Rock Singers

"When you lose someone so young, how do you start again? You can't run and hide from the world outside and you lock yourself in, wonder where to begin: it multiplies the pain. When you lose someone so young, how do you start again? As time goes by and tears run dry and hope appears in place of fears it takes away the pain."

"As it was in the beginning it will be until the end. Your money buys you people but it will not buy you friends. Your life is an illusion so live it day by day. Just draw your own conclusion It's gonna happen anyway"

"It's not over, no, it's not over yet. Yeah, we'll put all this pain behind us, recover and start again, come on. It's not over, no, it's not over yet. Sweet forgiving rain, wash away my shame, let the clouds roll by and reveal a brighter day. Yeah."

"Once a close friend, now a stranger. Where the wind blows, you'll survive. You won't ever have to leave before midnight, one more fool go stay the night. If you try to find a reason, happiness could ease your mind; what you're looking for is sometimes what you came from and it's been there all the time. But if old enough could be bold enough when you're losing the show, and if young enough was strong enough to know, of all the things that I might do I will never try to write this song for you. And it's not called Angel."

"Lady of my life, won't you comfort me tonight, when the troubles of the world are on my shoulders? Lady, make it right, please don't fuss or fight, I need some peace now I'm a little older. Lady, lady, lady, lady of my life, lady, lady, lady, lady of my life, stay with me tonight."

"I started working on an old song for Rosie. My mind was only halfway there. She came to my house and you know what she told me, slow dancin' in my easy chair...? I always knew one thing could lead to another, it didn't mean a thing, but now that it's over...? I took a chance. I thought you'd never discover..., Oh why, I'll never know. Now you say you're letting me go. I'll never do it again, that's the last time. Don't shake your head. Say that you believe me? I'll never do it again. Oh what a fool I am. Don't walk away, let me tell you something..."

"I need your love, I need your love. I need your love, I need your love. Sometimes I feel lost and I don't know what you believe. My wires get crossed, and I wonder how you could leave. But one thing I know, I just can't go on living from day to day, Won't you listen to me when I say, I need your love?"

"Sun is shinin' in the sky There ain't a cloud in sight It's stopped rainin', everybody's in the play and don't you know it's a beautiful new day. Hey hey hey! Runnin' down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey hey. Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long (so long) Where did we go wrong?"

"Music was my first love And it will be my last Music of the future And music of the past To live without my music would be impossible to do In this world of troubles my music pulls me through"

"Highfly, touch the sky, Whatcha gonna do now the well's dry? Good time, feeling fine. Whatcha gonna do now there's no wine?"

"He really does shine for the ladies with painted faces. He spends his time being seen in all the right places. You only get to know him nearly, there can't be anyone who knows him really. He's doing so well and there's no one to tell you but Glamour Boy."

"Could a feeling be so wrong? Why I left you for so long. Home. Though I miss you more each day there was nothing you could say, I had to go my way: show them I was older now and not some toy that they could play with. Tell me how everything I need today is? Lost, only traces on faces that won't remember me now. Yes I'm going back there somehow. Lost where my memory waits for me. Home is where I belong"

"It's not time to make a change. Just relax, take it easy. You're still young. That's your fault: there's so much you have to know. Find a girl, settle down, if you want you can marry. Look at me, I am old but I'm happy. I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy to be calm when you've found something going on, but take your time, think a lot, think of everything you've got, for you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not."

"There's once in your life if you're lucky enough to find it, that special love, deep inside your soul, opening your eyes to a bright new day, leaving loneliness behind you. No words could ever say, oh darling, how precious you are to me. Don't you see? Oh baby, now that I found you, girl, nothing's gonna take you away, 'cause, darling, I will love you for ever and ever."

"Just another dead end kid. Can't believe the things I did. Lots of pretty ladies by my side. Take it all for Number One. Wasted days with no harm done. Always leave tomorrow open wide. You took me by surprise, now my empty eyes had to realise that my life wasn't the way I want to be. No, I'll never change my mind, couldn't be unkind, love is hard to find, and I know by now I should say more, but I have never been in love before."

"Nice Man Jack, you should see him when the children play! Nice Man Jack, he's the one to take their tears away. Nice Man Jack, so very warm and kind. It's a pity there aren't more like him. Nice Man Jack - and he's always there to lend a hand. Nice Man Jack, such a well-respected gentleman. Nice Man Jack, so charming in his way. It's a pity there aren't more like him. It's a pity there aren't more like him. It's a pity there aren't more like him."

"You can have the world if the world is what you need. Just take me round in circles, I'll follow where you lead. Go anywhere, if it's where you wanna go. It used to be for something, but lately I don't know. "Take me far away", all the people say. You're the price I pay. Blame me. Leave you far behind. Search until I find. I could lose my mind. Shame me. Tame me."

"It's easily said with your gun to my head, no one wants to fight a fighter. If this is a dream then I'll stay out of bed, It's always dark before it gets lighter. I'm not being used again. No I won't be used again. I said I won't be used again. You can't keep a good man down."

"So take these broken wings and learn to fly again, learn to live so free And when we hear the voices sing the book of love will open up for us and let us in Take these broken wings You got to learn to fly again, got to learn to live so free And when we hear the voices sing the book of love will open up and let us in Yeah, yeah"

"Hold on, it'll take a while. You can't always be so juvenile. Hold on while the love we had loses nothing, could be half as bad. Waiting for the right time. You never showed me one sign. Give me your lifeline, but don't you give me your sympathy."

"Plain Jane, chasing rainbows, building castles in the sky. Plain Jane, chasing rainbows, make the end before you die. Not for you a poor man's son, your dreams of fortune have begun, and once you're off the ground you have to fly."

"Pull the damn thing down, we're gonna build a highway, and either side we'll beautify, with concrete reaching to the sky. Pull the damn thing down. Soon you won't remember, as all the people turn their backs on cobbled stones and chimney stacks. Pull the damn thing down!"

"When I was young I never needed anyone and making love was just for fun. Those days are gone. All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself anymore."

"The lights are on, but you're not home. Your mind is not your own. Your heart sweats, your body shakes. Another kiss is what it takes. You can't eat, you can't sleep. There's no doubt you're in deep. Your throat is tight, you can't breathe. Another kiss is all you need. Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh, yeah. It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough, you know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love."

"I was blinded. Yes, I was blinded, and the tender touch that said so much doesn't need me now. I was blinded, how I was blinded. When I think about how far I've got to fall it won't help that I was blinded by it all."

"Don't give up 'cause you have friends Don't give up You're not the only one Don't give up No reason to be ashamed Don't give up You still have us Don't give up now We're proud of who you are Don't give up I know it's never, never been easy Don't give up 'cause I believe there's a place There's a place where we belong"

"No hard feelings, no tears, no pain. No hard feelings, no fears remain. I could see you slowly drifting away like a vision into the wall but I've got no hard feelings, I've got no feelings at all. No hard feelings, no cold goodbyes. No hard feelings, too old and wise. "And what happened to forever?", they say, "A lifetime seems so small." But I've got no hard feelings, I've got no feelings at all."

"Sitting in your easy chair looking at the wall, thinking of the things that might've been. And as you wish your life away with dreams of mystic gold, imagine all the things you could've seen, imagine all the things you could've seen. Looking out the window staring at the rain, Wonder if the sun will ever shine? And if you only realised that life won't pass you by, the only thing that's passing is your time. The only thing that's passing is your time. Oh no! Oh no! No!"

"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune then the piper will lead us to reason and a new day will dawn for those who stand long and the forests will echo with laughter. Oh-oh-oh-oh-whoa Ooh, really makes me wonder If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now It's just a spring clean for the May Queen. Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there's still time to change the road you're on."

"Buildings tower round me like they're waiting for the kill. For days I haven't eaten and I really do feel ill. If I cry for help, would you hear my call? If I stumble now, would you let me fall? Won't you give me a hand, try to understand that I'm a stranger in the city? Stuck inside these streets it's like a human traffic jam. People walk right over me, now they don't give a damn. If I ask for death, would you give me a gun? If I took your hand, would you turn and run? Won't you pity me, just try to see that I'm a stranger in the city?"

"This is my song for you. Thoughts of winter, dreams of sunshine. Nothing that I can do changes how I feel in my mind. This is my song for you. Times I hope you will remember. Things that were meant for two, here in my heart, here in my song for you."

"There is not any kind of meaning in the lyrics, in fact it was an attempt at completely deconstructing reality."

"And I don't think that parents can teach anything at all. A child is a person with his own destiny, and it seems to me that we attach too much importance, so to speak, to the formation of personality by the parents. Parents can educate there, whatever they want, and the personality is formed by itself, under the influence the environment... But one and the same environment affects some in this way, others in a different way ..."

"Russia is a popular theme in France right now, in terms of Soviet memorabilia and stuff like that. But there isn't really a serious approach to Russia, we’re like matryoshka dolls to them: 'Hey, look, Russians can play guitars almost like we do'. A lot of bands have taken the opportunity to tour abroad, consciously accepting the fact that they will be touring on bad terms in terms of both pay and concerts. I didn't want to be a matryoshka doll. The problem isn't so much the money, it's the prestige of the country. If you want to go abroad, it's best to go as a tourist."

"The most important thing is that we would like people to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social order, finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there are no more desires would not be."

"Almost everyone can forgive us for honesty: and, say, not enough professional game, and even not enough professional verses. There are many examples of this. But when honesty disappears, they forgive nothing."

"Almost everything can be forgiven to those who are honest. Say, for example, if we [Kino] play our music in an unprofessional manner, or sing our songs in an unprofessional way – and we have made countless mistakes of this kind – our fans will overlook this, but, if we do not try our best to be honest our fans will never forgive us."

"The most interesting thing for us is the work of independent record companies. Most often, music "for sale", music for dancing comes to us. The ears get used to the standards. And independent companies have a small circulation of records of groups that are not guided by standards. It's closer to us."

"I want to be myself everywhere - both on the movie screen and at a concert, do you understand? The most important thing for me is to maintain the self-esteem and freedom that I have now. But it is very difficult to save. You have to fight all the time. And if the question becomes that I will have to play music that I don’t want to play, but that people will like, it would be dishonest to play it, right?"

"The main thing is to remain yourself, and this is impossible for a professional actor. Although it is difficult to think ahead. It seems to me that cinema and music, complementing each other, can coexist in my life."

"It is more important for me to preserve some self-respect and some inner freedom, which I now have, but it is very difficult to preserve it, I have to fight all the time with all sorts of temptations. And I fight with them ... If the question is put in such a way that I will have to play music that I do not want to play, but which people like, then it would be unfair to play it, for me it would be a temptation."

"I feel that now I can’t always reach an understanding with someone, especially with people of an older generation. I find it difficult in this situation, because they think differently. Naturally, people cannot think alike, but they must understand each other. That's why they are people."

"We were constantly testing to see how far we could go, testing the aesthetic limits of society, and those of the old cadres too. We felt that if we couldn’t upset them, we weren’t doing it right. We’d be like, really? You’re upset at such a little thing? On the other hand. Every so often, we didn’t get a reaction and we’d be surprised at our luck."

"To be the person stand behind the camera observing other people is really interesting, it gives me a great sense of freedom."

"I think rock music is more personal for me. I have more freedom. I can show more of my personal emotions in rock and roll music. With classical music, I can only play something that is written already."

"I don't even want people to say I'm the godfather of Chinese rock music. I would like to say I'm the grandson of Chinese rock music. I want to keep doing something, I don't want to sit there and tell people what you should do. I don't like that."

"I had a lot of friends who worked in foreign embassies so I had the chance to exchange music tapes. That's the way I listened to a lot of rock music at that time"

"I don't really want to talk about the old stuff - I really don't think it's important any more. I have a lot of new songs, which are more important to me"

"I can't think of someone who has ever been more worthy than Cui Jian for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He's Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen, whose songs made people suddenly realize that there are things going on about which we don't know and ought to, and singing with the voice of the people not often represented in popular culture."

"Fear is part of the culture of this country and has been for the past 50 years. But in America everyone is fearful too, just for different reasons. Maybe now it’s the same everywhere. Anyways, I may be afraid, but I usually try to answer questions without putting myself in danger. I just don’t want to lie. Journalists always expect me to answer that black is black or white is white, but if you get to know China you’ll understand that no one answer is ever right. It’s all gray."