"[Sights enabling musical inspiration] The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician [...] Things like the old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night, or something someone said long ago. I remember I once wrote a sixty-four-bar piece about a memory of when I was a little boy in bed and heard a man whistling on the street outside, his footsteps echoing away. Things like these may be more important to a musician than technique."

"I think of music sometimes in terms of color [...] and [in a furnace] I like to see the flames licking yellow in the dark and then pulsing down to a kind of red glow."

"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."

"Oh, I've got news for you Baby, that I've made plans for two I guess I'm just a stubborn kind of fellow Got my mind made up to love you."

"There's a poem in I Am Becoming ["Invoke Mercy Extraordinary"] - it's about Marvin Gaye because I love his music and I think there was an extraordinary pull in him between the flesh and the spirit. These two things operated in him very strongly. He has a record called 'What's Going On' which is a most loving piece of work - the concern for humanity, the earth and ecology - it was such an incredibly beautiful piece; it was levitating; it was going to incredible heights. I think if he had continued in that direction he would have ended monastery or on a hill by himself. But always that pull between the flesh and the spirit, that fight."

"My baby ohhh Come take control, just grab a hold Of my body and mind; soon we'll be making it Honey, oh we're feeling fine You're my medicine. Open up and let me in. Darling, you're so great; I can't wait for you to operate."

"Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, let's make love tonight Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, 'cos you do it right."

"Ooh, baby let's get down tonight Baby I'm hot just like an oven I need some lovin' And baby, I can't hold it much longer It's getting stronger and stronger And when I get that feeling I want Sexual Healing. Sexual Healing, baby Makes me feel so fine Helps to relieve my mind. Sexual Healing baby, is good for me Sexual Healing is something that's good for me."

"Distant lover, ooo, sugar How can you treat my heart so mean and cruel? Didn't you know, sugar, that I dream Of what I spent with you? I treasure it like it was a precious jewel, oh baby. Lord have mercy!"

"Ooo remember, baby, how you made me feel just like a king? Ah, I've been waiting I'm ready for you to start doin' the things So I'll know you're mine. You're so fine, so petite, oh candy sweet. Ah, I've been waiting. Come here, baby, get to this."

"Won't you rather make love, children As opposed to war, like you know you should?"

"Oooh, oh, how many eyes Have seen their dream? Oh, how many arms Have felt their dream? How many hearts, baby... Have felt their world stand still?"

"Oh, If I should die tonight Oh baby, though it be far before my time I won't die blue, sugar yeah 'Cause I've known you."

"Stop beatin round the bush, Let's get it on."

"I've been really tryin, baby Tryin to hold back these feelings for so long And if you feel, like I feel baby Come on, oh come on, Let's get it on."

"I've come of heart, baby, but now I'm cool I didn't make it surely, playin' by the rules I've come of heart, baby, but now I'm fine I'm checkin' trouble, sure movin' down the line I've come of heart, baby, but that's OK 'Cause Trouble Man don't get in my way."

"Crime is increasing Trigger happy policing Panic is spreading God know where we're heading Oh, make me wanna holler They don't understand."

"Rockets, moon shots Spend it on the have nots Money, we make it 'Fore we see it you take it Oh, make you wanna holler The way they do my life Make me wanna holler."

"Oh mercy, mercy me. Ah things ain't what they used to be. What about this overcrowded land? How much more abuse from man can she stand? Oh, na na... My sweet Lord... No."

"Woo ah, mercy mercy me. Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no. Where did all the blue skies go?"

"I just want to ask a question: Who really cares? To save a world in despair There'll come a time, when the world won't be singin' Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin' Who really cares? Who's willing to try to save a world That's destined to die?"

"Hey baby, what'cha know good? I'm just gettin' back, but you knew I would. War is hell, when will it end? When will people start gettin' together again?"

"Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong Oh, but who are they to judge us Simply because our hair is long Oh, you know we've got to find a way To bring some understanding here today."

"Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality Talk to me, so you can see Oh, what's going on What's going on."

"Father, father We don't need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate. You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today."

"Mother, mother There's too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying. You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today."

"By the look in your eye I can tell you're gonna cry. Is it over me? If it is, save your tears For I'm not worth it, you see. For I'm the type of boy who is always on the roam, Wherever I lay my hat that's my home, I'm telling you that's my home."

"You are my pride and joy And I just love you, little darlin' Like a baby boy loves his toy You've got kisses sweeter than honey And I work every day to give you all I know And that's why you're my pride and joy."

"Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."

"The buzzard told the monkey "You're chokin' me Release your hold and I'll set you free" The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said "Your story's touching but it sounds like a lie.""

"A buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air The monkey thought that everything was on the square The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back But the monkey grabbed his neck and said — "Now listen, Jack..." "Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.""

"«There's just one thing I can't understand. My income tax!”»."

"Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free."

"I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it."

"I'm a businessman. I work for business people. The kind of thing they say is: Now we've sold a lot of records, let's sell some more."

"I … started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out."

"I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me— I was a father.""

"He was, this smoldering, passionate young pianist, generous, lovable, deeply gentle of heart."

"Few artists have ever battled so manfully with management or so unheitatingly sassed the press. He was afraid of nobody because his heart was pure."

"Music isn't enough. Performers aren't enough. There must be someone that loves music as much as life. For you, and remember this always, those of us with something urgent to say, we give everything."

"Everybody wants ta get inta da act!"

"Be awful nice to 'em goin' up, because you're gonna meet 'em all comin' down."

"Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did."

"Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."

"I was hurt so deep that I made up my mind never to hurt anybody else, no matter what. I never made jokes about anybody's big ears, their stut- terin', or about them bein' off their nut."

"I don't know where it's going, but I'm sticking with it!"

"Surrounded by assassins!"

"I'm mortified!"

"That's the conditions that prevail!"

"Don't put no constrictions on da people. Leave 'em ta hell alone."