Guitarists

"When Ayub Bachchu started his career, the guitar wasn't as prominent as an instrument. He made sure that it was the heart and soul of his music, and the entire country followed. That alone is enough to explain his legacy."

"The fact that people from all walk of life were affected by the departure of Ayub Bachchu is testament to his greatness as an artist. I was fortunate enough to have personally known him since his starting days. He was an immensely passionate person."

"Please pray for my father so that he can secure a place in heaven. Please forgive my father if you hold a grudge against him. Perhaps my father could not give his best to you, but he gave his inexorable love. He tried his best. My last words to you, please pray for my father's departed soul."

"The trend in Bangladeshi music that Azam Khan initiated, was taken to a new height by Ayub Bachchu."

"I have released a lot of albums. They're all fine. Somewhere down the road, I made a few mistakes. Since music is my profession. I'm not doing music for it's a fashionable thing to do. This is my only living. So maybe I had to sing some songs that I didn't like at all. I sometimes regret it and think that I could've avoided doing those 4-5 songs. Other than those, all my songs are like my children - those that I composed, LRB songs, my solo album songs. All of those are my favorite - all of them. But I don't think I have yet been able to make that song, the song I may have dreamt of all my life, a song that will make the listeners know Bangladesh. The world will know Bangladesh through that song."

"Not at all. It is a spiritual song. Some people take it negatively and try to make a different meaning out of it. When we enter the 2nd verse, the song becomes clear. "Bhetorete thakle kalo, upore jol jotoi dhalo" (If you are not clean in your heart, no external force can cleanse your soul). We first have to make our hearts beautiful by surrendering our body and soul to the highest power. We won't get the real meaning of this song if we don't open up our minds"

"This song has a background that I'll never reveal. Ever! It is everyone's story, not only mine. Listeners from both East and West Bengal - all love this song. They have the lyrics memorized and they sing it for their partners, their loved ones. Maybe I sang this for someone I loved. Let the rest of the story remain a secret. Why I asked for forgiveness, why I said "Cholo Bodle Jai" (Let's Change) - let's keep these undisclosed. When you marry your loved one, things change a great deal. You sometimes can't help but feel like going back to being lovers again after marriage. Life would've been better if you could just stay lovers."

"Rock music makes me alive, it makes me awake, so that tiredness can touch me and make me say – It's enough, I have earned much popularity."

"I left Souls because of two different tastes in sounds. They liked one kind of music, I liked another. I was into loud, rocking, powerful sounds, and the rest of the members wanted quiet, melodious sounds. You cannot just compromise day after day. We never really had any big arguments, but it occurred to me that it would be better if I just quit and do something different."

"Most of all I like Hendrix. He did not make the guitar playing very critical note after note. He played the guitar as per his feelings. I have been trying that."

"LRB is disenchanted in cheap popularity. Whatever the language of the song is or from what country it's from, music is for everyone. That's why we've composed this two cassette's about the world around us. If any of these two cassette touches the heart of a good listener, we will find the satisfaction of all our hard work. LRB makes music for those people who loves to listen to good music and takes the problems around them as their own problem."

"I always had one goal, and that was to become a musician. I had no other choice."

"I was 12 when I first realized, there is a Bengali musician who plays the guitar like Jimi Hendrix. He was one of the pioneers of Bengali rock music. My teenage was inspired by his music. He became a family friend when I was in Bangladesh. His simplicity was outstanding. His contributions to music will be remembered by generations to come."

"Every Secret's a blinking light"

"Nothing left to lose Nothing left to fight"

"Lapset: The children are dexterous, true, but being unable to do calculations, they need help with matters relating to wages."

"Suolammen vettä (Swamp pond's water): Child, if it's of any consolation, my shoes, too, have in their time become wet and my socks received a strange colour."

"Hurja poika: The grave of the wild one is deep and black. You get chilly waiting for the resurrection."

"Ikävä: If I'm off to see you with a bottle of red wine, shall I find some blue cheese at the petrol station, I wonder."

"Äärelä (Minne muistot matkaa): I wish that in my mind I'll always be able to find my way back to these special moments of ours. A wedding waltz."

"Suvisivakointia: Nordic walk takes quite a bit of spunk."

"Siipeen jos sain: The one ill-used by the world knows that his disgrace will pass in the end."

"Pari pitsaa: A man comes home with some frozen pizzas, but the promise of an amorous moment vanishes when the Formula 1 Race starts on TV."

"Mersu-humppa: The losers shut up seeing me park my Mercedes in front of the bar."

"Todo es mentira en este mundo Todo es mentira la verdad Todo es mentira yo me digo Todo es mentira ¿Por qué será?"

"Mentira la que manda Mentira comanda"

"Me llaman el desaparecido Que cuando llega ya se ha ido Volando vengo, volando voy Deprisa, deprisa a rumbo perdido Cuando me buscan nunca estoy Cuando me encuentran yo no soy El que está enfrente porque ya Me fui corriendo más allá Me dicen el desaparecido Fantasma que nunca está Me dicen el desagradecido Pero esa no es la verdad Yo llevo en el cuerpo un dolor Que no me deja respirar Llevo en el cuerpo una condena Que siempre me echa a caminar"

"Solo voy con mi pena Sola va mi condena Correr es mi destino Para burlar la ley Perdido en el corazón De la grande Babylon Me dicen el clandestino Por no llevar papel Pa' una ciudad del norte Yo me fui a trabajar Mi vida la dejé Entre Ceuta y Gibraltar Soy una raya en el mar Fantasma en la ciudad Mi vida va prohibida Dice la autoridad"

"I consider animal rights also very linked to human rights and to environmental rights. For me it's just one issue."

"We’re both vegans and living a vegan lifestyle is important to us but we think it’s more important to get the message out there about what that industry creates. We’re not trying to make everyone turn vegan, we’re just trying to raise awareness – we’ve worked with PETA and many other big organisations – it’s more about connecting all the societies in the world and getting that information out there."

"But I… don't believe that gender is just binary, and I never have, so that's what pulls me to sometimes politically identify as a lesbian, because I'm a feminist, and I feel like women are still so suppressed. I don't feel like we've come that far. But I also feel like there are people all along the spectrum, so in that sense, I feel like I would be more bisexual or just, you know, open-ended."

"The meat industry doesn’t want you to think about all the animals they are torturing and killing. And they definitely don’t want you to think about all the diseases related to eating meat. Their only concern is making a profit. A long time ago I made a decision to quit eating meat and dairy products. Animals are not ours to torture and dominate. If I was to eat factory farm meat or dairy products I would be taking part in the torturing and killing of animals. There’s just no way! Animals are my friends, so why would I want to hurt them?"

"The vegan diet in the western industrial society is important to me because I feel that if you open yourself up to eating dairy and meat then you’re taking part in basically a holocaust for animals. You know it’s very different if you’re in some tribal situation where people are fishing — like how we used to live. Maybe we would have eaten meat sometimes. But this kind of American idea we have of traditional eating is the cause of so much torture and misery. I don’t want to eat that – it’s gross. Animals are my friends and so it feels weird to eat them."

"The more red meat and blood we eat, the more bloodthirsty we get, the more violent we get. The more vegetarian food that we eat, the more peace is taken into us."

"The beat must not be like a tyrannical hammer, impeding or urging on, but must be to the music what the pulse-beat is to the life of man. There is no slow tempo in which passages do not occur that demand a quicker motion, so as to obviate the impression of dragging. Conversely there is no presto that does not need a quiet delivery by many places, so as not to throw away the chance of expressiveness by hurrying... Neither the quickening nor the slowing of the tempo should ever give the impression of the spasmodic or the violent. The changes, to have a musical-poetic significance, must come in an orderly way in periods and phrases, conditioned by the varying warmth of the expression. We have in music no signs for all this. They exist only in the sentient soul. If they are not there, then there is no help to be had from the metronome – which obviates only the grosser errors – nor from these extremely imperfect precepts of mine."

"The Lennon-McCartney comparison was frequently made and that was an image that critics could relate to. But it wasn't something people in the street could pick up on the way they'll pick up on someone who's really good-looking."

"Please excuse my enemies"

"This is the start, the beginning The prologue to the yarn that you're spinning A million synonyms will never get close to describe the feeling"

"Little miss dismissed can't miss like a detuned radio"

"Would you be impressed if I said that the dead would help us counting"

"If I were you, I would take this as a sign"

"We'll not be victims there'll be no victims of to speak"

"Why do you cry when you know how the story ends?"

"It doesn't really matter if you lead or follow"

"A moment of silence please for those that never get the chance"

"Hey there Salinger, what did you do?"

"You say you've got the cure"

"And now I know it's hard when you don't know what to think"

"It hurts too much to stand by"

"Don't you come to me with all your color-coded quotes"