hasn't called. And then you feel so low you can't feel nothing at all. And you flash back to when he said forever and always. Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, Everything is wrong. It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone. 'Cause I was there when you said forever and always."

"Because these things Will change. We can see it now. These walls That they put up, To hold us back Will fall down. It's a revolution, It's how we'll become. Who we're Supposed to be. We'll sing hallelujah; We'll sing hallelujah. Oh."

"You remember, we were sittin' there, by the water, You put your arm around me for the first time. You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter. You are the best thing that's ever been mine."

"And you stood there in front of me just Close enough to touch, Close enough to hope you couldn't see What I was thinking of.Drop everything now, Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, Take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

"So this is me swallowing my pride, Standing in front of you Saying I'm sorry for that night. And I go back to December all the time. Turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you, Wishing that I realized what I had when you were mine. I go back to December, turn around and make it all right. I go back to December all the time."

"I am not the kind of girl Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion. But you are not the kind of boy Who should be marrying the wrong girl."

"Someday I'll be livin' in a big old city And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so mean?"

"Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room And we're not speaking. And I'm dyin' to know: Is it killing you Like it's killing me? Yeah. I don't know what to say since a twist of fate, when it all broke down And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now."

"This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends My thoughts will echo your name Until I see you again These are the words I held back As I was leaving too soon I was enchanted to meet youPlease don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you"

"The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and... I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it I underestimated just who I was dealing with She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum She underestimated just who she was stealing from"

"Come on, come on Don't leave me like this. I thought I had you figured out. Something's gone terribly wrong, You're all I wanted.Come on, come on Don't leave me like this. I thought I had you figured out. Can't breathe whenever your gone, Can't turn back Now I'm haunted."

"Long live the walls we crashed through, All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you. I was screaming, "Long live all the magic we made," And bring on all the pretenders. One day we will be remembered."

"So don't you worry your pretty little mind, People throw rocks at things that shine, And life makes love look hard. The stakes are high, The water's rough, But this love is ours."

"This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right"

"Losing him was blue like I’d never known; Missing him was dark grey all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know Somebody you've never met. But loving him was red; Loving him was red."

"I can't decide if it's a choice Getting swept away. I hear the sound of my own voice Asking you to stay. And all we are is skin and bone trained to get along, Forever going with the flow but you friction."

"Two headlights shine through the sleepless night and I will get you, get you alone Your name has echoed through my mind And I just think you should, think you should know That nothing safe is worth the drive And I will follow you follow you home I'll follow you follow you home"

"'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in, So shame on me now. Flew me to places I'd never been, So you put me down oh."

"Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own, Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone.But you keep my old scarf from that very first week, 'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it 'cause you remember it all too well, yeah."

"I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22. Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you. You don't know about me but I bet you want to. Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22."

"We are never ever ever... getting back together. We are never ever ever... getting back together. You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me. But we are never ever ever ever... getting back together. Like, ever."

"This is the last time I'm asking you this, Put my name at the top of your lips. This is the last time I'm asking you why You break my heart in the blink of an eye, eye, eye."

"Words, how little they mean when you're a little too late."

"Cause all I know is we said hello And your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name, everything has changed. All I know is we held the door, You'll be mine and I'll be yours. All I know since yesterday is everything has changed."

"And you throw your head back laughing Like a little kid. I think it's strange that you think I’m funny cause He never did. I've been spending the last 8 months Thinking all love ever does Is break and burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again."

"And they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused 'Cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used."

"Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things. Magic, madness, heaven, sin. Saw you there and I thought. Oh my God, look at that face. You look like my next mistake. Love's a game, wanna play?."

"So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Got a long list of ex-lovers, They'll tell you I'm insane. 'Cause you know I love the players, And you love the game."

"You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye, And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like. And when we go crashing down, we come back every time, 'Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style. You've got that long hair slick back, white t-shirt And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt. And when we go crashing down, we come back every time. 'Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style"

"Looking at it now. It all seems so simple. We were lying on your couch. I remember. You took a Polaroid of us. Then discovered (then discovered) The rest of the world was black and white. But we were in screaming color. And I remember thinking…"

"But I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I got this music in my body and it's gonna be alright.'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off. Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off."

"'Cause baby now we got bad blood. You know it used to be mad love. So take a look at what you've done. 'Cause baby now we got bad blood."

"Your kiss, my cheek I watched you leave Your smile, my ghost I fell to my knees When you're young you just run, but you come back to what you need"

"We need love, But all we want is danger. We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer. The rumors are terrible and cruel, But honey, most of them are true."

"If a man talks shit then I owe him nothing. And if spends my change than he had it coming. They said I did something bad But why it feels so good."

"Oh Lord save me my drug is my baby I'll be using for the rest of my life. Using for the rest of my life (ooh) Don't blame me your made me crazy if it doesn't you ain't doing it right."

"This ain't for the best. My reputation's never been worse, so You must like me for me. We can't make any promises Now can we, babe. But you can make me a drink."

"I'm sorry, But the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead (oh)"

"I'm drunk in the back of the car And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar (oh) Said, "I'm fine, " but it wasn't true I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you And I snuck in through the garden gate Every night that summer just to seal my fate (oh) And I screamed for whatever it's worth 'I love you', ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"

"We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January. And this is our place, we make the rules. And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear. Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?"

"I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man. And I'm so sick of them coming at me again, 'Cause if I was a man, Then I'd be the man. I'd be the man. I'd be the man."

"I've been the archer. I've been the prey. Who could ever leave me, darling, But who could stay?"

"American stories, burning before me I'm feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? Darling, I'm scared."

"Windows swung right open, autumn air Jacket 'round my shoulders is yours We bless the rains on Cornelia Street Memorize the creaks in the floor"

"Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts Flashbacks waking me up. I get drunk, but it's not enough, 'Cause the morning comes and you're not my baby. I look through the windows of this love, Even though we boarded them up. Chandelier's still flickering here, 'Cause I can't pretend it's ok when it's not. It's death by a thousand cuts."

"You said it was a great love, One for the ages. But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages?"

"Spelling is fun!"

"But I knew you Dancin' in your Levi's Drunk under a streetlight, I I knew you Hand under my sweatshirt Baby, kiss it better, IAnd when I felt like I was an old cardigan Under someone's bed You put me on and said I was your favorite"

"I think I've seen this film before And I didn't like the ending You're not my homeland anymore So what am I defending now? You were my town Now I'm in exile, seein' you out I think I've seen this film before So I'm leavin' out the side door"

"But I can see us lost in the memory August slipped away into a moment in time 'Cause it was never mine And I can see us twisted in bedsheets August sipped away like a bottle of wine 'Cause you were never mine"

"But if I just showed up at your party, Would you have me? Would you want me? Would you tell me to go fuck myself? Or lead me to the garden? In the garden would you trust me, If I told you it was just a summer thing? I'm only 17, I don't know anything, But I know I miss you"

"The more that you say The less I know Wherever you stray I follow Begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man You know that my train could take you home Anywhere else is hollow Begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man"

"While you were out building other worlds, where was I? Where’s that man who’d threw blankets over my barbed wire I made you my temple, my mural, my sky Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life"

"It's me Hi I'm the problem, it's me At teatime Everybody agrees I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero"

"I could see you in your suit and your necktie Passed me a note saying, "Meet me tonight" Then we kiss, and you know I won't ever tell, yeah And I could see you being my addiction You can see me as a secret mission Hide away and I will start behaving myself"

"And for a fortnight there, we were forever Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her"

"'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it" and I did Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die He said he'd love me all his life But that life was too short Breaking down, I hit the floor All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting "More" I was grinning like I'm winning, I was hitting my marks 'Cause I can do it with a broken heart"

"All that time I sat alone in my tower You were just honing your powers Now I can see it all Late one night You dug me out of my grave and Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia"

"I had a bad habit Of missing lovers past My brother used to call it 'Eating out of the trash' It's never gonna last"

"How could you not [fancy Taylor Swift]?! I’ve met Taylor once, with Sarah Hyland, and there’s just nothing not to like about her. She’s beautiful, talented, hardworking, and she’s very genuine. It’s a terrible thing, I was actually very surprised! I had read all these nightmare stories, and when I met her I was very pleasantly surprised that she seemed like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. As for having a thing for Taylor? That’s for me to know and for you to wonder about."

"Taylor Swift is so flawless, and so unattainable, and I don't think it's breeding anything good in young girls."

"I was in this coffee shop in Nashville when I looked up and saw this really tall, pretty girl who looked kind of familiar to me. It couldn't be. Only, yeah, it was: Taylor Swift. I had to go say hi to her. I walked up to her table, feeling kind of shy and dorky, but she looked up and gave me a big smile. "Are you Taylor?" I said. "Yeah," she said. "Hey, my name's Austin Mahone," I said. "I'm a singer on YouTube." Her smile got even bigger. "That's really cute," she said. "Keep up the hard work and never stop believing." "Thanks," I said. "Do you mind if I get a picture with you?" "Of course not," she said. We posed together and my mom took the picture. Little did I know at the time that we'd meet again a year later, under circumstances I couldn't have imagined then. Life is too crazy sometimes."

"I was excited to be achieving one of my goals of reaching a wider audience. I got some help reaching that goal during the summer of 2013 when I was asked to be the opening act for a huge artist I really admired, which was exactly the kind of opportunity I'd been hoping for. I have to tell you, though, when my managers told me who I'd be opening for, I couldn't believe it: Taylor Swift- who I'd always felt a real respect for, especially since she'd been so nice to me back in Nashville. Plus, I admire how she's grown her career and respect her talent. The first time we met backstage, I had to tell her where and how we'd met before. Of course, this time she knew I was a singer because I was her opener, and she smiled at me even bigger than before. "Hey, Taylor, we actually met once in Nashville a couple years ago," I said. "I came up to you in a coffee shop and told you I was a singer on YouTube." "I totally remember you," she said, laughing. "No way," I said. "No, I totally do." I wasn't sure I believed her. But it didn't matter. I was her support act on a lot of her dates that summer, and we always got along well. Plus, I got to meet and hang a little with Ed Sheeran, who was also on the tour. He's a cool guy and very talented. That tour was fun and amazing, and I learned so much from watching Taylor. She's always such a pro."

"I don't give Taylor advice about being famous. She doesn't need it."

"She’s giving a sum of money that is life-changing for these people."

"The drug issue is hard to separate from a class issue, an education issue, a wonky foreign policy issue, and a race issue. What I do know is, be it caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, or adrenaline, let's face it: people like to get high. From Starbucks to Budweiser to your own brain, everybody's a pusher these days. If I could substitute another drug to be consumed in the country as much as alcohol is, it would be helium from children's birthday party balloons. Try not laughing when someone sounds like a chipmunk!"

"I always looked at any instrument as just a tool, an expressive voice to write with. It even differs from guitar to guitar. Some guitars demand that you play them delicately and really respect the instrument, and some beg to be abused. Same with piano. I know with guitar, I'm intimate with it enough to know when I put my fingers here, it will sound like this. I prefer writing on piano because it's always a surprise."

"A lot of the songs have a duality about them; one part is totally sincere, and there's another part that is kind of smirking and making light of it all. Or there's a very dark streak about it."

"I like the material, which makes it easy to sort of delve into it, and then also I was too tired to be nervous. I was just happy. The anxiety, the anxious energy was not there, because I was too exhausted."

"I love the idea that something would be whimsical, and like "delightful", you know, but also disgusting — so I like this sort of, you know, a really gnarly guitar — really gross, disgusting guitar and then a — really a whimsical... — it's one of those things you can only describe in sort of awkward hand gestures and eye motions. Imagine!"

"I think anyone who is creative or self-aware in any way, there’s like a humility to it, or I should say a humiliation to it. But there’s also a self-delusion — the provisional ego, as my uncle would call it. The self-delusion is the thing that makes you go, oh you know what, all the music that I’ve ever loved in the world, I want to be a part of that — hey, listen to what I have to say, it’s really important, it’s going to matter.” You can’t apologize your way into people’s hearts ... You have to go full force."

"Leaden trumpets spit the soot of power they say "I'm on your side when nobody is, cause nobody is. Come sit right here and sleep while I slip poison in your ear""

"We are waiting on a telegram to give us news of the fall I am sorry to report dear Paris is burning after all We have taken to the streets in open rejoice revolting We are dancing a black waltz — fair Paris is burning after all."

"Sticks and stones have made me smarter it's words that cut me under my armor they say..."

"What me worry? I never do I'm always amused and amusing you"

"What me worry? I never do. Life is one charming ruse for us lucky few.Have I fooled you, dear? The time is coming near when I'll give you my hand and I'll say, "It's been grand, but... I'm out of here I'm out of here""

"The first thing I did when I picked up any instrument, when I was five years old, was write a song. It's kind of funny; I thought about it, statements that it's a "solo effort" — it's kind of like, "Oh, well I've been doing this since I was five." I was kind of doing this before I did anything else."

"I was recording with The Polyphonic Spree, recording The Fragile Army, and we were holed up in January in Minnesota at our studio. They called Mike in to play, and we just hit it off, in a really, really special way. Actually, the night after meeting and having a conversation with him, I sat down and I wrote "All My Stars Aligned". And I just kind of had an idea, "Wouldn't it be amazing if Mike Garson played? So the guy who played solo in Aladdin Sane, wouldn't it be amazing if this guy played this song?" And I wrote it, based on a conversation we had, but I didn't want to ask him, because I felt shy, and nervous, and everything. It was a few months later, actually, we kind of got in touch, and, 'Oh, what are you doing?', and I sent him a couple songs that I was working on. I sent him "Your Lips Are Red" and I sent him "All My Stars Aligned", just to show, you know, 'wink-wink, hint-hint, this is what I'm doing.' And he wrote me back, the things that we'd said, and asked to play on the record. So I was, 'Well, okay, if you insist…' That worked out pretty miraculously."

"I enjoyed, and I tried to soak up and learn everything as fast as I could from doing any kind of music. It's good to have a gig. If you're a musician, it's good to be working. I love doing all of it, but Marry Me is my baby, St. Vincent is my child."

"In a really great way, you simultaneously try to take up as little and as much space as possible."

"Some songs I wrote that night, and some songs took nine months to arrange, get how I positioned them. Some songs I wrote parts of when I was twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen… Just putting it together, just finding the right place for it. So it's really been a long time coming. ... I'm actually really restless, in the sense that I'd rather be always making something new. I'm really excited about making a second record. I've got a lot of things up my sleeve, I guess."

"I certainly owe a lot of awesomeness to blogs, to people who have been blogging about a show, or blogging about a single, or blogging about something. It's just amazing to me that it seems to be a nice equalizer. People don't necessarily need the clout of a big "record company machine" to put their face on a billboard. It seems more organic and honest in a lot of ways, for fans of music to be critics I suppose."

"I'm a debut artist, I'm not established — nobody would write about it if they didn't like it. So I'm waiting for the next album for the backlash."

"Here's an awesome tour story: I was playing these two shows last fall in Europe, we played at Reykjavík, and the three or four days we were in Reykjavík happened to be the one and only Sugarcubes reunion show… So it was like, tour of a lifetime."

"I'm not your mother's favorite dog I'm not the carpet you walk on I'm not one small atomic bomb I'm not any any any anything at all."

"Now, now ... You don't mean that say you're sorry You don't mean that ... I'll make you sorry"

"I'm not the pawn to your king I'm not your world on a string I'm not anyone you'll beat I'm not anything"

"While Jesus is saving, I'm spending all my days in backgrounds and landscapes with the languages of saints. While people are spinning like toys on Christmas day, I'm inside a still life with the other absentee."

"While people will cheer on the spectacle we've made I'm sitting and sculpting menageries of saints."

"Come, my love, the stage is waiting, Be the one to save my saving grace."

"While Jesus is saving, I'm spending all my grace, on rosy-red pallor of lights on center stage. While people have cheered on the awful mess we've made, through storms of red roses we've exited the stage"

"Your lips are red My face is red from reading your red lips"

"Your skin's so fair its not fair"

"Marry me, John, I'll be so good to you — You won't realize I'm gone, You won't realize I'm gone."

"Many people wanna make money, make love, make friends, make peace with death — But most mainly want to win the game they came to win they want to come out ahead. But you, you're a rock, with a heart like a socket I can plug into at will. And will you guess when I come around next. I hope your open sign is blinking still."

"As for me I would have to agree, I'm as fickle as a paper doll being kicked by the wind — when I touch down again I'll be in someone elses arms"

"I read the signs, I got all my stars aligned, My amulets, my charms, I set all my false alarms, So I'll be someone Who won't be forgotten."

"I do a dance to make the rain come, Smile to keep the sky from falling down, down, down, down. Collect the love that I've been given Build a nest for us to sleep in here You know it's real."

"There are no signs, There are no stars aligned, No amulets no charms, To bring you back to my arms. There's just this human heart. That's built with this human fault. What was your question? Love is the answer."

"It's time. You are light. I guess you are afraid of what everyone is made of — Time and Light."

"All your praying moments amount to just one breath. Please keep your victory But give me little death."

"I'm crawling through landmines Just to know where you are."

"Romeo, where'd you go? It's been years and still no sign, But I'm keeping hope alive.Juliet, how you been? You look like death like you sure could use some rest from this place human racing and the faces of people who pound at your door They always want more — they want more."

"Tell the truth now Your heart is a strange little orange to peel What's the deal?"

"Little lamb, what's your plan? Greener pastures in the sky? It's a shame you want to die know why Just to find you've been blinded to the greenest of pastures they're right here on Earth For what it's worth you're not the first to break my heart."

"Lover, I don’t play to win but for the thrill until I’m spent. Paint the black hole blacker. Paint the black hole blacker"

"What do I share? What do I keep from all the strangers Who sleep where I sleep?"

"Good souls have born better sons, Better souls born worse ones. Paint the black hole blacker..."

"The keys are in my pocket and they rattle you awake."

"I'm a wife in watercolors I can wash away what seventeen cold showers couldn't wash away."

"Honey what reveals you is what you hide away."

"Let's pour wine in coffee cups and drive around the neighborhood And shine the headlights on houses until all the news is good."

"Tomorrow's some kind of Strangerland where all the news is good."

"What would the neighbors think? Oh no! If they only knew."

"Tomorrow's some kind of Stranger I'm not supposed to see."

"You're a supplement, You're a salve, You're a bandage, pull it off I can quit you, cut it out. You're a patient, iron lung."

"I think I love you I think I'm mad."

"The unkissed girls and boys of paradise Are lining up around the block Back pockets full of dynamite While their neighbors talk and talk."

"Just like an amnesiac, trying to get my senses back. Oh where did they go."

"I traded my plot of land for a plane to anywhere Oh where did you go. And I can't see the future but I know it's watching me. All my old friends aren't so friendly And all my old haunts are now haunting me."

"I wish I had a gentle mind and a spine made up of iron."

"Honey can you reach the spots that need oiling and fixing. H E L P Help Me."

"If you want we could go somewhere else."

"We're sleeping underneath the bed to scare The monsters out With our dear daddy's Smith and Wesson. We've got to teach them all a lesson."

"Honey the party went away quickly, but thats the trouble with ticking and talking."

"Oh but I'd pay anything to keep my conscience clean. I'm keeping my eyes on the the exit sign. Steady now."

"I'm just the same but brand new And anything you wrote I checked for codes and clues."

"Bodies like wrecking balls fuck, fuck with dynamite."

"You can hear one note of a Kate Bush song, or one note of her voice even, and know immediately what it is. And that is the biggest feat of any artist, especially when you consider, you know, all the roads that she's gone down."

"For that to have come out of someone's brain, period, is a remarkable feat. For that to have come out of someone's brain, at 17 years old — this incredible song, incredible song … there aren't that many amazing pop songs that have two or three key changes in them —‚ and I'm not talking about some modulations, I'm talking: "Okay, now we're in the key of Q." It's like WHAT?! But it's so brilliant, it's so memorable. I always karaoke that song — if I drink enough."

"I read an interview with her one time, where she was asked, something along the lines of "Why do you write from the perspective of a lot of characters?" And she said very simply and eloquently "because they're more interesting than I am.""

"I'm convinced that, as great as that record sounds, if you had anyone else sing it, you know, anyone else try to kind of weave and make it do that thing where it burns like wildfire and it comes alive, no one else could do it. It's incredible the way she kind of brings this cold arctic atmosphere, It's just like fire, you know? It's like all aaarh coming out of her mouth. … and now I'm listening to the song in my head. "Do you know what I really need? Do you know what I really need? I need lalalala yea yo yea yo your love.""

"I still remember going to the CD store and buying The Sensual World when I was 16, and the cover — there was a rose in front of her mouth, that has bloomed, she's got big wide eyes, and I remember, you know, putting it on the shitty car stereo on the way home, you know — and my life was forever changed."

"You don’t ever get the sense that she's making music to pander to anyone. I think you always get her absolute best attempt at her true vision whenever you get a Kate Bush record."

"The first time I saw her perform — she must’ve been 15, maybe 14 — she got up in a club in Dallas, sat in with her guitar teacher’s band, played "The Wind Cries Mary" and just blew everybody away. ... At that time she was very shy and diminutive, except when you listened to her guitar playing. ... She’s physically a very intense player. She takes a kind of ferocious approach to the technique of the guitar, a real high energy."

"Her stage name was inspired by the hospital where Dylan Thomas spent his last hours. “It’s the place where poetry comes to die,” she said, joking. “That’s me.""

"Maybe my face is edgy, but that's because it's the face of somebody who's seen life."

"The whole business is a gamble. There's no real stability, you're kind of just floating around like a feather your whole life."

"The initial drive was instilled in me when I was little, growing up with a single mom, we struggled a lot. I saw my dad but he wasn't financially supportive at all so we were, for lack of a better word, very poor. But I don't want to be the one with that story of being poor and coming up from it. It was really that my mother instilled in me that drive and sense of urgency and it's always been inside of me."

"I'm not a greedy person, I just want to accomplish so many different things."

"I have so many friends who hate their jobs and man, it's such a struggle trying to find what they love or what they dream of. I feel so lucky that I found what I love and my dreams have started to come true."

"I like communicating. I think it’s as simple as that. I get really lonely and dark if I can’t communicate with people."

"I have done. Well, I've shared a moving vehicle with 18 naked men — not many women do that... fantastic, never felt better."

"I'm a sucker for tragedy - I love the death scenes."

"Until we command the exact same salary as every male counterpart, I feel a political desire to stand by other women. If we don’t stand together, that equality will never be fully realized, and that bothers me. I see very little in our culture, actually, of women necessarily standing up for one another. I think there’s still an underlying fear if one woman has the light shone upon her, it takes away from your light, which of course is not the case at all. But I think when you’re young, you maybe fear that."

"Train whistle blowin', Makes a sleepy noise; Underneath their blankets Go all the girls and boys. Rockin', rollin', ridin', Out along the bay, All bound for Morningtown, Many miles away."

"And there's doctors and lawyers, And business executives, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same."

"Love is something if you give it away, Give it away, give it away. Love is something if you give it away, You end up having more. It's just like a magic penny, Hold it tight and you won't have any. Lend it, spend it, and you'll have so many They'll roll all over the floor."

"If you are a piano, You will laugh on ev'ry string, And if you are a girl or boy, You'll sing."

"They don't know my head's full of me And that I have my own special thing, And there's no hole in my head. Too bad."

"Little man stood at the Mayor's door, No one had ever seen him before, Dressed in clothes of a gayer mood Than ever are seen in Hollywood."

"There was a little boat sailed down the river, Hull was a cup and sail was a feather, Cum peedle ump pump pay."

"I don't mind failing in this world, I'll stay down here with the raggedy crew, 'Cause getting up there means stepping on you, so I don't mind failing in this world."

"There was a new popular music of protest. Pete Seeger had been singing protest songs since the forties, but now he came into his own, his audiences much larger. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, singing not only protest songs, but songs reflecting the new abandon, the new culture, became popular idols. A middle-aged woman on the West Coast, Malvina Reynolds, wrote and sang songs that fit her socialist thinking and her libertarian spirit, as well as her critique of the modern commercial culture. Everybody now, she sang, lived in "little boxes" and they "all came out just the same.""

"The first time my brothers saw me, when I was a day or two old and still in the hospital, my brother Mark could not pronounce the name "Kimberley," and I was an especially happy baby, so he decided it would be easier to call me "Happy." From that moment on, my family members never used the name Kimberley. I was forced, however, to use my given name while attending school. As soon as I turned sixteen, my name was legally changed to Happy Tyler Rhodes. As far as I'm concerned, it's the ony name I've ever had. When people ask me if it's my real name, I always say "yes.""

"I'm thrilled that people can get something out of my music. I have to attribute that to integrity and honesty. I've found that people aren't really as different as they sometimes seem. We all have joy and tragedy in our lives. So it only follows that if I write something from my heart and stay true to myself, others will easily identify."

"I wrote and recorded music for many years, thinking I was only pleasing myself. The fact that so many people have appreciated the music, makes my life incredibly rewarding and full."

"Why couldn't someone have patience for me? Why couldn't someone be wise to my fears? Tell me why couldn't somebody cry for me This time? And if I should die, who'll be the first to cry?"

"I'll be over your head Ecto Now don't be afraid Ecto Don't reach out Ecto Just be glad that I exist Ecto"

"When the rain came down, I was older than the earth. I could die right now, and plan another birth Anytime I choose. I am in peace, in love, in harmony, when the rain comes"

"When the rain came down, I was standing in the green My soul was touched by every tree that my eyes could see I am in peace, in love, in harmony when the rain comes downWhen the rain came down — melded with my tears When the rain came down — flow away the fears When the rain came down — bigger than the sea When the rain came down — then came me."

"Every step I take, I am alive. I am Life."

"I dreamed I was an animal In a human world; Now when I hear big sounds I cry like a little girl. I'm talking about connections Between here and there; All things exist at once Seems more than we can bear."

"Tell me all the plans You have for the great beyond, Will you be physical again Or be a cosmic vagabond?"

"I am transparent An open book; There's no choice in the matter But the breath from my mind Is living air, And the notes from my heart Are what I share. Words weren't made for cowards."

"There's not much to hide behind We can see for a mile Without our eyes. I can see through a smile To any lie."

"Do I have to dig? Do I have to prod? Reach into your chest And pull your feelings out? Are you dancing dead? Or maybe walking toast? If you feel anything Be brave Come forth Let it show. Tell me what d'you think of life? Tell me do you think at all?"

"My time's too short to waste on Things you say without your brain. Will you paint works of art When you speak? When you open your mouth Will I weep?"

"As I walk through fire I am shielded from the flame Although the guilty parties Take no blame. Don't try to tell me there's no Reason for any moment in time; Every memory of mine Those years are lines of Color on my face. My past is warpaint. The past is warpaint."

"We are the number one offender Of specieism and yet Here we are reaching out for aliens Looking for our salvation. Pity our emptiness Save our souls."

"Come on down and see our Zoos and refugee camps Ain't it worth your time? Pity our emptiness Save our souls."

"He is broken, far from free Words were spoken, 'tween him and me: "I had friends, yes, I was admired I'm so old now, feel so tired." Well he walks to the gate and he looks behind at life in rewind And wishes he had known these things while still alive."

""I can see the purpose now and all I've learned All the roads and where they've turned I can see, I can see everything, the total truth I'm ready for another youth." Going to fly"

"With all the confidence I have It seems I could go forever But forever has no rest-stops And my endurance sometimes fails Hold me, hold me, hold me in your arms Can you tell me how I'm gonna make it"

"If you stare into a flame You'll get an eye full of energy If you write your nightscapades You'll get a dawn full of promises"

"Turn the lights down for a while And have a rock with the solitude Many worlds are born tonight Because the needy is everyone."

"I wish I could promise I'll Be there when you dream I wish that when you spoke to me I'd know what you mean But you can't bring me comfort By filling up my eyes They don't stay dry Hard as I try Can't figure why Made I this choice"

"Where're you going Ra? Take me with you Ra... You're such a busy God I wish you could stay I only want to play and play But you're such a busy god and I'm such a mortal Ra"

"Oh, even the leaves laugh As you spin and tumble through We explode in color All for your honor"

"Even the leaves laugh 'cause they have what I have Reach from the best tree So he can see me And with your face With your face comes laughter And with your touch And with your touch comes joy."

"That I am one and many is at the heart of my dis-ease Yet I am one and many"

"I am skilled now, at casting iron To make a hardened bed for my heavy world"

"Can't stop flinching, everything is lethal Looking for a hero to get me outta this Can't stop flinching, tell me that you're ok Looking for approval and one last kiss."

"I want to go wherever you go because all the colors are brighter there and there is more magic in the air wherever you go, here and hereafter."

"She walked down the aisle with all eyes on her and she glowed Someone chose her above all other women they had known I can only wonder what it must be like to be so perfect in a lover's eyes, the only one they see Well, it’s never been me, the chosen one It’s never been me If ever I see a chosen one I feel ugly"

"Everybody sees me as a solitary entity but I long to be important to somebody It's a love of fairy tales that drives this guilty wish To walk serenely in front of family to collect my kiss and though this notion is as flawed as any I have learned I'd like to think that like the others, it's something I deserve"

"When the moon comes up, I go down For the first time There’s a garden deep, deep in my heart But it’s blossomed for the last time"

"This is sad. I just think it’s a little ridiculous we are still only looking at the surface of one another. Red hair? Blue hair? Pink? Blonde? Short? Long? Whatever. We might as well shave our heads. Hair has nothing to do with the reason we playing music. It’s a style. Something that will never last as long as the songs we play and the words we sing. Listen up ladies in bands, I’m so proud to be one of you and I don’t care if we all look exactly alike or if we are all carbon copies of each other. We have things to say and it’s up to us to get people to not just look but to LISTEN!"

"Love that so many of you are saying your 2 fav bands are Green Day & Paramore. Do you even realize how cool that is for us to hear!?"

"No boy is worth your teenage years!." "For me to be in love with someone means that I have to accept who I am, and not allow another person to define me. And if someone loves me in spite of all that, then that's a start."

"i have the ability to build myself up or break myself down. i stay positive. strength comes from within."

"This is what I've learned, in my life: is crucial. Growing up is hard to do. There's nothing wrong with wearing a dress."

""Boys! Hey boys out there: NEVER kiss a girl unless she says she... wants you to! Alright?!" "Never kiss a girl again. Unless she tells you she wants you to." (To the crowd, about a fan who just kissed her, and then to that boy)"

"“It’s odd to look out there and see a bunch of Mini-Mes,” says Williams. “You’re wondering what possessed them to do such a thing . . . It sort of does a reverse psychology on you. You’d think you’d be like `Hey, all these people want to look like me. I feel pretty cool.’ But actually it makes you feel more self aware and I’m not really fond of that.”"

"“I wake up in the morning and sometimes I just want to wear a T-shirt and blue jeans and now I have to force myself to do that, because I can’t care what people think, you know? . . ."

"stay as strong as you can and during the times you can't, let other people be strong for you."

"I'm always wrong But you're never right"

"Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change, once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry that'll never change. And about forgiveness we're both supposed to have exchanged. I'm sorry honey but I pass it up now look this way: There's a million other girls who do it just like you; looking as innocent as possible to get to who they want, and what they like it's easy if you do it right. Well I REFUSE, I REFUSE, I REFUSE!"

"If you wanna play it like a game, well, come one, come on, let's play. Cause I'd rather waste my life pretending; than have to forget you for one whole minute ..."

"We all learn to make mistakes and run from them."

"I'm only human. I've got a skeleton in me. But I'm not the villian, despite what you're always preaching."

"Why do you care what people think? Are you hooked up to their leash? You know anklebiters ate up your personality Try to remember how it felt To just make up your own steps And let anklebiters chew up and spit out someone else"

"I'm delighted to say I know Hayley and that she is an awesome girl. She's always up for being supportive and helping people out so it comes as no surprise that she decided to help me out with Jamie Murphy's competition. I have two passions in life - Motherwell FC and Paramore. I attend every Motherwell home match and I've seen Paramore nine times - six of those on the last tour they did here."

"First off, Paramore is the shit,I've always been a Hayley fan, and to work with her, that's another thing I didn't think would happen to me as soon as it did."

"Williams is one of the few who was unafraid to call out the mistreatment within emo, reminding people that it wasn’t always a safe space and refusing to become a “nostalgia band” by transcending the genre instead. The mark of a truly gifted frontperson is also their ability to speak out, and Williams has that in spades."

"Paramore wouldn’t be the band they are today without the vocal talent and creativity of lead singer Hayley Williams. From the moment their debut album, All We Know Is Falling, released in 2005, her name has been synonymous with women who defined alternative music. With over 15 years of making her mark on the scene, Williams has continued to support other women by providing them a platform and showcasing their artistry on Instagram. She’s a force in the music industry and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon."

"I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming."

"I've always been provocative toward guys like that. They're lame, and they make it not fun for nerdy guys and nerdy girls and uncool people. They're like these self-righteous jock pricks up at the front, and they come there just to razz you— to tell you that they have a boner, or that they want to see your tits, or that you're ugly, or that you're a whore or something. They're ridiculous."

"If I fuckin' die without having written two, three, or four brilliant rock songs... I don't know why I lived my life."

"I try to place [beautiful imagery] next to fucked up imagery, because that's how I view things … I sometimes feel that no one's taken the time to write about certain things in rock, that there's a certain female point of view that's never been given space."

"Writing songs has a lot to do with your sexuality. I danced for awhile and just being around that made me realize what people use. And if you grow up blessed with a certain beauty or a certain intelligence that enhances your beauty, you can get into a better position in life."

"The American male runs half of the global world and grows up on rock music from day one. If you can alter the psyche of someone who's growing up to be a rapist or a total misogynist, you're creating values and instead of making the void bigger, you're making it smaller."

"You know what? I was doing Loveline on KROQ, and Lydia [Lunch] sent this fax in that said like, “You’ll never be smarter than me. Stop trying to copy me." So I read it out over the air and I said, "Lydia, I’ve been copying you since I fucking heard of you. You’re the best thing on the planet. I give you more tribute than anybody else and I love you and I wish you wouldn’t be so mad at me. And, Lydia, if there’s anything I can do for you – if there’s any philosophical, tax deductible thing that I can contribute to – you know how to get in touch with me.""

"Don’t eat cheese. There are a million things to eat that are not cheese."

"Does that make you happy, Mr. Rock & Roll Fantasy? You know what? Eddie Vedder’s gonna live to be 98. How’s that make you feel, huh? I love you, come back. You come back! You love us. You love me, don’t you? You love Frances. Where are you? Are you happier now?"

"[Internet forums are] kind of fun and stuff, but what's really weird is how they fucking give such a shit about how I'm spelling. It's like, what, I worked to be a clerical worker? I didn't take typing class, assholes."

"My thing is 'Don't fuck with me.' In real life, real real life, I'm supersensitive, but people tend to think I'm not vulnerable because I don't act vulnerable."

"My goal keeps me alive, and no personal issue is going to interfere with that. If people try to put me in the crazy box–'crazy fucking Courtney'–go ahead. But if you think you’re going to stop me from where I’m going, you’re not going to do it. I work my ass off. I deliver the goddamn goods. And I will deliver them again."

"I didn't ever really talk until I started hanging out in '80 or '81 with the drag queens at the Metropolis [or Met, a gay new wave club] in Portland. I was very, very quiet. So much so that at one point when I was very young I was diagnosed as a probable autistic. And then I started hanging around with bitchy drag queens and with [my friends] Ursula and Robin, and they basically raised me. I found my inner bitch and I ran with her."

"With me and Kurt, it was either Bonnie and Clyde, Sid and Nancy, or mommy. That's where it got at the end, but the rest of the time it was equal. The equality was based on Bonnie and Clyde, which is fucking goddamn fun. And Romeo and Juliet. But it was also Hamlet and Hamlet. Not Hamlet and Ophelia. These two fucking Hamlets sitting around."

"Imagine this: You're peaking. You're in you youth. At the prime of your life. The last thing you want to be is a symbol of heroin use. You've finally met somebody of the opposite gender who you can write with. That's never happened before in your life. The only other person you could ever write with wasn't as good a writer as you, and this person's a better writer than you. And you're in love, you have a best friend, you have a soul-fucking-mate, and you can't even believe it's happening in your lifetime. And as a bonus he's beautiful. And he's rich. And he's a hot rock star to boot. And he's the best fuck that ever walked. And he wants to have babies, and what you want is babies. You've wanted to have babies forever. And he understands everything you say. And he completes your sentences. And he's lazy, but is spiritual, and he's not embarrassed about praying, he's not embarrassed about God, Jesus, none of it. He fucking thinks it's all really cool. He wants to fucking learn the path. He wants to be enlightened. Everything. And there's even some room for you to fix him, which you like, 'cause you're a fixer-upper. He's perfect in almost every fucking way. The only fucking happiness that I ever had. And then it all gets taken away."

"I punched out Kathleen Hanna... Sonic Youth brought her. I punched her, and she screamed, "I'll take you on, any college in America, any feminist debate," and I said, "But Kathleen, that means you're going to have to read!""

"I wore a dress that was so restricting and shoes that were five inches high, I could barely stage-dive. Then I got the best write-ups, for being feminine, I guess. I couldn’t move well and I was restrained, which equals great review. That’s pretty horrid."

"I used to see media on Althea [Flynt] and she was very wild looking. She had a mohawk and she published Hustler—I thought that was crazy. But when you study her, she was so innocent and frail and sort of birdlike, and sweet. She stayed sweet until she died, but I don't know what happened for her to get into drugs or the things she got into."

"The deal with fashion is that proletariat male rock critics have a real Bruce Springsteen problem with denim boomer issues. We as females have thousands and thousands of years of fashion in our DNA. We want to wear nice fucking clothes—it's part of what we do, so I don't have an issue with it. If you have an opportunity to go to the Oscars in a fabulous gown, you're gonna fucking take it. I don't have to listen to a rule. Who made that rule? Some dumb guy."

"Without the benefit of history, there was no way you could be in the middle of all that and understand what it was like. To be a couple that persecuted, and to be such weak people, so frail and reactive, huddling together because the whole world is going [she makes a sound like a bomb going off]. You’ve got your own team, the sectarian left, splintering off and pointing accusing fingers. We’re fucking picking nits off Eddie Vedder and Eddie Vedder is trying to take on the constitution, and the whole fucking world is damning me to the stake. It was insanity. So in reaction to that, I made a record about it."

"Releasing those songs into the void, and not having the void answer back, led all of us to splinter off and attempt to make our mark by deconstructing. Instead of going forward with my tunesmithing, I went back to the beginning. And that’s what Pretty on the Inside was about. I said, ‘I’m not going to follow any of the songwriting values that I’ve been learning for a good seven years. Instead, I’m going to set up on my own land and make my own stake, and see where it goes.’ And the next place that takes me is Seattle, where what was happening was so heavy, and so intense."

"Even though I now feel more confident and happy, I was really paranoid for about a year and a half. Basically, what happened was that I quit taking drugs and I walked out into the world and was sort of in this film that was really well received. So, after years of living a more destructive lifestyle, I had to, instantly, kind of court this world which had incredibly nice value systems, but with protocols that I had never encountered before. And then I had to reconcile these two worlds. You know—I want to live a happier, more productive lifestyle, but the question was, did I want to renounce being in a great rock ’n’ roll band for that? The answer was ‘No way.’"

"Do you remember when you were young, and you’d stare at someone on-stage and think ‘Oh my God—he looked right at me?’ I do, so I have this kind of rescue-fantasy thing. When I see kids in the audience I think, ‘Okay, that’s me, and it would be kind of cool if the person on-stage would come down and save me.’ I’m not going to be able to save every one of them, but I’ll do my best, because I genuinely like kids. If I didn’t have my lust for my art, I probably would have ended up working with them."

"Since I’ve basically been giving my music away for free under the old system, I’m not afraid of wireless, MP3 files or any of the other threats to my copyrights. Anything that makes my music more available to more people is great. MP3 files sound cruddy, but a well-made album sounds great. And I don’t care what anyone says about digital recordings. At this point they are good for dance music, but try listening to a warm guitar tone on them. They suck for what I do. … I’m looking for people to help connect me to more fans, because I believe fans will leave a tip based on the enjoyment and service I provide. I’m not scared of them getting a preview. It really is going to be a global village where a billion people have access to one artist and a billion people can leave a tip if they want to. It’s a radical democratization. Every artist has access to every fan and every fan has access to every artist, and the people who direct fans to those artists. People that give advice and technical value are the people we need. People crowding the distribution pipe and trying to ignore fans and artists have no value. This is a perfect system."

"My brother, Toby, is six-foot-six, [and] he [went to] Vassar; my other brother, Brown; my sister, without one penny from me or my [step]dad, NYU Law, number one in her class—Jesus, it's such a functional family, I don't know where I came from."

"[Crack] used to be called freebase when white rich people did it. Then it got sold in batches, and white rich people were still doing it, and it was still called freebase. And then all of a sudden this guy named Ricky Freeway Ross started making it and he happened to be black, and— everything is political— and, then it turned into "crack.""

"I'm all for putting money back into the black community, who white people have been stealing from for years."

"We choose convenience over individuality every time—every time."

"I finally learned from Fred Durst, who is [of] my generation, that "selling out" means every ticket at The Forum got sold. I don't think Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] sit there agonizing over their record sales. The [term] "sell out" needs to be eradicated from the language, because if you don't "sell out," guess what? An asshole will."

"I'll always prefer to play with women and hang out with women, and I'll always be a feminist. But let me tell you something. Gloria Steinem never helped me out; Larry Flynt did."

"Look, you've got these highly intelligent imperious girls, but who told them it was their undeniable American right not to be offended? Being offended is part of being in the real world. I'm offended every time I see George Bush on TV! And, frankly, it wasn't very good music."

"I love being around people that are smarter than me, that think faster than me. So even if you're a dork, and you wear stupid clothes, and you make a fool of yourself, and everyone makes fun of you, and you're just an idiot—I don't care about the context. I don't care. If you're genius and I recognize it, I kind of dig that."

"I do remember not having good social skills [as a child], although I learned them later. I learned them from hanging out at a gay disco, learning them from drag queens; and I learned them in Liverpool, and I learned them in juvenile hall. So, I learned [my social skills] from future criminals, drag queens, and rock stars."

"I didn't know it was such a guy's job. It's like playing football in high heels and lipstick; no wonder it smears."

"When I post, I forget I’m famous. It’s a really bad thing."

"I never expected I would be connected to the Alpha male as some kind of ancillary object, and to this day it mystifies me."

"After what I've been through, I'd rather die than take drugs again."

"I started chanting when I was living on Hollywood Boulevard, working as a stripper. Within six months, I got my first million dollars and I didn’t have to strip for bucks any more. Then I met Kurt and we still chanted, but we did a lot of drugs together."

"Someone once said that Nirvana attracted everybody that had ever been through a broken home... my niche is a lot more specific: It's a lot of females, and a lot of gay guys, and a few advanced and evolved heterosexual men—not many, but there's a few out there."

"I don't know why I ever succumbed to any of it... [but] I liked the rush of going under. It's such a high—it's like dying. I die, but then I come out prettier."

"When I was fourteen, I was so bloody ugly and I thought I was Kate Moss. I chased this guy named Mark Rennie, who was the hottest photographer in Portland, around, convinced him to [take pictures of me]. I had this big schnoz, I had blusher on, I'm wearing white gloves, and I [was] making new wave faces, and, like, voguing... there was a gap in my teeth, and I was 180 pounds. So if someone calls me ugly, it sort of rolls off my back because it's not about looks, it's about attitude—you get laid on attitude."

"I don’t like coming to Seattle much. I talked to [[w:Chris Cornell|[Chris] Cornell]] about it not that long ago. And Jerry Cantrell. None of us like it. It is beautiful, objectively. The arboretum is great. But it freaks me out for obvious reasons. I didn’t really live there. I lived behind a gate. I would try to go up to [Pike Place] Market. My big expedition would be Urban Outfitters and the yoga store."

"America's Sweetheart was my one true piece of shit. It has no cohesive thread. I just hate it."

"It’s been twenty years—we didn’t even talk at [Kurt's] funeral. None of us. And so, twenty years of me getting Yoko-bashed, and Dave bashing, and me bashing and making it worse, all that shit. The legal stuff, the trial. We just buried it. It was really deep. It brings tears to my eyes to even talk about it."

"If I see a chick playing guitar, I’m drawn to that band immediately. I want to know everything, even if it’s completely electronic. But you have to really get my attention if you’re male. I can’t help it. It’s part of my nature."

"When my looks are shot—which I reckon will be in about six years—I’ll have plastic surgery here on my chin, and they can pull my cheeks back, but I’m not ready for that. And because of the smoking, the mouth is starting to give."

"I’ve protected it [the Nirvana catalogue] from everything from Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials to movies about board games. We’ve been offered $6 million for 18 seconds of one Nirvana song and I turned it down."

"I am a feminist and I’ve always thought of myself as a feminist. What I don’t like about feminism and the far left in general is the in-fighting, the way that the far left in-fights too much to get anything done and I feel like in feminism it’s like, ‘well, she’s not really feminist enough’ and there can be this kind of less-than thing in feminism. And also I think there’s a biological paradigm between men and women where men are just men and women are just women, and there is something to be said about that. But at the same time, I think equality amongst the sexes is critical."

"I always said I’d never go to New York until someone pays me—because I’ve seen people come back from New York like desiccated, broken… New York is a tough place if you’re coming out of Port Authority or from Oregon, and they were paying me 356 dollars a day to be on the set [of Sid and Nancy] so that was really wonderful. Then I did Straight To Hell which went straight to video (but) then Andy Warhol noticed me from those two films. Then I got to be in Interview magazine and I got this little measure of celebrity, but with no money (laughs) that sucks… (but) it feels great if you’ve been wanting it. A lot of people like to say, ‘oh I didn’t ask for this, it just happened. I’m the luckiest guy in the world…’ I always wanted it."

"I always took myself really seriously... but sometimes I’d be at a venue and the guy would call me ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey’ when we were doing drums and stuff. I’d carry the drums in myself so people wouldn’t say I was a bitch. I went very briefly to an engineering school, so I knew the difference between white noise and pink noise and what a view meter was, and a logs player and things like that. I didn’t need to know but it came in handy when I was sitting with Steve Albini like ‘really? Is that a good logs player?’ I barely know what it is, but I learned "Smoke On The Water" so I could go to Guitar Center and play that and not have guys look at me. It was a different time—I think girls get taken a lot more seriously now."

"LA is easier. People have garages. And then as you go up the coast, in Washington and Oregon people have bigger houses and bigger garages, and people have parents."

"When I was a teenage whore My mother asked me, she said, "Baby, what for?""

"Without, without a doubt Come on and let me out Hey, where the fuck were you when my lights went out?"

"Sister ectoplasma she's incredulous Just like a pro she takes off her dress And she kicks you down in her snow white pumps Just remember it was me who found the lumps"

"Don't blush when I rip you open."

"Slutkiss girls, won't you promise her smack? Is she pretty on the inside? Is she pretty from the back? Slutkiss girls, won't you water her rack? Is she pretty on the inside? Is she pretty from the back? Slutkiss girl, molasses, rot blackstrap Is she rotten on the inside Is she ugly, ugly from the back?"

"And the sky was all violet I want it again, but violent, more violent I'm the one with no soul One above and one below"

"I am the girl you know, can't look you in the eye I am the girl you know so sick I cannot try I am the one you want, can't look you in the eye I am the girl you know, I lie and lie and lie"

"He shakes his dead rattle Spittle on his bib And I don't do the dishes I throw them in the crib"

"Every time that I sell myself to you I feel a little bit cheaper than I need to I will tear the petals off of you Rose red, I will make you tell the truth"

"I want to be the girl with the most cake He only loves those things because he loves to see them break I fake it so real, I am beyond fake And someday you will ache like I ache Someday you will ache like I ache"

"I've got a blister from touching everything I see The abyss opens up It steals everything from me"

"I want my baby Where is my baby? I want my baby Where is my baby?"

"Oh, make me over I'm all I wanna be A walking study In demonology"

"Crash and burn All the stars explode tonight How'd you get so desperate? How'd you stay alive?"

"Love hangs herself with the bedsheets in her cell Threw myself on fires for you Ten good reasons to stay alive Ten good reasons that I can't find"

"And I wait staring at the Northern Star I'm afraid it won't lead you very far He's so cold, he will win the world tonight All the angels kneel into the frozen lights Feel their hearts they're cold and white"

"In your endless summer night I'll be on the other side When you're beautiful and dying All the world that you've denied When the water is too deep You can close your eyes and really sleep tonight Tonight"

"Hush your highness, don't you breathe No, baby, hold me in your arms, I'm shivering But what's all this for? If I was the battle, baby, you have won the war"

"The devil's driving my car tonight, and he's drunk He's pissed, he's mad I don't care which of you he fucks up"

"You should've loved me baby When redemption's too blind Nature took my soul And sin left a scar so wide Time ravaged my body And now I live in the house Where the red light's always on"

"Asphyxiate all your pain away Don't try to win; it will only end in disgrace Translucetize the cold light of day It's glorious, its terrible, God I need it It's beautiful, it's ravenous; I'll just feed it Coil down to your black dark decay And I will dig my own grave now I'm miss begotten I am the last one you save here It's all gone rotten"

"And they're coming to take me away now What I want I will never have I'm on the Pacific Coast Highway With your gun in my hands"

"People like you fuck people like me In order to avoid agony People like you fuck people like me In order to avoid suffering People like you fuck people like me Fuck people like you Fuck people like me Fuck people like you Fuck people like me Fuck people like you"

"So you think that you could save him, And we know that someone died. Oh, an unkindness of ravens, And we know that Mary lied"

"And I don't care what it takes my friend I will never go hungry, go hungry again Oh, and I don't care what I have to pretend I will never go hungry, go hungry again And the phoenix she rises, she is sure to descend She will never go hungry, go hungry again And you're looking to me more and more like a godsend We will never go hungry, go hungry again And we owe each other nothing, there's no one left here to offend We will never go hungry, go hungry again"

"It's my lie and I believe in it It's my lie and I wanted it It's my bed and I'll bleed in it It's my bed, and I'll lie And I sit on the corner And I drink drown soda I wanna bomb the whole state of Minnesota"

"You want retreat, filthy and deep A dead moon, a drunken sleep Baby, there is a room full of death and whores and truth And I am waiting in that room And I am waiting in there for you It's all hoarse, it's all pain It's all disease, man, it's all the same My little Judas, my little twin Where you start, that's where I begin"

"You look good in my dress I'll get your friends to clean the mess You look good in my clothes I can feel you where the doctor goes"

"She spent twenty years like a virus They want to burn the witches inside us Well, yeah, you don't fuck with the Fabulous Four Or you'll spend the rest of your life picking things up off the floor Oh baby, dry your dirty eyes My water breaks like turpentine"

"Hi. We're Hole. As in "asshole.""

"Why do guys get to take off their shirts and we don't?"

"Why did you pay twenty dollars to sit in the front row and tell me I suck? And you're a girl. That's stupid."

"Hi. Kiss my ass. We're Pearl Jam."

"On three, I want you to say "bitch" really loud. One, two, three, "bitch!""

"Is this the anti-gay state? Aren't you the people that voted on the anti-gay thing?"

"After the suicide of her husband, Kurt Cobain, 10 months ago, Courtney Love acquired a strange distinction reserved for Presidents, major felons and celebrity widows: every word she said and wrote became newsworthy. Her postings on the computer bulletin board America Online were repeated word for word in magazines; her arrests, scandals and the drug overdose of the bassist in her band, Hole, made national headlines ... People have trouble accepting Ms. Love because in her odd way she fits the classic model of the controversial celebrity. She is both fan and star, heroine and villainess, celebrity and pest, sex symbol and homely urchin, critical darling and tabloid pariah."

"Whatever you say about Courtney, you can also say the opposite. She's a walking Greek tragedy, and a comedy. She's horrible and great, inspiring and frightening, strong and weak. She's a role model – and everything you wouldn't want your child to be."

"She's always made it very clear that she needs to work with other musicians, and I certainly don't think that makes Courtney a bad one, because she can't do absolutely everything on her own... Whenever you have a woman who is threatening or unapologetic about her attitudes, I think you'll always have detractors who want to pull that person down... I think until somebody comes along who can do it better than she can, Courtney's still going to be around."

"If she can bring all of that—from that journey from literally the depths of hell, all the way back to the surface of, like "I have value"—that is an incredible, symbolic journey. If people can't get beyond their own preconceptions, they're missing the point. You have to go down to hell to come back up to make that journey. Most motherfuckers won't step two feet out the door, and sit in very deep judgment of those who do go there."

"I was seventeen when I first heard [Pretty on the Inside]... For me, the thing that I loved about [Hole] and [Courtney Love] was the anger, and aggressiveness, along with the tender side. That was something I hadn't seen before in a woman playing music. That was hugely influential and really inspiring. Women up 'til then were kind of one-dimensional, twee, sweet, ethereal, and that annoys the shit out of me."

"Set me free Leave me be I dont wanna fall another moment into your gravity"

"Here I am And I stand So tall Just the way I'm supposed to be But you're on to me And all over me"

"The time that I've taken I pray is not wasted Have I already tasted My piece of one sweet love"

"I don't care For your fairytales You're so worried about the maiden Oh, you know she's only waiting on the next best thing"

"I'm going down Follow if you want I won't just hang around Like you'll show me where to go I'm already out Of foolproof ideas So don't ask me how To get started It's all uncharted"

"Ooh, how'm I gonna get over you? I'll be alright Just not tonight But someday"

"I'll be alright Once I find the other side Of someday"

"Who cares if you disagree? You are not me Who made you king of anything? So you dare Tell me who to be Who died and made you king of anything?"

"I wanna darken in the skies Open the floodgates up I wanna change my mind I wanna be enough I want the water in my eyes I wanna cry until the end of time I wanna let the rain come down Make a brand new ground"

"Maybe nobody loved you when you were young Maybe, boy, when you cry nobody ever comes Will you try it once? Give up the machine gun"

"They may be lies But say that we'll be alright If we stay tonight"

"A tongue like yours should be burned and branded So I can see you lie to me I wish the air would color red when you breathed it Oh, so I could've seen it coming Look in my eyes when you say you love me So I can see you lie to me"

"Mean songs are still better than going postal"

"I say what I think Because it's more economic than drugs or a drink"

"I wonder what would happen if you Say what you want to say And let the words fall out Honestly, I want to see you be brave"

"You said Remember that life is Not meant to be wasted We can always be chasing the sun So fill up your lungs and just—run! We can always be chasing the sun"

"So how do you do it? With just words and just music Capture the feeling That my earth is somebody's ceiling Can I deliver in sound The weight of the ground of a cemetery in the center of Queens"

"You can have Manhattan I know it's for the best Gather up the avenues and leave them on your doorstep"

"You are all just perfect little satellites Spinning round and round this broken Earthy life"

"I've got my little black dress on And if I tell myself that nothing's wrong This doesn't have to be a sad song Not with my little black dress on."

"I would die to make you mine Bleed me dry almost every time But I don't mind, no I don't mind it I would come back 1000 times"

"Tell the world that we finally got it all right I choose you I will become yours and you will become mine I choose you."

"There's no way to make the pain play fair It doesn't disappear just because you say it isn't there"

"It can't be a mistake If I just call it change"

"Believing in the one thing That has gotten us this far — That's what love is for To help us through it That's what love is for Nothing else can do it Melt our defenses Bring us back to our senses Give us strength to try once more Baby, that's what love is for."

"Sometimes I see you And you don't know why I'm there And I'm washed away by emotions I hold deep down inside Getting stronger with time It's living through the fire And holding on we find That's what love is for …"

"Round off the edges Talk us down from the ledges Give us strength to try once more Baby, that's what love is for That's what love is for"

"True love is frozen in time I'll be your champion and you'll be mine I will remember you So please remember I will remember you"

"In America you watch TV and think that's totally unreal, then you step outside and it's just the same."

"The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door, He said "I am not fighting for you any more.""

""I've watched your palace up here on the hill And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will Only first I am asking you why."

"I have swallowed a secret burning thread."

"I won't march again on your battlefield."

"If you were to kill me now right here, I would still look you in the eye"

"And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?" I always answer, "Nothing much" (Not much)"

"I think they know that I'm looking at them I think they think I must be out of touch But I'm only In the outskirts And in the fringes On the edge And off the avenue And if you want me You can find me Left of center Wondering about you"

"I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee and he fills it only halfway and before I even argue he is looking out the window at somebody coming in."

""It is always nice to see you" Says the man behind the counter To the woman who has come in She is shaking her umbrella And I look the other way As they are kissing their hellos And I'm pretending not to see them"

"I open up the paper, there's the story of an actor who had died while he was drinking, it was no one I had heard of."

"My name is Luka. I live on the second floor. I live upstairs from you. Yes, I think you've seen me before."

"If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight, Just don't ask me what it was."

"They only hit until you cry, After that, you don't ask why."

"The light and sweet coffee color of her skin"

"Kids will grow like weeds on a fence She says they look for the light, they try to make sense They come up through the cracks like grass on the tracks She touches him goodbye"

"By day give thanks By night beware Half the world in sweetness The other in fear"

"When the darkness takes you With her hand across your face Don't give in too quickly Find the thing she's erased"

"Solitude stands by the window she turns her head as I walk in the room I can see by her eyes she's been waiting Standing in the slant of the late afternoon"

"And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame ...And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight", And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart""

"If language were liquid It would be rushing in Instead here we are In a silence more eloquent Than any word could ever be These words are too solid They don't move fast enough To catch the blur in the brain That flies by and is gone."

"I'd like to meet you In a timeless, placeless place Somewhere out of context And beyond all consequences ...And we'll sit in the silence (That flies by and is gone) That comes rushing in And is gone"

"You come from far away With pictures in your eyes Of coffeeshops and morning streets In the blue and silent sunrise But night is the cathedral Where we recognized the sign We strangers know each other now As part of the whole design"

"You're the jester of this courtyard With a smile like a girl's Distracted by the women With the dimples and the curls By the pretty and the mischievous By the timid and the blessed By the blowing skirts of ladies Who promise to gather you to their breast"

"Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin And I just can't hear what he's saying Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping"

"Those whole girls... Breathe with ease Need no mercy Move in light Run in grace"

"Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time"

"I was tired of the bullying. I was tired of being pushed down so that I couldn’t say my beliefs. And being fearful of losing sales. Losing fans. Losing bookings. Losing contracts and sponsorship. You know, that’s my day to day. And a lot of my friends have the same thing. And we live in Hollywood, which is supposed to be the most open viewpoint city. But the truth is there was a lot of hate and a lot of negativity and I wanted to change the storyline to love and support and unity as an American."

"Love is a burnin' thing And it makes a fiery ring Bound by wild desire I fell into a ring of fire I fell into a burnin' ring of fire I went down, down, down And the flames went higher And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire"

"I think being ‘alternative,’ which most people think holds me back, actually helps [in the music industry]. If I'd been an ordinary singer, I'd still be trying to get noticed in Canada. I'm an alternative in every way. I'm a country singer who's a vegetarian for health reasons and because of compassion for animals. I'm also alternative because of Canada — there's something romantic about being Canadian. I always push the fact that I'm Canadian. I'm not self-righteous enough to think I'm unique and I'm not being overly rebellious. But I've learned that to go your own way and be yourself, which is what I'm trying to do, is alternative to a lot of people."

"We all love animals, but why do we call some ‘pets’ and others ‘dinner’? If you knew how meat was made, you'd probably lose your lunch. I know. I'm from cattle country. That's why I became a vegetarian."

"Back in 1967,Tiger Beat magazine asked me what my ambition was for my career. I said I want to become a really good Mexican singer. But it wasn’t noticed or validated"

"You gave us Rupert Murdoch ,thanks a lot you guys, take him back."

"For all families, participation in music and the arts, can help people reclaim and achieve the American dream."

"I can sing in my brain…I sing in my brain all the time. It’s not quite the same as doing it physically. There’s a physical feeling in singing that’s just like skiing down a hill. Except better, because I’m not a very good skier."

"I feel if I were to organize it correctly I would try to sing like a Mexican and think like a German. You know what I mean? I get it mixed up."

"The thing I’ve always thought about music is that it’s not competitive, it’s cooperative. I thought that was a really good example. We chose the songs because all three of us loved them so much we were afraid we’d get sick if we didn’t record them. Then we’d choose the arrangement by who was going to sing lead, by who sounded best…"

"…I was singing on the sort of the flat, lower part of my voice. I didn't have all the color and the breath and the sort of airy halo that comes. There's a lot of different textures that you can dial in and out on an unconscious level when you're singing. And you just bring in these colors and textures, and they all express emotion in some way or another. And I didn't have that with me. I was - I thought of myself as a painter that was painting with a limited palette, so I thought, well, I got some darks and lights here. And I've got some maybe some umber, you know? And I can put that in, and I just have to make a really strong drawing, make the image as bold as I can. And that's what I was trying to do with this song."

"It's always like that when you record: You always think that you can do a better [job]. You know, the whole thing with recording is you have to know when to turn off the tape machine and just stop recording because you want to keep fixing, fixing, fixing, you know? In those days, we didn't fix anything."

"The culture supports serial monogamy, and I think I had plenty of that, and I think I was reasonably monogamous in a serial way. But I'm not a good compromiser. I think I don't have the knack for that kind of compromise. I admire people's marriages, and I think it's a wonderful thing to have, but I don't think it's the only way to live…"

"She was trying to soften the blow of the word Mexican…That’s typical of what happens. Mexican Americans are always made to feel invisible."

"People didn’t have a clue I was Mexican unless they grew up with me…I heard plenty of it…I’d straighten them out fast."

"I was bored with rock’n’roll…And I was tired of singing fast songs. I’m a ballad singer. And I like drama and nuance. This music has richer poetic images and more interesting rhythms."

"There is a lot of German and French influence there…The music uses accordions and German-style brass bands, reinterpreted in a Mexican style. I like to say that Mexicans took German and French music and made it sexy."

"I get especially angry when I see how people are treated when they come up here looking for work, especially the farm workers…I challenge any prep school white boy to spend an hour picking strawberries in the full sun where you’re bent over and somebody sprays pesticide on you. And without them, we can’t eat."

"Egwu bụ ndụ m."

"Twenty years ago I thought: "What's the difference between eating a bloody steak and killing my dog, slitting him open and roasting him?" I've always loved animals but it was around the late 80s that I realised I had to go vegetarian. A lot of things converged in my life then – musically, emotionally – but mainly it was my love of animals and spending so much time touring that made me decide I had to change my diet. In the Runaways we used to eat a ton of junk food. So something had to give."

"About three or four years ago, I wanted to try something different in my life, something that could also affect my health … I decided not to eat meat anymore … and the truth is that I’ve never missed meat. I realized that there were so many delicious vegan food options that it was very easy for me to make that change. Everyone can simply give it a try. … You are going to feel great, and the truth is that the food is delicious."

"A lot of women play guitar very respectfully, and they play with the guitar; they don't play it—they play with it."

"I don't think that Anne or I had any concept that we were unusual to have this idea to go straight for The Beatles-type thing. So, completely without a sexual reference involved, just strode in the door and made a band, or two, or three."

"I tend to overplay—I play too hard because I've felt competitive in a room a lot of times with guys as a player, so I'd just play really dynamically."

"one of our great musicians"

"I always loved Buffy Sainte-Marie. I loved how she would close her eyes when she sang. … She had great movement, and she never hit the mic with her nose! I never got quite as good at it as she was, but I loved that movement."

"If you were there behind every family's closed doors, everyone's a little wacko. Chances are that your family is no weirder than the next family, or than the other girl at school's family. Everyone can be quirky at times, and I embrace that, personally."

"The better you know your character, the more naturally it comes. But at the same time I don’t know that I ever want it to be easy, because the minute it gets easy I think I get too comfortable. And so I always am trying to search for what I can do to make my performance better"

"This [to be arrested because taking part in the student-led pro-democracy movement] is part of my responsibility as an adult and celebrity, to fill the responsibility of civil disobedience."

"Real freedom can't be eradicated. It is our civic duty to continue to go to the streets."

"Taiwan is a free, democratic and liberal nation, so the government would not issue a mask ban, but the government would not tolerate masked thugs, such as the man who tossed red paint on Hong Kong singer and rights advocate Denise Ho on the sidelines of a rally last month."

"“In tenth grade—this says a lot about how developmentally delayed I was—I had in my mind that it was the proper thing for me to have a love interest. And you’d see in movies where two characters instantly see each other and are, like, I’m in love!, and then it just cuts to them on a date or interacting...A lot of my adolescence was like that. Me thinking I was doing the right thing by re-creating a movie scene that I’d seen but then realizing that’s not how it happens in real life.”"

"“When people looked at me they couldn’t recognize any of the history of me, like, ‘Where is she from? What’s her ethnicity? Who is she?’ I just didn’t make sense to anybody.”"

"“By the time it was done my heart was pounding like I just saw the rest of my life. I was fucking doomed.”"

"“I’ve always grown up feeling lonely or other, but through my music, I can be like: ‘Look, we’re the same, we’ve felt the same thing, so we’re not so different. I belong here.’ It’s almost like a hungry monster that’s just a constant need to feel connection.”"

"“I was always bothered when people say, ‘I cry to your music, it sounds like a diary, it sounds so personal,’…Yes, it is personal. But that’s so gendered. There’s no feeling of, ‘Oh, maybe she’s a songwriter and she wrote this as a piece of art.’”"

"“I write personal stories about relationships, and living in this world and being a human being…but I happen to live in a world which views me as an Asian American. So my experiences are tainted by that, even if I’m not conscious of it. Someone said ‘the personal is political’, where it seems like me just being honest about my experiences as a human being and as a person translates as being political about being an Asian American person. I’m not in this to be political or a social activist, it just happens that my being honest is a very political thing.”"

"“I like to say something in as little time as possible…I don’t think I have the fundamental confidence necessary to write a four-minute meandering song. Number one – because I'm impatient. But number two – because I’ve never been someone who is listened to. No one would stop to listen to me. I'm not a white guy noodling on a guitar for 45 minutes. No one would stay for me. I learned from a young age to be concise because there’s a very small window for me to grab someone's attention.”"

"“I’d always been fascinated by death, which sounds so morbid. Especially being a woman trying to make music, I think there’s a sense that you’re never young enough, or your career is going to end soon. So there’s that element of ‘I’m going to die soon.’ Maybe not physically, but I’m going to run out of time very soon. It’s always on my mind. I have to do things now."

"“Even when I’m in a scene I don’t think of myself as being in the scene. I’m very conscious of myself being an outsider. I think that has to do with my upbringing outside of the US – not just my heritage but that I grew up differently. I moved to a different country every year or every other year…a lot of different places due to my father’s occupation.”"

"“…this song is quite autobiographical because I didn't grow up in the U.S. I am half Japanese, and it came from wanting to just fit into this very American person's life and simply not being able to. Just fundamentally being from a different place and feeling like I would just get in the way of their progression if their life, because I could just never get to wherever they're naturally going.”"

"“You always want what you can’t have, and that all-American thing, from the day I was born, I could never enter that dream. That all-American white culture is something that is inherited instead of attained. So yes, it’s a sad song, but I wanted to make sure it reflected all of the contrasting feelings. You can be heartbroken about a relationship, but also, from it, realize you are you and you’re okay with who you are, or where you came from.”"

"People think I was writing it for a group of people, when actually I was writing about one person. The truth was, I loved this person so much, and us being from different worlds kept getting in the way."

"“…A lot of the ‘yous’ in my songs are abstract ideas about music...I will neglect everything else, including me as a person, just to get to keep making music…And even if it actually sometimes hurts, it doesn’t matter as long as I get to be a musician.”"

"“It's not like [the album’s protagonist] is a fictional character, but I noticed a personality in me that was very obsessed with control and feeling like I have power — because I am powerless and don't have a lot of control. So I kind of investigated that person in me. What is the exaggerated form? Well, it's a woman who's incredibly controlled, severe, and austere. But maybe there's some kind of deep desire or emotion that's whirling around in her and trying to get out. Maybe she's losing control.”"

"“I think it's a very feminine album…There can be something incredibly violent about being a woman and having desires as a woman – not so nice, not so soft. And I think that's an interesting experience to draw on…""

"“The phrase ‘Be the cowboy you want to see in the world’ has been an inside joke between me and myself…I would always kind of say it to myself in situations where I feel like I’m sort of trapped in my own mind. Like, ‘Oh, what would a swaggering, western movie cowboy do in this situation?’”"

""I think the theme that I unfortunately saw—unfortunately for me—was the theme of loneliness or the idea of being alone…And the idea of being alone, not because the world is forcing you to be alone but because you are the person causing your aloneness…”"

"I think there is in my previous albums a very useful romanticization or glorification of a sadness...wherein Be the Cowboy, there's a realization that no one gives a shit that you're sad, and you're still sad. Your sadness is no longer profound, and you're still sad. It's that kind of growing up and realizing that it's not cool anymore to be sad, but you're still sad."

"“It was right around Christmas… and it was kind of too expensive for me to try to fly back from Australia to the U.S. on holiday prices, so I just decided to stay in that side of the world. I went to Malaysia instead…I thought it would be a great vacation, but I went alone, and I went during the holidays when everyone else is spending time with their families, and so, long story short, I ended up feeling incredibly, devastatingly alone… I think of myself as, you know, a very solitary, kind of introverted person, so I didn’t plan for loneliness, and then it just happened and I didn’t know what to do about it. So I wrote a song.”"

"“…it was actually about when you have some kind of toxic relationship to yourself, or to another person, for so long that it becomes your identity. Even when you don't need it anymore and you've stepped away from it, you still hold on to it because it's scary to let it go — because if you actually let it go, it feels like erasing yourself. That song is about likening that sort of toxicity to a pearl.”"

"I wouldn’t say it’s an alter ego, but I have anxiety around social situations, and I don’t like going to parties…As a performer, onstage I know my place. I’m sure of myself. There’s no doubt. It’s just existing, and it’s so lovely to get to be for an hour."

"I felt it was shaving away my soul little by little…The music industry is this supersaturated version of consumerism. You are the product being consumed, bought, and sold. Even the people on your team who are your friends, the very foundation of your dynamic is that they get a percentage of your income. Every time I turned something down, it would mean that they would make less money."

"I’ve often found myself in a situation where, narratively speaking, I’m the bad guy,” she says. “We can acknowledge more than just black and white. If you present something that feels true to you, there will be other people who are like, ‘This is true to me too.’"

"The image a lot of people have of me as detached, impassive, or remote is a persona that comes from years of being teased for every feeling I ever expressed."

"Your life is hard to change. But at the same time, I've also always felt that I'm the same person now as I was at five, so I've been sort of reaching out to that too, in a way."

"I don’t, really. I mean, the one thing is more women playing music. That allows you to have different personalities, so it kind of cuts through the clichés about how women are perceived. But I don’t really think things in the mainstream have changed so much. In the underground, it seems like there’s a lot more women involved in the scene, which mostly comes out of male record collectors, so it was surprising in the late ’80s to start seeing more girls and women involved with experimental music as that scene grew. That’s pretty cool.”"

"I don't wanna think that I'm influential or an icon or blah blah blah blah...Ultimately, I feel most confident when I'm just working. Thinking about ideas. That's how I'm most comfortable. Or performing in a group situation."

"Well, it sort of bothers me that if a man is doing it, then it's fine. Like, if a woman had Bob Dylan's voice, how far would she have gotten? Or Leonard Cohen? And men can get away with saying more things that are—I don't know, it's kind of like, everyone could sit around and pat each other on the back. And that's not very interesting."

"I never think of myself as famous anyway, like, if anything, it’s barely famous."

"I like a certain amount of tension in music…I like the kind of music that maybe makes you think about the status quo."

"It was the tip of the iceberg…There’s some unseen wall of faceless men that I have to climb over…as if on a mission."

"If people are listening, you can feel this intense concentration, and it builds a level of trust…I can be vulnerable in a way that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to be if I was just talking. There’s something about music and electricity and the free-flowing, less-contained aspect – it’s like being in the ocean. What’s the inside and what’s outside?"

"When I was growing up in the seventies, there were more open spaces. There weren't McMansions really. L.A. always had an interesting array of architecture in the houses. Like one would be a ranch house, another could be a Tudor house. It is fitting that there are all these different styles that almost were predetermined by L.A. being a place where different people moved."

"…I would say it's not not about Warren Beatty. But I can't understand why there's been such intense interest about this over the years and I don't really want to play into that. To me, it's not an issue. It's a kind of a fun riddle."

"You know, that's so much a part of life, being able to embrace the broken heart, not just cast it off as having no meaning or trying to get rid of it. I think in the book gives a very good journey through the way I handled things that were desperately frightening for me."

"I grew up with lots of mystery in my house…I was always feeling on shaky ground when I was growing up. I didn’t know what was what, and that led me to feel very insecure."

"I think of that time a lot…It’s part of my blood, my bones, all the liquid in my body. I’ve just taken him in so he’s in my core."

"I pretended I was Cat Stevens. I started out with very Cat Stevensy chords, very abrupt. I was so stuck in the moment of being fearful so as a lesson to myself I said: ‘but we can never know about the days to come’. I didn’t know when the door-bell was going to ring. I liked that. It was all of a sudden a quarter to eight and I had written the whole song."

"Fear came in so much in my life that it did everything but completely stop me. When I was a little girl, I so wanted to be sociable, but I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to speak a sentence because I had such a bad stammer..."

"Music brought me closer to the idea of God…Music gave me the energy to revise, revive myself; renew, rebirth myself. It was a palliative, a relief."

"The time I enjoy music most is when it’s not a performance. It’s just trading instrumentals and finding that part in the song that you feel best singing."

"As a child…I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me — also because I read a lot. A lot of people in similar situations just have a sense that they’re poor or disenfranchised, but they don’t really think about what’s created the situation or what factors don’t allow them to control their lives."

"It seems to me that that image was created for female folk singers because they actually had a lot more control than other women in the music scene…They wrote their own songs, they played them, they performed by themselves — there you have a picture of a very independent person, and trying to make them seem emotional and fragile and all puts a softer edge on it. As if there was something wrong with being independent."

"I think people are foolish to believe that there won’t be major social changes in this country before we possibly, ultimately, destroy ourselves…There’s only so far you can push people before they start to push back, and I’ve seen that in my life. That’s where the things I write about come from. It’s wrong not to encourage people to hope or to dream or even to consider what’s thought to be impossible. That’s the only thing that keeps people alive sometimes. For me and my family, that was one of the only things that kept us going."

"I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else."

"I know—they treat it like it’s a big phenomena. It would be like, “all-girl band” or “girl drummer” and I’d be like, “Why can’t you just say drummer?” Female this, female that. It’s an oddity."

"I grew up being aware that I was Southern, and that being a very important thing for me. And being drawn to short story writers, like Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty—the surroundings in their stories were so familiar to me, the whole Southern Gothic thing. That world only existed in that part of the country. It’s going to inform the personality of the songs. In a lot of my songwriting, I mention towns and places. It’s a culturally traditional thing in the South to tell stories."

"My mother passed away in 2004, and then my dad 10 years later. That period in between, I wrote songs like “Death Came”, and then after my father passed away I wrote, “If There’s A Heaven” and “If My Love Could Kill”, which I wrote about the Alzheimer’s disease that killed my father. There’s a lot of dealing with loss, and heavy stuff, and life. It’s a lot different of an album than some of my earlier ones, like Essence, when I was still struggling with unrequited love as a younger girl."

"I was always into different kinds of music but just by default, I was singing and playing acoustic guitar; I didn’t know how to dance or anything. So it would take some time, over a year, for me to kind of progress into the stuff that I ended up doing later, the more Southern soul, country-rock, whatever-you-want-to-call-it kind of thing."

"I think what informs my songwriting is my empathy with that. Maybe that’s what bothers people. It scares them to go to the edge of the well and look in. But it’s what they like also. And wouldn’t you rather feel the pain than not feel anything?"

"The night's too long; It just drags on and on. And then there's never enough. That's when the sun starts coming up. Don't let go of her hand, You just might be the right man. She loves the night, She loves the night, She doesn't want the night Don't want it to end."

"Do I want too much? Am I going overboard to want that touch? I shouted out to the night: "Give me what I deserve, cause it's my right!""

"He sleeps all alone on Second Street With a roof over his head and food to eat. But he can hardly make it day to day cause Everything he wants is six blocks away, six blocks away."

"There are things about you that make me wanna scream and shout. There are things about you that make me wanna lock you out. But there's a little thing that drives me wild, Something that happens every time you smile. I can't get over the lines around your eyes, Lines around your eyes every time you smile."

"Just a shakin' in my knees, just a cold chill. Don't know what it is, just call it a thrill. Just a lump in my throat, just hot blood. Don't know what it is, some call it love."

"Not a day goes by I don't think about you; You left your mark on me, it's permanent, a tattoo. Pierce the skin and the blood runs through, Oh my baby."

"Sun came up it was another day, And the sun went down you were blown away. Why'd you let go of your guitar? Why'd you ever let it go that far? Drunken angel."

"I am waiting here for more. I am waiting by your door. I am waiting on your back steps. I am waiting in my car. I am waiting at this bar. I am waiting for your essence."

"I would risk the serpent's bite. I would dance around with seven. I would kiss the diamond back, If I knew it would get me to heaven.'Cause I want to get right with God. Yes, you know you got to get right with God."

"You don't have to prove Your manhood to me constantly. I know you're the man can't you see? I love you, righteously."

"Are you alright? All of a sudden you went away. Are you alright? I hope you come back around someday."

"I would rather suffer sweet silent solitude, Deathly defiant from drowning out. Filthy sounds stumbling, ugly and cruel Between the lips of your beautiful mouth.Deep down within me words move in phases, Frozen and still until they decide To melt and drip over the pages, Until that moment they live inside."

"I found the love I've been looking for. It's a real love, it's a real love. Standing up behind an electric guitar, It's a real love, it's a real love. And all the time I was thinking no way. And all the time I never thought I'd say I found the love I've been looking for. It's a real love, it's a real love."

"You will never cop To the damage that's been done. You will never stop 'Cause it's too much fun.Now you want somebody to be your buttercup. Good luck finding your buttercup."

"Sometimes the best intentions are never truly met, And all your expectations are never what you get. You’ll never say why, or come up with a reason; You’ve been weakened by a string of bad decisions."

"There's a place in my heart, I got room to spare. There's a place in my heart, I made room for you there. Even though you make me blue, I've got room enough for you. No matter what you do, I want you to know that You have a place in my heart."

"Open up the doors of heaven and let me in. I think I'm finally tired of living, let me in. I'm going to walk into glory, Tell everyone my story. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in.I've tried to live my life the righteous way. I tried to do my best from day to day. But no matter how hard I try, Seems all I do is cry. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in."

"When you go, you let me know If there's a Heaven out there. When you leave me here to grieve In pain and despair, I've seen the face of hell. I know that place pretty damn well. But when you go, you'll let me know If there's a Heaven out there."

"That explains why I have this impulse to share, to be honest and unveil stuff – because that area was like: ‘No, you have to be perfect.’"

"Men were the gatekeepers. They ran all the equipment and the labels … I was tired of being the girlfriend of the guy in the band, I was tired of hearing that my musical tastes suck."

"Intimacy—real honest intimacy—is one of the most radical things you can do right now. It’s like an endangered species to connect to your feelings and actually be present…"

"…When I’m not working, I safeguard my time to go into a dream state and not have to think about the commercialization of my art or the commodification of myself..."

"…It feels like I understand the male mind better than some people. This whole idea that men just want sex, I don’t think that’s true. I think they’re actually looking for intimacy. To them, sex equates to a moment when they can step out of their tough masculine mind and be in a really Technicolor vulnerability. I think that’s more what they’re craving…"

"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."

"“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."

"So I, I turn the radio on, I turn the radio up And this woman was singin' my song Lovers in love and the others run away Lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay"

"And you say "Stay" You say I only hear what I want to"

"Do you eat sleep do you breathe me anymore? Do you sleep do you count sheep anymore? Do you sleep anymore?"

"I was writing my own songs and when I was younger, all I wanted to do was perform, so when I said ‘this is what I want to do’, mum and dad were very sceptical. But they were really supportive and I think I’m lucky to have grown up around people who are as passionate about music as I am. And they understand and support me, which is… well I’m really lucky."

"[A] paper sailboat: They seem so frail, but when you put them on water they float. It's a reminder that even though I'm small and seem weak, I'm not."

"Success is when you see something, and you say, 'I want to do that,' and then you do it. It's being happy with what you do and doing what you love every day."

"To me "where the wild things are" is a place that exists in our minds; it's a place of liberty and shamelessness. It can take a split second or a lifetime to find it, but once you do, you'll be free."

"There's a wild thing that exists in all of us. It lives in our passions, in the people we love, in our subconscious thoughts, our beliefs. It's even made a home in the darkest parts of us, but we can't be scared of it, we have to become it."

"I didn't think that working hard and wanting something that's out of your control would be that bothersome to people. It was just really disappointing for me."

"I want to be remembered as a person who, or as an artist who provided comfort for people."

"I think music is like my only talent, unfortunately. I just utilized it as much as possible."

"I think if you're meant to do something, no matter what, you'll always get there and I think you'll find your path, no matter what."

"It was the first time I’d been introduced to so many people in one place. If anything it solidified my belief that this is what I want to do with my life."

"My daddy says that life comes at you fast, we are like blades of grass: We come to prime and in time we wither away."

"We will leave the empty chairs to those who say we can't sit there; we're fine all by ourselves."

"You belong here."

"I really, really fuck with Alessia Cara. She’s beautiful as fuck, her voice is like water, it’s like milk, I think it’s gorgeous. It has so much dimension, and she deserves every accolade that she gets. And people can’t be mad. I don’t give a fuck when her album came out! She sounds great right now! So, like, it’s over. You have to just move over and be grateful for the shit that did happen in your favor."

"I feel it is really different to be there at a show. It is such a great feeling and I hope that doesn’t die with the Internet as so many other things have. Go out, support those bands, have a beer, listen to some live music and don’t forget about it!"

"I was sitting on the couch and I was just like, “I’m tired of this.” And by “this” I mean: Being quiet when there’s something I want to say. So I just said it, I wanted my music off. I honestly thought I would say it and then have to go into a legal situation that was more quiet. But when people started responding, that’s when I wanted them to understand what I was really saying. Social media is certainly not a place for nuance, so I did my best to explain everything, how it all interacts and how it all feels. For me it wasn’t even about exposing Joe Rogan. It was about exposing what it’s like to be an artist of color in the business. Our biggest streaming platform is allowing this. Now it’s become a conversation of me against him — that was never my intention, and that’s not how I feel. We’ll see how many more times I can say Joe Rogan’s name; I’m getting a little tired of it. This is about the way Spotify treats artists. I’ve been saying that on my Instagram for a while. People listened to it this time because [Rogan] is involved, which has its own element of race, too."

"It’s really unfortunate. I feel like artists don’t realize that if we all really truly actually stood together, something could change. But we’re also all living day to day. People are just trying to make sure they’re ok. I get it. But it is a shame how much courage you have to muster to just tell the truth."

"Sometimes you just need to have a good cry and write something that gets to the core of your most miserable and beautiful humanity."

"I write to get to the bottom of whatever I’m feeling. And I hope that my music will comfort the people who hear it, and maybe help them process whatever they need to."

"I knew [these songs] would benefit from making the recording process a very communal experience; it definitely opened them up into something bigger and less about me and my little world."

"It feels like a permanent topic, I’ll probably never stop writing about religion—but the way I write about it now is very different than I wrote about it five years ago."

"Being that vulnerable is so necessary; putting words to those feelings is difficult, and it take a while to write the songs because I want to get them right. It can be excruciating, but it’s worth it, it feels like you actually got to the bottom of something, and the hope is that people can easily relate to it."

"I don’t write to dwell on sorrow, I’m trying to process something to help other people."

"If you don’t have a drummer, you can still make a beat. The good news is, it won’t sound like anyone else’s beat, and most people won’t be able to tell if it’s Matt Chamberlain or just you frantically tapping a launchpad."

"Work hard, be generous, publish your art and move on. You are the only one who can make shit happen."

"We teach best what we most need to learn."

"Let's shake hands & reach across those party lines, you got ur friends just like I got mine, we might think a little differently but we got a lot n common u will see, we're just like you....ONLY PRETTIER!!"

"I guess if you don’t jump, you’ll never know if you can fly."

"Forget your high society, I'm soakin' it in kerosene. Light 'em up and watch them burn, teach them what they need to learn; ha! Dirty hands ain't made for shakin', ain't a rule that ain't worth breakin'. Well, I'm givin' up on love 'cause love's given up on me."

"And I'll grab the wheel and point it west, Pack the good and leave the rest. I'll drive until I find the missing piece. You said I wouldn't get too far on a tank of gas And an empty heart, But I have everything I'll ever need. I got this old guitar and a brand new set of strings."

"Sweet like a kiss, sharp like a razor blade, I find you when I'm close to the bottom. You can't appreciate the time it takes To kick a love I always knew was kind of wrong. And as I'm putting out the flame, Somebody brings up your name."

"So you treat your love like a firefly, like it only gets to shine, for a little while Catch it in a mason jar with holes in the top and run like hell to show it off Oh, promises were made when we'd go walking That's just me and Charlie talking."

"I'm going home, gonna load my shotgun, Wait by the door and light a cigarette. If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one. And he ain't seen me crazy yet. He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll Don't that sound like a real man? I'm gonna show him what little girls are made of: Gunpowder and lead."

"Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend Maybe knows you just a little too well Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail Hey, word's gonna get around Everybody dies famous in a small town."

"Forgiving you, Well, she's stronger than I am. You don't look much like a man from where I'm at. It's plain to see desperation showed it's truth You love her, and she loves you with all she has I guess I should've been more like that."

"Hey, white liar The truth comes out a little at a time And it spreads just like a fire Slips off of your tongue like turpentine And I don't know why, white liar."

"So lets shake hands and reach across those party lines You got your friends just like I got mine. We might think a little differently, But we got a lot in common, you will see. We're just like you, only prettier."

"I feel like this long string of lights, They lit up our whole house on Christmas day. But now it's January, and the bulbs have all burned out. But still, they hang, Like dead flowers."

"'Cause I heard Jesus, he drank wine And I bet we'd get along just fine. He could calm a storm and heal the blind, And I bet he'd understand a heart like mine."

"My reputation follows me around, Just makes me wanna give them more to talk about. Let’s go to town for a little while, I’ll be wearing nothin' but a tattoo and a smile.Ain’t no use in tryin' to slow me down, ‘Cause you’re runnin' with the fastest girl in town. Ain’t ya, baby? You're kinda crazy."

"At the baggage claim, you got a lot of luggage in your name When you hit the ground, check the lost and found Cause it ain't my problem now I can't carry it on, I've got a lot of troubles on my own It's all over the yard, in the trunk of the car I'm packing' it in, so come and get it."

"But you went away How dare you? I miss you. They say I’ll be OK. But I’m not going to ever get over you."

"Hey, whatever happened to waitin' your turn? Doing it all by hand?<br?Cause when everything is handed to you, It's only worth as much as the time put in. It all just seemed so good the way we had it, Back before everything became automatic."

"If you borrow dresses like you borrow time, If you dream all day and drink all night, If you're looking for love but willing to fight Over men and mama's and Miller Lites, Well then, we should be friends.I don't know you well but I know that look. And I can judge the cover 'cause I read the book On losing sleep and gaining weight, On pain and shame and crazy trains."

"Another vice, another town Where my past can't run me down. Another life, another call, Another bed I shouldn't crawl out of At 7 AM with shoes in my hand. Said I wouldn't do it, but I did it again. And I know I'll be gone tomorrow night. Mm, another vice."

"Hey there, Mr. Tin Man, You don't know how lucky you are. You shouldn't spend your whole life wishin' For something bound to fall apart. Every time you're feeling empty, Better thank your lucky stars. If you ever felt one breaking, You'd never want a heart."

"'Cause it'll all come out, all come out in the wash. It'll all come out, all come out in the wash. Every little stain, every little heartbreak, No matter how messy it got. You take the sin and the men and you throw 'em all in And you put that sucker on spin."

"I'm a wild child and a homing pigeon, Caravan and an empty kitchen. Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds One heart goin' both directions, One love and a couple of questions: Am I settlin' up or settlin' down? Am I settlin' up or settlin' down?"

"And if the house just keeps on winning, I got a wildcard up my sleeve. And if love keeps giving me lemons, I'll just mix 'em in my drink. And if the whole wide world stops singing And all the stars go dark, I'll keep a light on in my soul, Keep a bluebird in my heart."

"If I was a cowboy, I'd be wild and free, Rolling around these towns like tumbleweeds. I'd be a legend at loving and leaving, Nipping on a whiskey and numbing up my feelings. You thought the west was wild, but you ain't saddled up with me, If I was a cowboy, I'd be the queen."

"After church on Sundays, I would build forts with blankets and sheets, covering my bedroom from corner to corner. Underneath those bedding canopies I created a world of my own, my first experiences with privacy from my parents. To save space on storage, my mother kept her nylons in my bottom dresser drawer. I found them, and natural curiosity led me to try them on. I wondered what was so special about these shriveled brown socks that only my mom got to wear. In the dark secrecy of my forts, I lay on my back, stretched my legs up toward the sky, and slowly rolled the nylons down over my legs. I was almost hypnotized by the sensation of nylon on skin. This must be what it feels like to be a woman, I thought to myself. My father would walk by and see the sheets and blanket tent tops I had constructed over the furniture. "Tommy, what the hell are you doing in there?" he'd bark. "Nothing!" I'd call back, and I would roll the nylons off my legs and hide them as quick as I could. No one ever had to tell me that what I was doing in my fort was indecent behavior. I could just feel that it was wrong, as if I was born with the shame. I had already been caught playing Barbies with a neighbor girl. My father's reaction was a cold stare of disapproval and a new G.I. Joe. It was put to me bluntly that "little boys don't play with Barbie dolls like little girls do," and that was that."

"My confusion over my interest in women's bodies and clothing followed me throughout elementary school. I'd see older women on the street and want to be as pretty as they were. At 8 years old, I caught an edited version of Rosemary's Baby playing on late night network TV. While most kids would shy away from the terror of the Roman Polanski film, I was drawn in by the beauty of Mia Farrow. Her hair was short and blond, chopped into a pixie cut, not dissimilar to my own. I knew what it felt like to have hair so short, so she made femininity real and attainable to me. I had no idea what kind of adult I'd grow up to be, but she gave me something to aspire to. Maybe, just maybe, I would look like her one day."

"Like most kids who had their musical awakening in the 90s, I cut my teeth on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The utter simplicity of that song taught countless rock hopefuls like me how to form power chords and annoy their parents with them. Frontman Kurt Cobain singlehandedly calloused a whole generation of tiny fingers with those opening notes."

"When I grew bored, I would lock myself in the bathroom and by on my mother's dresses that were in the hamper. I'd stand there as long as I could, looking at myself in the mirror, wishing I was someone else, wishing I was her. Who was "her"? She was the person I imagined myself to be, in another dimension, in a past life, in some dream. I had never heard of gender dysphoria; the idea that your psychological and emotional gender identities do not match your assigned sex at birth. I didn't have a name for the way I felt. No information was available, and there was no adult that I could trust with my secret. I thought I was schizophrenic, or that my body was possessed by warring twin souls: one male, one female, both wanting control. I would look down at my body in a dress and blur my vision until it almost felt real. My eyes scanned upward, hoping to see her face, but I would only find an insecure teenage boy dressed in women's clothes. I'd do this until it was time to take the dress off and go through the motions of flushing the toilet and pretending to wash my hands before stepping back into reality."

"One night, I stumbled upon a sports almanac there. There was a two-paragraph article in it about Renée Richards, the professional tennis player who underwent a male-to-female sex change. This was the first time I'd ever heard of such a concept. I could hardly believe it was really possible. In the sanctuary of the attic, I read those two paragraphs over and over. I wanted this so badly, but didn't know how to make it happen. All those sleepless nights praying to God for this one miracle never got me a word back. After everyone was asleep, in a moment of pure desperation, I turned to Satan. [...] "I pledge my allegiance to the Dark Lord in exchange for..." I vowed to do whatever he wanted. I offered my soul, anything in trade. I begged for Satan to please, please let me wake up a woman. Not a girl, but a fully grown woman; instant emancipation so that I could run away and escape it all. I had a full, intricate plan worked out in my head. I would wake up that next morning before the rest of my family and disappear into the woods, never to be seen again. I wrote out the contract and sided it in my own blood, but of course I never woke up the woman I wished to be."

"And there is a place where we one day will delve Where there's no more walking on eggshells Where ideas are for free, oh it's the place to be Your great mind's no longer the minority I'll see you there with your hands in the air Where the canvas is bare And there's no more despair... and I'll see you there"

"But don't leave that fiery heart behind Take it along for the ride And don't leave that fiery mind behind Take it along for the ride And...I'll have to say fair well so long"

"She looked out out to the horizon She didn't have much left to see Greed had taken the trees away Greed had taken the bees away ...She looked up to where there should've been stars"

"Oh society... You took it away from me When you brainwashed me with formulas of how I should be Shaped me and raped me of my individuality Schooled me and fooled me Told me what I could and could not see Took me and shook me Of my urges to be free"

"Music came back to your ears And you danced and you danced For all of the years You’d forgotten how To live for the now"

"It's all lies And my limbs have danced for the Amsterdam sunrise With not one restriction and not one disguise Monotony is what I despise Integration to society would be my demise It's all lies"

"Days move on and times they change In a blink of an eye things rearrange We're moving We're sucked in and we're spat out On the other side of the rabbit hole But we find our way Find our way Do you want to be just a machine in this crazy society? Pick the lock Grab the reigns Forget there ever were chains 'Cause there never were chains"

"I stand here with all my love Uncover the windows Let in the light Grab the hand that's reaching out... This world can cater for us all When the sun rises, it rises for us all"

"On days you'd sail away I would try to find my own way On days you'd sail away I would try to find my own way home"

"The moon was full and it left me howling My head was spinning and my heart was growling I received crimson stains on my sheets that morning The world felt big and the tides were moving"

"I saw you throw your hands in the air and say a prayer Your eyes closed, your nose breathing in the salty air There was nothing you could do to make me love you anymore"

"All you had to do was see me Really see me Recognize the workings of my mind And then touch me Like something holy And then touch me Like something that is now but could never be"

"Oh, remind me of your name again As you take me on that train again Back to the pavements that we walked, and walked Oh, the drugs that made us talk and talk And I'll take you dancing, I'll take you round and round I'll lead you to the hilltops, and I'll take you on the ground"

"Every plant given life by His hands Every stone placed to build pathways in the sand There was a magical feeling surrounding that land A mystical feeling surrounding that land"

"I've got so much to say And yet nothing comes close To the way we communicate When we don't say a word I hear you clearly without sounds Oh, I don't need these ears when you're around"

"There's an empty space whеre you once offerеd yourself to me My mom knows I'll be alright, but she'll be glad I'm home She's always casting spells for me Keeping guard for me, working hard for me I swim out of the window and into the night I am smiling, I am screaming, I am glowing from inside"

""My favorite time of day is the one I feel the most powerful in and that's random"."

""So I'm thankful for this unusual turbulent and emotional time that we're going through because I think a lot of people are going to come out very different"."

""I think most people manifest everything that happens in their life"."

""I believe the universe wants to give, and if we ask very clearly what it is that we want, I believe that we receive exactly what we want"."

"Interview: Linda Perry by Katherine Yeske Taylor,25 April 2021 Retrieved 23/11/2023"

"To me, it's work that is kind of invisible; it's a weird kind of work to have because you're not working"

"Is there room in the band? I don't need to be the frontman If not then I'll be the biggest fan."

"You used to be so sweet Now you’re a firecracker on a crowded street"

"A preacher in a t-shirt told me I could be a leader [...] You showed me the light All it did, in the end, was make the dark feel darker than before"

"How did they betray me? What did I do? I never touched you how I wanted to If you get married, I’d object Throw my shoe at the altar and lose your respect"

"Without you I am surely the last of our kind Without you I am surely the last of my kind"

"I let my mind get turned inside out Just to see what the kids were laughing about And it wasn't worth understanding Something I could've gone my whole life not knowing."

"I thought you'd hit rock bottom, but I'm starting to think that it doesn't exist You've been falling for so long and you haven't hit anything solid yet"

"If you hadn’t come over, I would be so much colder I would be much less confused"

"I want what we have, our beautiful life But the stillness, the stillness, might eat me alive"

"The people in her songs seem to naturally settle into realms of instability and ambiguity."

"Wish I could write songs about anything other than death."

"Good God, when’re you gonna call it off Climb down off the cross and change your mind? All right, then, I’ll go to hell"

"What if it’s all black, baby, all the time?"

"I’ll wrap Orion’s belt around my neck and kick the chair out."

"Beat myself till I’m bloody, and I’ll give you a ringside seat."

"Day-one chip on your dresser get loaded at your house"

"It’s the mercy I can’t take."

"What right had you not to let me die?"

"I don’t need a savior I need you to take me home"

"Hey, why do you sing with an English accent? I guess it’s too late to change it now."

"I don’t want to be stoned anymore."

"I woke up in my childhood bed wishing I was someone else feeling sorry for myself When I remembered someone’s kid is dead"

"The doctor put her hands over my liver She told me my resentment’s getting smaller"

"You’re the prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop But if you’re coming home this late, you know you’d better be drunk."

"Good neighbors make good fences."

"I started playing bluegrass music at such an early age that it never really dawned on me that I was the only female around at times. I think that was one of the reasons that I fell in love with Alison Krauss so early on. I was nine years old when I got my first Alison Krauss recording and she really became a big hero to me. I remember getting my first Rhonda Vincent album, too. I didn’t know anything about her music, yet, but I thought it was so cool to see a woman holding a mandolin on the album cover. I remember being about nine or 10 and thinking, ‘that will be me someday—a woman mandolin player!"

"When I was growing up people would always say, and it was meant in the kindest possible way, ‘You’re really good for a girl,’ because there weren’t a lot of girls or women playing. Out of this small pond of people, it was surprising to them. In my opinion, you’d have to be pretty unworldly to make a comment like that anymore. Nobody had the success that Alison Krauss had. So, when that happened, I think it started to make it difficult for people to look at women in bluegrass as some kind of exceptional thing. Here was a woman who really blew out the boundaries for the music and really expanded the potential for the music and brought in new listeners."

"I think we have, just like in society, a way to go for everybody to be recognized equally. [...] But I think women have learned business and honed their craft. They’re great musicians. I think that’s been a very important point for women growing in bluegrass.” For Bradley, Emmylou Harris was one of her first inspirations in music. “When Emmylou came out with ‘Roses in the Snow,’ I was a teenager and that absolutely, that was just it, that was the first real representation of the female artist making one of the best records that ever been in bluegrass, acoustic and roots music."

"Born and raised in the coalfields of Appalachia, Dale Ann Bradley today is one of the most respected bluegrass vocalists, with five IBMA Vocalist of the Year Awards under her belt. She’s got the kind of hard twang of the best Appalachian bluegrass singers, and she’s always one with a kind word and helping hand for new musicians."

"[Carter's] influence on the development of country music really can't be overstated."

"Tina Weymouth can hold her own among the best bass players in the world. That's been the case for quite a long time. Weymouth’s punk-tinged, funk-infused bass lines have influenced countless women to pick up a bass and follow a path that is not foreign in the modern day. Whether we're talking about her work with Talking Heads or her own band Tom Tom Club (with husband and fellow Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz), Weymouth has always delivered the goods. She plays with confidence and continues to innovate."

"Kaye’s stellar professional music career began with the sounds of jazz and big band before becoming one of the most sought-after pop/rock session bassists and guitarists, beginning in the late 1950s. During a career that covered over a half-century, Kaye’s bass work was featured alongside music giants like Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, and Quincy Jones. A long-time teacher of the electric bass, Kaye played on Nancy Sinatra’s classic "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and contributed to the famed Mission: Impossible theme. How's that for a legacy?"

"A haven woven with warm colors A woolen place to rest your head And a light comes in Forms and binds you To mold and carry you this long way to go"