Rock Singers

"Faces come and faces go in circular rotation. But something yearns within to grow beyond infatuation."

"Now I think I know what you tried to say to me How you suffered for your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen They're not listening still... Perhaps they never will..."

"I feel like a spinning top or a Dreidel The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle You just slow down Round and around this world you go Spinning through the lives of the people you know We all slow down."

"No days you can borrow, no time you can buy. No trust in tomorrow. It's a lie."

"I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music woudn't play And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died."

"So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend Oh, and as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in hell Could break that Satan's spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died."

"Starry starry night, Paint your palette blue and grey Look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul…"

"Now I understand what you tried to say to me How you suffered for your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen — They did not know how, Perhaps they'll listen now."

"Weathered faces lined in pain Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand. For they could not love you, But still your love was true And when no hope was left in sight, on that starry starry night You took your life as lovers often do, But I could have told you, Vincent, This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you."

"As you can imagine, over the years I have been asked many times to discuss and explain my song "American Pie" I have never discussed the lyrics, but have admitted to the Holly reference in the opening stanzas. You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me. … Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."

"In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation."

"And if she asks you why, You can tell her that I told you That I'm tired of castles in the air. I've got a dream I want the world to share, And castle walls just lead me to despair.Hills of forest green where the mountains touch the sky, A dream come true, I'll live there till I die. I'm asking you to say my last goodbye. The love we knew ain't worth another try."

"Every thread of creation is held in position By still other strands of things living. In an earthly tapestry hung from the skyline Of smouldering cities so gray and so vulgar, As not to be satisfied with their own negativity But needing to touch all the living as well."

"And I love you so The people ask me how How I've lived till now I tell them I don't know.I guess they understand How lonely life has been But life began again The day you took my hand."

"A long long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while. But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride But something touched me deep inside The Day the Music Died."

"Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died?"

"Words can be very powerful. I find them very difficult."

"I like the name Atomic Kitten. It's so great."

"All those rappers, they're the only glamorous people working in music now. The rock bands are rather drab, even the good ones. You definitely don't want to look at them. But some of those R&B people are very good."

"When I stopped touring in the early '80s for a few years, it was a mistake looking back. I lost touch with my audience in a way and I think that was a bad career move."

"The way that the Nazis staged themselves and presented themselves, my Lord! I’m talking about the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and the mass marches and the flags — just fantastic. Really beautiful."

"People think I wake up in the morning and put on a tuxedo."

"I don't think I've ever played the Olympia before, but I'm not totally sure."

"I'm not even sure he knows who "Meat Loaf" is. He definitely would become the person in the song."

"He was an absolutely mesmerizing, wonderful presence. His pupils would roll up into his head, and you'd see the whites of his eyes, and his hands would clutch. It was really powerful. He was extraordinary. As a performer, when he's at his best, he ranks among the three or four greatest I've ever seen in my life."

"When he performs my songs, I couldn't even dream of them being sung better."

"Karaoke bars are devil worship!"

"You're not going to ask me that and if you did I'd pretend that you didn't because everybody and their mother plus their dog and cat and their goldfish asks me that."

"You can decide what you want to eat for dinner, you can decide to go away for the weekend, and you can decide what clothes you’re going to wear in the morning, but when it comes to artistic things, there’s never a rhyme or reason. It’s, like, they just happen. And they happen when they happen."

"You gotta understand that people attach me and Jim Steinman. But you really have to attach Todd Rundgren to that. … you really have to credit Todd Rundgren for the initial mark. Yes, Steinman had things in his head. And, yes, I had some things in my head; I had how “All Revved Up with No Place to Go” should sound in my head. Jim had how “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” should sound in his head. But pulling things out of your head and accomplishing them, and somebody else trying to accomplish them, is a remarkable feat. … So not taking anything away from Jim, ‘cause Jim is an absolute genius and one of the smartest people that I’ve ever known, and I consider him one of my best friends. But, y’know, sometimes, people just… they pigeonhole things, and they go, “Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf.” And my thing is, no, stop it! Because the Bat Out of Hell records are this: it’s a big wheel, and everybody is a spoke in that wheel… and, at different times as that wheel’s turning, different people have more input than others. It’s, like, as a wheel turns, the bottom spokes take more than the top spokes…but, pretty soon, those are gonna be the bottom spokes, and their import is more. And, so, that’s how that goes with the Bat Out of Hell records… and that’s exactly Bat Out of Hell III."

"We were aware of her profile, and it was… first, it’s artistic: can she do it? Is she capable of handling this? Can she handle it emotionally? The song. Because it’s a very emotional song. Can she handle it melodically? Does she have the range for it? Second, now then, you’ve got that, now you look to see…because it’s a very strange duet, and I’ve always said it was meant to be a duet. I had the song in ’86, and I don’t care what anybody else says; I know it was my song, it was given to me in ’86, I was gonna do it, it was always gonna be a duet, and I think the only real life of it is a duet. And that’s my opinion, and my opinion only. That’s it. But when it’s a duet, it’s a definitive duet. And then because of how it’s a call-and-response duet, you needed the timbre of the voices. If you get someone with the same timbres… I’m being analytical, but that’s exactly why we picked Marion Raven. And then on the fourth hand… what, she’s twenty-two years old? She can get MTV where I can’t!"

"These stories get made up, and I don’t know from where. I have no idea. I didn’t make that one up — sometimes I make my own stories up — but I didn’t make that one up."

"At least I've never sold my story. That's one point for me at least. And I am never going to, there are too many risks to take, so that's a no for me. I've had countless and endless offers but I'd rather be in a nursing home with bad carers than splashed all over the tabloids. So, please don't stir up nonsense to get more people to buy your magazines, or make up something to peddle your own brand of propaganda."

"I know that people are interested, and I understand why, but I don't want that stuff to overshadow my life. It's just the way it is. I'm a singer, I'm in a band, I've been out with musicians, I've had children with two different musicians. To me, it's no big deal. I only get upset because I want people to listen to the songs. Listen to the LP or come and see my band. I don't like it when people write about my life and don't even mention the music."

"It spurs me on. I'm going to get over that, I'm a good songwriter, my kids are happy, the band is great and I've almost sorted out all my debts. At least I've never sold my story. I've had countless offers but I'd rather be in a bedsit council flat than splashed all over Hello! or the tabloids. I really would, I have a responsibility to my band and my children as well. I don't believe in it, I'm never ever tempted."

"I wanna bite the hand that feeds me. I wanna bite that hand so badly. I want to make them wish they'd never seen me."

"Oh I used to be disgusted and now I try to be amused. But since their wings have got rusted, you know, the angels wanna wear my red shoes."

"Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect, even your mother won't detect it, no your father won't know. they think that I've got no respect but everything means less than zero."

"Accidents will happen We only hit and run He used to be your victim Now you're not the only one.Accidents will happen We only hit and run I don't want to hear it 'Cause I know what I've done."

"She said that's that. I don't wanna chitter-chat. Turn it down a little bit or turn it down flat. Pump it up when you don't really need it. Pump it up until you can feel it."

"Theres so many fish in the sea That only rise up in the sweat and smoke like mercury"

"They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio."

"The first song that most people picked up on, particularly in America, of mine, was a ballad, not a rock'n'roll song. It was 'Alison', and that's an R&B ballad. I don't think there's any other way to describe it."

"These are the sort of things that push you on in music — the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. It's important to keep restoring that, and at the same time, hold on to the core things about music that whenever you pick the simplest form of instrument; guitar or piano, you can find a song that's worthwhile."

"I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you."

"We stayed out of Memphis early on in the late 70s for obvious reasons. People were very sensitive about Elvis Presley, and my stage name obviously would be provocative to some people in that area at that time. So we didn't visit Memphis until about 1984."

"Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music. I've been lucky to listen to lots of different types of music."

"Obviously, when I started out, I had a little bit more curiosity than some, and went seeking out the original artists, or in some cases searching up country music. I followed The Byrds a lot, and then when they did a country styled record it made me curious to know who these people were that they liked."

"I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it. And if there's something in it that I can respond to, then there's something that I might be able to use as a composer. There are records of mine that have had smaller audiences and have provoked really drastic responses from people — particularly from critics — who maybe don't have quite enough time to live with the record or accept that a piece has its own integrity."

"My sense of history in music is much greater than a lot of people's. I listen a lot further back in the whole history of music. It's not just pop music of the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years. I'm listening to stuff from hundreds of years ago as well, because you can learn from everything."