Soul Singers

"The magic of my situation with Johnny Franz was that he allowed me the freedom to follow my enthusiasm. He’d sit in the control room while I’d go out and scowl at the musicians. It was very difficult for them because they’d never heard this stuff before. I’m asking somebody with a stand-up bass to play Motown bass-lines, and it was a shock. The ones who thought I was a cow I didn’t work with again. The ones who wanted to learn with me, they had the greatest time. Johnny had played piano for Anne Shelton, and had perfect pitch. Bless his heart, he’d sit there and read Popular Mechanics. But he had good ears, he’d suddenly look up from Popular Mechanics and go, E flat! I never took the producer’s credit for two reasons. For one, he deserved it and I was grateful. And then there was the calculating part of me that that thought it looked too slick for me to produce and sing. Because women didn’t do that. And there remains in the British audience, though less so, that attitude of ‘Don’t get too slick on us. Don’t be too smart or we won’t love you.’ And I wanted to be loved."

"Things have changed, sound systems now work - on occasion. Various things are made easier in some ways for the artists. All the things I used to want to do and get right, and became known as being difficult cause I wanted them... they are now part of a parcel of a tour, and it will be a delight to work under that system."

"I didn't invent an image. It just sorta grew on me, like a fungus or whatever it is. It was an extension of me. Well: I did say at seventeen, "I'm going to invent Dusty Springfield", but it was an extension of Mary O'Brien, convent schoolgirl. And I think that's what [Sheena]'s probably got, and there are too many people flashing around, saying "You gotta develop an image, kid!" I think that you know, singing and songs are the things that are the most important thing. An image comes when you present yourself to the public. And the public really kind of accepts you or they don't accept you. Trying to invent something that's not natural to you will be a disaster."

"Many other people say I'm bent, and I've heard it so many times that I've almost learned to accept it ... I know I'm perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don't see why I shouldn't."

"People resent change, I think in some ways, but they forget that they've changed too. I think most of us changed for the better rather than the worst."

"(on his newest iPhone) "I'm scrolling and scrolling and I’m, like, 'I have to stop,' but I can’t, so I delete the app from my phone. And download it again the next day or whatever.""

"(his answer to 'do you have a twin sister?) "He’s quite influential, that Rodger. He’s done a couple of songs on the new album. He’s off fishing today.""

"And girl, you and I"

"Give me your body and let me love you like I do"

"I don't speak to him but his girlfriend is beautiful and I wish him well. We went through an experience together that was life-changing."

"Before you judge someone else, judge yourself!"

"(if he's ever been in a 'romcom' or 'chick flick' before) "I think there’s a strength in expressing emotion. If you were a guy, you used to have to be really masculine, but now expressing emotion is accepted and respected.""

"Join us next week... where interviewer will be eating fruit off my naked body.."

"If people talk behind your back, it's because you're ahead of them."

"(to Liam) "No, don't be sorry [for yourself]."

"I'd make Liam my slave and I would make him be my (uh) personal trainer!"

"(on Ashley Tisdale) "You don't need a prince to be a princess.""

"(on "Someday My Prince Will Come" the Ashley Tisdale pop song) "Just because your prince hasn't come doesn't mean you're not a princess.""

"(on "I Don't Get Down Like That" the Swedish group Play pop song) "There comes a day when you realise turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realise there is so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.""

"I've known Zayn for a really long time, I think his voice is one of those that is really rare and I think he's really special and wonderful and it's really, really amazing to get to work together."

"When people hear that I don't smoke, don't drink and am a vegan, they think that I am a miserable cow. But I'm not. I don't eat meat as a moral choice, and I don't eat dairy products because they are very mucus-forming, and that is bad for your voice. I work out because I am asthmatic and being a singer and having asthma is not the best combination."

"People used to think my dedication to my diet was crazy, but now they realise that what you put in your body makes a difference. I would strongly recommend to anyone suffering with allergies to think about adjusting their diet, as I would never have had a singing career if I hadn’t."

"I have to wait for a feeling."

"Oh, my God, I can't believe it. Out of all the people in the world, What is the likelihood of jumping Out of my life and into your arms? Maybe, baby, I'm just losing my mind, 'Cause this is trouble, but it feels right. Teetering on the edge of Heaven and Hell Is a battle that I cannot fight."

"The distance in form, intention, mood and expression between Schubert's songs for voice and piano and those of, say, Adele, is remarkably small."

"I only wanted to have fun Learning to fly, learning to run. I let my heart decide the way When I was young Deep down, I must have always known That this would be inevitable To earn my stripes, I'd have to pay And bare my soul."

"I can't love you in the dark, It feels like we're oceans apart. There is so much space between us, Baby, we're already defeated. Ah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, everything changed me."

"If this is my last night with you, Hold me like I'm more than just a friend. Give me a memory I can use, Take me by the hand while we do What lovers do. It matters how this ends 'Cause what if I never love again?"

"I don't like being famous. I love that I get to make music all the time."

"If I get antsy, that's when I know I have to go to the studio, and I am the opposite of antsy right now."

"There ain't no gold in this river That I've been washin' my hands in forever. I know there is hope in these waters, But I can't bring myself to swim When I am drowning in this silence, Baby, let me in.Go easy on me, baby. I was still a child. Didn't get the chance to Feel the world around me. I had no time to choose what I chose to do, So go easy on me."

"Send my love to your new lover, Treat her better. We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts. We both know we ain't kids no more."

"Hello from the other side, I must've called a thousand times To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done, But when I call, you never seem to be home. Hello from the outside. At least, I can say that I've tried To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart, But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore."

"Let me photograph you in this light In case it is the last time that we might Be exactly like we were before we realised We were sad of getting old, it made us restless. It was just like a movie, It was just like a song."

"But I set fire to the rain, Watched it pour as I touched your face, Well it burnt while I cried, Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name! I set fire to the rain And I threw us into the flames Well it felt like something died Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time!"

"I don't really need to stand out, there's room for everyone. Although I haven't built a niche yet, I'm just writing love songs."

"Never mind, I'll find someone like you, I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don't forget me, I beg. I remember you said, "Sometimes it lasts in love, But sometimes it hurts instead.""

"If you're not the one for me, Then how come I can bring you to your knees? If you're not the one for me, Why do I hate the idea of being free? And if I'm not the one for you, You've gotta stop holding me the way you do. Oh honey, if I'm not the one for you, Why have we been through what we have been through?"

"The scars of your love remind me of us They keep me thinking that we almost had it all. The scars of your love they leave me breathless. I can't help feeling We could have had it all. Rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside of your hand And you played it To the beat."

"There's a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever pitch, It’s bringing me out the dark Finally I can see you crystal clear Go head and sell me out And I'll lay your ship bare.See how I leave with every piece of you Don't underestimate the things that I will do."

"Bless your soul, you've got you're head in the clouds, You made a fool out of you, And, boy, she's bringing you down, She made your heart melt, But you're cold to the core, Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore."

"I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades I like it in the city when two worlds collide You get the people and the government Everybody taking different sides."

"I love seeing Lady Gaga's boobs and bum. I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it. But that's not what my music is about. I don’t make music for eyes, I make music for ears."

"I don't have any plans for new music, at all, I want a big break after this and I think I want to do other creative things, just for a little while."

"I can't keep up with your turning tables Under your thumb, I can't breathe.I won't let you close enough to hurt me, no. I won't ask you, you to just desert me. I can't give you, what you think you gave me. It's time to say goodbye to turning tables."

"If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently. Don't pretend that you don't want me. Our love ain't water under the bridge."

"Round my hometown, Memories are fresh. Round my hometown, Ooh the people I've met Are the wonders of my world."

"The guy whose movie it would be, he's not mentally ready to write the script for it."

"I'm mortified to have to pay 50%! [While] I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are shit, and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [the album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."

"It sounds obvious, but I think you only learn to love again when you fall in love again."