Women Guitarists

"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."

"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."

"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.""

"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."

"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"

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"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 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]."

"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."