Gospel Singers

"“Don’t make any decision for now; don’t make permanent decisions on where you are now. Think about you in the future; don’t make temporary decisions to soothe or cater for temporary needs or present purchase.”"

"If you want to introduce Jesus to people, you have to look good. If you want to tell people that Christ is a good saviour, the first thing they would look at is your appearance."

"Sometimes, it is necessary to have a taste of what it feels like to be an ordinary woman on the street."

"When someone is not free to do what they feel like doing, like every other person on the street, it causes depression which can even lead to death."

"My burning desire is to lead my generation into the very act of worship, worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth."

"God is very intentional about your life. It does not matter what anyone thinks or says, what matters is what God’s word says about you."

"His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life."

"Andy Griffith His pursuit of excellence and the joy he took in creating served generations & shaped my life I'm forever grateful RIP Andy."

"What made her talent so great was her capacity to live what she sang. Her music was deepened by her connection to the struggles and the triumphs of the African American experience growing up in her father’s church, the community of Detroit, and her awareness of the turmoil of the South. She had a lifelong, unwavering commitment to civil rights and was one of the strongest supporters of the movement. She was our sister and our friend. Whenever I would see her, from time to time, she would always inquire about the well-being of people she met and worked with during the sixties.When she sang, she embodied what we were fighting for, and her music strengthened us. It revived us. When we would be released from jail after a non-violent protest, we might go to a late night club and let the music of Aretha Franklin fill our hearts. She was like a muse whose songs whispered the strength to continue on. Her music gave us a greater sense of determination to never give up or give in, and to keep the faith. She was a wonderful, talented human being. We mourn for Aretha Franklin. We have lost the Queen of Soul."

"You walked in on the sly Scopin' for love In the crowd, I caught your eye You can't hide your stuff.You came to catch You thought I'd be naive and tame You met your match I beat you at your own game."

"Step n' move your hips With a feelin' from side to side Sit yourself down in your car And take a ride.And while you're movin' Rock steady Rock steady baby. Let's call this song exactly what it is (What it is -what it is - what it is)"

"In order to become Aretha Franklin you really have to be able to assess an inheritance and find yourself able to use it."

"People walkin' around everyday, Playin' games and takin' scores. Tryin' to make other people lose their minds. Well be careful you don't lose yours.Oh think (think) Think about what you're tryin' to do to me. Woo-hoo think (think) Let your mind go let yourself be free.You need me (need me) And I need you (don't cha know) Without each other There ain't nothin' we two can do."

"I want to be what he wants when he wants it, and whenever he needs it And when he's lonesome and feelin' love starved I'll be there to feed it I'm givin' him a little bit for each day He turns me right on when I hear him say(Hey baby let's get away, let's go somewhere far) (Baby can we?) Well I don't care."

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T Take care … TCB Sock it to me, Sock it to me, Sock it to me."

"Speak your name And I'll feel a thrill. You said I do, And I said I will.I tell you that I'll stay true, And give you just a little time. Wait on me baby, I want you to be all mine. I just get so blue.Since you've been gone, baby (why'd you do it? why'd you have to do it?)"

"Hopefully, these characters bring us closer to a sense of self: honest and honored. Icons: Toussaint Louverture to José Martí to lesser known heroes, Atahualpa and Denmark Vesey. We lace our visions with Celia Cruz and Aretha Franklin."

"Some things You have to let be lost Some battles, some battles You have to leave unfought.Then the truth just wastes away In all we dare not say. And in all we can't explain But I faithfully remain."

"The very thing that drives you, can drive you insane Got a head full of thought crimes and a number with no name Got an eleventh hour Jesus and a mouth full of blame A casket lined with silver dollars and a number with no name."

"Now that you've grown up You can finally learn to be a child We made it to the end of the world But we'll never make it out alive."

"When your whole world is shaken from all the risks we have taken, Dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk."

"Take my hand when you are worried Take my hand when you're alone Take my hand and let me guide you Take my hand to lead you home."

"You see mama don't watch your damn football And your beer drinkin' just won't do You're just stayin' out late And you're preachin' the hate And you never have been trueYou see mama she want her somebody Who will let her be herself So she's leavin' you And your stinky damn ways Cause she's found somebody else"

"Children come running to the truth But you've got to peel the skin to get the fruit And while one's living high another's grieving But what's sweet by morning is bitter by the evening Oh - What's sweet by morning is bitter by the evening."

"The lifetime we've left behind with strangers Promises and lies both have their dangers. I just can't be wrong enough and I can't hide for long enough So far away, but I still feel your pain."

"Make no mistake about it, making a good record is pure, unadulterated pain. If you fall and break your leg--that's pain. But I'm telling you, the phase between pain and death? That's making a good record. It's extreme."

"The world awakens on the run And will soon be earning With hopes of better days to come It's a morning yearning."

"Fools will be fools, And wise will be wise. But I will look this world Straight in the eyes.What good is a man Who won't take a stand? What good is a cynic With no better plan?"

"Every time feels like my first time. And I just find that the process of it feeds into one's own self-obsession."

"You can run away from home But you can't run away from your pain I sit here alone There's always someone else to blame."

"You may write me down in history With your bitter twisted lies You may trod me down in the very dirt And still like the dust I'll rise."

"My band is the best band in the world, period. So, I insist on every song being better then it is on the record. So by the end of the tour, we have to be playing the song better then how it’s recorded."

"Now I've been hangin' 'round you for days, Bt when I lean in you just turn your head away. Oh no, you didn't mean that. She said I love the way you think, but I hate the way you act."

"Could've sworn I heard you say amen this morning, showing some kind of sign that you believe Did it fall from your tongue without warning or just another trick to fall from your sleeve? Did I hear you say that you believe in angels? I guess I bring the devil out in you. But we can both remove our halos 'cause even an angel needs love too. Even angels need love too."

"Sometimes I feel I know strangers Better than I know my friends Why must a beginning Be the means to an end?The stones from my enemies These wounds will mend But I cannot survive The roses from my friends."

"Where did you learn to do that so well? Where did you learn to do that so well? I guess that would be like kiss and tell. If it's a secret, why did you show me?"

"Listen stranger, passerby, And those I never knew. There's not one day that you are living Has been promised to you."

"It will make a weak man mighty; It will make a mighty man fall. It will fill your heart and hands; Or leave you with nothing at all. It's the eyes for the blind And legs for the lame. It is love for hate, And pride for shame.That's the power of the gospel. That's the power of the gospel. That's the power of the mighty power. That's the power of the gospel."

"In my life I have been blessed In my life I have been cursed I have lived the best of times I have suffered the worst Do you know which road you're traveling? Do you know where you want to be? With so many roads to travel, There's just one can set you free."

"Real life has let you down. Real life has let you down. Someone stripped the jewel from your crown. Everybody owes somebody something."

"I believe in a few things: God the devil and love. 'Cause I've looked up from the bottom And I've stared down from above.I have faith in a few things: Divinity and grace. But even when I'm on my knees I know the devil prays.And you're working your way From the ground on down."

"My choice is what I choose to do. And if I'm causing no harm It shouldn't bother you. Your choice is who you choose to be. And if your causin' no harm Then you're alright with me."

"A candle throws its light into the darkness In a nasty world, so shines the good deed Make sure the fortune, that you seek Is the fortune you need."

"Now I love to feel that warm southern rain, Just to hear it fall is the sweetest sounding thing. And to see it fall on your simple country dress It's like heaven to me I must confess."

"Excuse me Mr. But isn't that your oil in the sea? And the pollution in the air Mr. Whose could that be?So excuse me Mr. But I'm a mister too And you're givin' Mr. a bad name, Mr. like you."

"I can change the world With my own two hands Make a better place With my own two hands Make a kinder place."

"In 1977, Bryant began fronting a “Save Our Children” campaign aimed at repealing an ordinance in Miami-Dade County that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The crusade was successful in getting the ordinance repealed that year by a popular vote. (It was not restored until 1998.) For the next three years, her activism against such regulations made her a poster girl for the religious right and the foremost public archenemy of the gay community and social liberals. Her statement that she “loves homosexuals, but hates their sin” became a sort of mantra for evangelicals — and a much-mocked meme among what would later be known as the LGBTQ community — for decades to come."

"Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen and pop singer of the 1960s whose career led her to become a spokesperson for Florida oranges in the early ’70s and an evangelical crusader against gay rights later in that decade, died Dec. 16 at age 84, her family announced Thursday. The family’s obituary for Anita Bryant Day, as she was known outside the public sphere, was published in her hometown newspaper, the Oklahoman, and said the singer-activist died at home last month in Edmond, Oklahoma, surrounded by family and friends. During her heyday as a public figure, Bryant was one of the most polarizing celebrities in America, vilified by much of the show business community for campaigning against what she viewed as a gay takeover of American culture, while being embraced as a hero by many religious conservatives. Prior to her taking those stands, she was best known for her appearances in commercials for Florida oranges that introduced the catchphrase “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine” — and many parodies of that statement — into the popular lexicon. Those advertisements eclipsed her long-dormant career as a pop singer, even as she made a move into recording gospel music after easy-listening sounds fell out of fashion in the rock era."

"In the subsequent years when the gay rights controversies made her anathema to most mainstream television programmers and advertisers, she continued to enjoy name value among some older consumers who came to see her first in Branson, Missouri, where she and her second husband opened a theater in the early ’90s, and then Nashville, where she moved in 1998 to put on a live variety extravaganza. Bryant moved back to Oklahoma in 2002 to care for her ill mother, deciding to remain in the state thereafter because of its friendliness to her traditional religious values. Well out of the limelight, she worked on writing inspirational books and founding Anita Bryant Ministries International. Bryant was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie, and is survived by four children, two stepdaughters, and seven grandchildren and their spouses."

"Before she campaigned across the nation attacking the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Bryant was a pop singer and winner of the 1958 Miss Oklahoma pageant. She launched her notorious “Save Our Children” campaign in response to a historic 1977 gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Fla., which made it one of the first counties to ban employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bryant’s campaign adopted the mantra, “Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they must recruit,” championing religious purity and aiming to protect children from supposed anti-Christian values. Bryant’s virulent rhetoric, including in press conferences and commercials, swiftly gained her a national conservative following. Famed televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr. even came to Florida to help her. Bryant’s efforts led Dade County to put its anti-discrimination ordinance up for public vote. A shocking 70% of residents opted to repeal it, making discrimination against LGBTQ+ people legal again in the area. The county restored the ordinance 21 years later, in 1998."