Folk Singers

"I have a fear of heights, so falling off something very tall. But I've conquered a good amount of my fears. I guess most people would have the fear of getting up in front of a large audience of people and making a fool of themselves. I've gotten over that."

"We played a gig in the Swiss Alps at a snowboarding convention. Red Bull-this energy sports-fuel drink-sponsored the whole thing. It has some ingredient believed to be bull-testicle extract. We went way off our tour route, had to take two planes and missed a night's sleep. We got up there and there's no snow-it's all mud. You couldn't walk. You'd step and then be up to your knee in mud. So you had several thousand disgruntled snowboarders tanked up to the max on bull-testicle extract. Of course, for some reason, these strapping brutes were made to wait out in the mid and the rain before coming into the tent for the show. When we get up to play, I see this forty-foot gap between us and the audience-they still managed to nail us with empty cans of Red Bull. After a few songs, I wasn't really playing my guitar, I was using it to bay cans back into the crowd of disgruntled sports enthusiasts. It felt like we were A Flock of Seagulls opening for Napalm Death."

"Our whole culture in this country now is so conformist. I don't even meet that many freaks any more."

"You are about to be told one more time that you are America's most valuable natural resource. Have you seen what they do to valuable natural resources?! Have you seen a strip mine? Have you seen a clear cut in the forest? Have you seen a polluted river? Don't ever let them call you a valuable natural resource! They're going to strip mine your soul. They're going to clear cut your best thoughts for the sake of profit unless you learn to resist, because the profit system follows the path of least resistance and following the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked!"

"We, the American People, are enormously wealthy. You know that? Who owns all of those trees in the national forests? (This is not a rhetorical question.) We do! Who owns all of that off-shore oil you read about in the newspaper, huh? We do! Who owns all of those minerals under the federal lands? We do! It’s public property, you know. But we elect people to go to Washington—who are those assholes?—what have we gotten ourselves into now?—they go to Washington, they lease off what we own, public property, to private companies to sell us back our own stuff for the sake of a greasy buck. That’s dumb."

"But they lived those extraordinary lives that can never be lived again. And in the living of them, they gave me a history that is more profound, more beautiful, more powerful, more passionate, and ultimately more useful, than the best damn history book I ever read."

"No root, no fruit."

"I'm here to change the world, and if I am not, I am probably wasting my time."

"As I have said so often before, the long memory is the most radical idea in America….""

"I coulda got mad. But then I had to stop and think, well, what did he get in school? What did he get in his work experience? What did he get even from his own union, that gave him some tools to understand what he was seeing on that television?"

"Talking to a conservative is like talking to your refrigerator... You know, the light goes on, the light goes off; it's not going to do anything that isn't built into it... And I'm not going to talk to a conservative anymore than I talk to my damn refrigerator."

"I coulda got mad. But then I had to stop and think, well, what did he get in school? What did he get in his work experience? What did he get even from his own union, that gave him some tools to understand what he was seeing?"

"The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses."

"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""

"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?"

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

"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?"

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

"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?"

"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."

"When you’re so lonely lying in bed, Night’s closed it’s eyes but you can’t rest your head. Everyone’s sleeping all through the house, You wish you could dream but forgot to somehow. Sing this lullaby to yourself."

"Well I’m just people watching The other people watching me. And we’re all people watching The other people watching we."

"With everything ahead of us We left everything behind. But nothing that we needed; At least not at this time. And now the feeling that I’m feeling, Well it’s feeling like my life is finally mine. With nothing to go back to we just continue to drive."

"And the water below gives a gift to the sky And the clouds give back every time they cry And make the grass grow green beneath my toes."

"Well I guess you could say That he don't even know where to begin Cause he looked both ways but he was so afraid Diggin' deeper through the ditch With every chance he missed And the mess he made Cause hate is such a strong word And every brick he laid A mistake they say That his walls are getting taller His world is getting smaller."

"Well if I was in your position I'd put down all my ammunition I'd wondered why'd it take me so long. But Lord knows that I'm not you And if I was I wouldn't be so cruel Cause waiting on love ain't so easy to do."

"Who’s to say what’s impossible? Well they forgot this world keeps spinning. And with each new day, I can feel a change in everything. And as the surface breaks, reflections fade. But in some ways they remain the same. And as my mind begins to spread it’s wings There’s no stopping curiosity."

"And know that if I knew all of the answers I would Not hold them from you. You'd Know all the things that I'd know We told each other, there is no other way."

"They got this and that with a rattle a tat. Testing, one, two, man whatcha gonna do? Bad news misused, got too much to lose. Give me some truth now, whose side are we on? Whatever you say. Turn on the boob tube, I’m in the mood to obey. So lead me astray."

"Must I always be waiting, waiting on you? Must I always be playing, playing the fool?"

"I want to turn the whole thing upside down. I’ll find the things they say just can’t be found. I’ll share this love I find with everyone. We’ll sing and dance to mother nature’s songs. I don’t want this feeling to go away."

"Its always better when we're together Somewhere in between together Its always better when we're together Yeah, its always better when we're together."

"It was you it was me it was every man We've all got the blood on our hands We only receive what we demand and if we want hell then hells what we'll have."

"Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart Like: why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard? It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving I'll tell you one thing its always better when we're together."

"And I don't pretend to know what you know no no now please don't pretend to know what's on my mind if we already knew everything that everybody knows we would have nothing to learn tonight and we would have nothing to show tonight oh but everybody thinks that everybody knows about everybody else nobody knows anything about themselves cause they're all worried about everybody else."

"Look at all those fancy clothes but these could keep us warm just like those and what about your soul, is it cold is it straight from the mold and ready to be sold and cars and phones and diamond rings, bling bling those are only removeable things and what about your mind, does it shine oh are there things that concern you more than your time"

"You can't blame me sure the killer was my son but I didn't teach him to pull the trigger of the gun It's the killing on this tv screen you can't blame me it's those images he's seen. Well you can't blame me says the media man Well I wasn't the one who came up with the plan And I just point my camera at what the people want to see Man it's a two way mirror and you can't blame me."

"Never knowing Shocking but we're nothing We're just moments We're Clever but we're clueless We're just human Amusing but confusing But the truth is All we got is questions We'll Never Know."

"We used to laugh a lot But only because we thought That everything good always would remain Nothing's gonna change there's no need to complain."

"Why don't the newscasters cry when they read about people who die? At least they could be decent enough to put just a tear in their eyes."

"Look who's laughing now that you've wasted How many years and you've barely even tasted Anything remotely close to Everything you've boasted about Look who's crying now."

"She's the one that stumbles when she talks about The seven foreign films that she's checked out Such a fortunate fool She's just too good to be true She's such a fortunate fool"

"Well I was eating lunch at the D. L. G. When this little girl came and she sat next to me I never seen nobody move the way she did Well she did and she does and she'll do it again. When you move like a jellyfish Rhythm don't mean nothing You go with the flow You don't stop Move like a jellyfish Rhythm is nothing You go with the flow You don't stop"

"A billion people died on the news tonight But not so many cried at the terrible sight Well mama said It's just make believe You can't believe everything you see So baby close your eyes to the lullabies On the news tonight"

"Losing hope is easy When your only friend is gone And every time you look around Well, it all, it all just seems to change But hanging on is easy When you've got a friend to call When nothings making sense at all You're not the only one that's afraid of change"

"The telephone is singing Ringing it's too early Don't pick it up We don't need to we got everything We need right here And everything we need is enough Just so easy When the whole world fits inside of your arms Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm."