"Artists aren't necessarily business people. And they aren't necessarily aware of all the things that go on in their names. Some just want to make some music, but there is a lot of greed among artists as well. Whether or not we know it, we are all to blame. I think it's time — starting with the artist — to try to be a little more responsible and aware of what goes on in our name."

"I feel sorry for kids these days. They get so much homework. Remember the days when we put a belt around our two books and carried them home? Now they're dragging a suitcase. They have school all day, then homework from six until eleven. There's no time left to be creative. The hardest part for me is when my thirteen-year-old is complaining about the workload. I agree with him. I'm supposed to be responsible and support the teacher. But it's like, "You're right, son. This is bullshit.""

"I think television's become a downright dangerous thing. It has no moral barometer whatsoever. If you want to talk about something that is all about money, just watch the television. It's damn dangerous. TV does not care about you or what happens to you. It's downright bad for your health now, and that's not a far-out concept. I think watching the TV news is bad for you. It is bad for your physical health and your mental health. The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit."

"She's gonna listen to her heart. It's gonna tell her what to do. She might need a lot of loving, But she don't need you."

"I'm frustrated by what I hear. Maybe it's not meant for me. Personally, I'm way too bright for a lot of the hip-hop lyrics to affect. I'm much too smart to think that jewelry or how cool I am is really going to change much about my personality. If you're dumb enough that it entertains you, have a great time. But I am seeking more than that."

"Good love is hard to find. You got lucky, babe. You got lucky, babe, when I found you."

"I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that an artist has to take some moral responsibility for what he or she is putting out there. And I think a lot of these young kids are going to have to learn the hard way before they realize that you can actually do some damage if you're being careless or frivolous in what you're saying."

"An act like ours wouldn't even be around today if someone hadn't brought us along and let us make mistakes and grow at our own pace. Today it seems that if you don't have a hit — or even if you do — they have no use for you the next time."

"If we're born in God's image, then God knows how we can fuck up. And he knows that you really didn't mean it."

"I think for it to be unhip to be idealistic is weird, you know? I mean, even all the best rebels to me had some sense of hope in them."

"I don't understand the ones that have no sense of hope and invest in hate. That's not gonna work out, you know? It's a waste of your time!"

"Young people are very cynical now, you know? Very cynical! They've been taught cynicism, they've been — they've been bred cynicism. So, I think it's important to give them hope and realism in the same package, you know? You can be realistic but there should be — there should be hope in it. Because hope's what we're about. If we don't have hope then we don't go on."

"You don't hear any more of, 'Hey, we did something creative and we turned a profit, how about that?' Everywhere we look, we want to make the most money possible. This is a dangerous, corrupt notion. That's where you see the advent of programming on the radio, and radio research, all these silly things. That has made pop music what it is today. Everything — morals, truth — is all going out the window in favor of profit."

"I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem. You know, I saw a billboard in New York I wish I had photographed. It was for the TNN network. It said three words against a patriotic background of red, white and blue — BIGGER, YOUNGER, RICHER. Now, I find that fascinating: 'Bigger, younger, richer.' This whole idea of being wealthy has gone too far. I never ride in a limousine, you know. I feel gross if I get in a limousine. One good thing about the sixties was it sort of was the opposite back then. You looked silly trying to appear rich."

"As we celebrate mediocrity, All the boys upstairs want to see How much you'll pay for What you used to get for free."

"It's funny how the music industry is enraged about the Internet and the way things are copied without being paid for. But you know why people steal the music? Because they can't afford the music. I'm not condoning downloading music for free. I don't think that's really fair, but I understand it. If you brought CD prices back down to $8.98, you would solve a lot of the industry's problems."

"Well I fought for you; I fought too hard. To do it all again babe, It's gone too far."

"There was no use in pretending, No magic left to hear. All the music gave me Was a craving for light beer."

"If I miss my chance, I didn't even try I'm not one to regret Christmas in July."

"Since it's Christmas, let's be glad Even if your life's been bad, There are presents to be had."

"Did I make you cry On Christmas day? Did I let you down Like every other day? Did I make you cry On Christmas day? Did I let you down On Christmas day? . . . I stay awake at night After we have a fight I'm writing poems about you And they aren't very nice."

"There's only a shadow of me In a manner of speaking, I'm dead"

"Fuck me, I'm falling apart"

"I love you more than the world can contain in its lonely and ramshackle head."

"Should I tear my eyes out now? Everything I see returns to you somehow Should I tear my heart out now? Everything I feel returns to you somehow"

"I am a man with a heart that offends with its lonely and greedy demands."

"Well you do enough talk My little hawk, why do you cry? Tell me what did you learn From the Tillamook burn Or the Fourth of July? We're all gonna die"

"Planes will crash, He'll never let you down. So maybe there's a crash coming for the ground, Seek His face, He'll never let you down. Worship grace, He'll never let you down."

"When I was three Three, maybe four She left us at that video store"

"Found myself on Spencer's Butte Traced your shadow with my shoe Empty outline changed my view Now all of me thinks less of you"

"I forgive you mother; I can hear you And I long to be near you But every road leads to an end"

"Ah, ah, Beautiful is the mother. Ah, ah, Beautiful is her son."

"Somewhere in the desert, there's a forest And an acre before us But I don't know where to begin"

"I'm not fucking around."

"Some part of me was lost in your sleeve Where you hid your cigarettes"

"Somewhere I lost whatever else I had."

"I know I've caused you trouble, I know I've caused you pain. But I must do the right thing; I must do myself a favour And get real, get right with the Lord."

"At least I deserve the respect of a kiss goodbye."

"What's left is only bittersweet For the rest of my life, admitting the best is behind me Now I'm drunk and afraid Wishing the world would go away What's the point of singing songs If they'll never even hear you?"

"Words are futile devices."

"When I die, when I die, I'll rot. But when I live, but when I live, I'll give it all I've got."

""It's been a long long time since I've memorized your face."

"I want it all, I want it all for myself."

"He dressed up like a clown for them With his face paint white and red. And on his best behavior In a dark room on the bed, He kissed them all."

"But in my best behavior, I am really just like him Look beneath the floorboards, for the secrets I have hid."

"Oh, great intentions, Covenant with the imitation Have you no conscience? I think about it now Oh, God of Progress, Have you degraded or forgot us? Where have your laws gone?"

"Rest in my arms Sleep in my bed There's a design To what I did and said"

"You gave your body to the lonely, They took your clothes. You gave up a wife and a family You gave your ghost. To be alone with me. To be alone with me You went up on a tree. I've never met a man who loved me."

"Once when we moved away, She came to Romulus for a day. Her Chevrolet broke down. We prayed it'd never be fixed or be found."

"Tuesday morning at the Bible study We lift our hands and pray over your body But nothing ever happens"