With music, you often don’t have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don’t know why.
David ByrneWe were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow’s nest of that ship.
John LennonI’m not going to do anything crazy, but I want to do music that I’m passionate about. I’m finally at an age where I can do the music that I grew up loving, which was urban pop, ’90s music. I grew up listening to the divas, so I’m very happy to finally do urban pop. I hope that it’s received well, and it has been so far.
Ariana GrandeWhen I listen to ‚Nevermind,‘ I hate the production, but there’s something about it that almost makes me cry at times.
Kurt CobainI just wanted to be a composer; I became an actor by default, really. I got a scholarship to a college of music and drama, hoping to take a scholarship in music. But I ended up as an acting student, so I’ve stuck with that for the last 50-odd years.
Anthony Hopkins‚In Utero‘ was the first time I’d made an album that reached into the dark side. I remember the conflict and the uncertainty. I remember all those things when I hear ‚Pennyroyal Tea.‘
Dave Grohl‚Kiss Land‘ wasn’t about what people wanted to hear on the radio. It was the state of mind I was in – introverted, like David Cronenberg’s ‚Naked Lunch.‘ You didn’t know if you were hearing a chorus or a verse. It was just my thoughts.
The WeekndYou can’t always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.
Frank ZappaWhat changed our lives forever was when Malcolm had the idea to sell rock ‚n roll records to trendy customers.
Vivienne WestwoodOnce you’ve changed who you are or who you’ve portrayed in your music, the fans, they’ll catch it… Once I feel like the world knows me for anything else but my music, then I feel like I failed.
The WeekndOn a good night, I get underwear, bras, and hotel-room keys thrown onstage… You start to think that you’re Tom Jones.
Keanu ReevesI think that by staying true to myself and making music from my heart, the blessings come.
Bad BunnyI don’t know, I feel desperate when I sing. And I look desperate – it feels like I’m singing for my life, which makes me twitch, if that makes sense.
AuroraI’m no hillbilly singer.
Elvis PresleyI’m a painter in sound.
Brian EnoIf I’m inspired to make a certain kind of song, I’m going to make that kind of song, no matter if it’s what they know me as or think I am.
Billie EilishOf course, ‚I Will Always Love You‘ is the biggest song so far in my career. I’m famous for several, but that one has been recorded by more people and made me more money, I think, than all of them. But that song did come from a true and deep place in my heart.
Dolly PartonI’ve accomplished enough with the music that I haven’t had to go out there and do other things to over-saturate.
EminemWhen I listen to the radio, I just hear so much music that doesn’t even sound like people. The vocals are all tuned, and the drums are all fake.
Dave GrohlI like being able to be on the inside of music, rather than on the outside listening to it.
AuroraMusic is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
Napoleon BonaparteI never wanted to look pretty on stage and sing about something we’ve all heard about before.
Lady GagaI don’t even listen to rap. My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in.
Kanye WestIn my songs, I’m not saying something that’s never been said before. The have lyrics aren’t going to blow people away. It’s the emotion and the melody that drive it home.
Bruno MarsPhilosophy is the highest music.
PlatoThere are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we’d all love one another.
Frank ZappaI’ve always written songs the same way. You learn different tricks – you learn craft, you learn structure, all that – as you go.
Taylor SwiftIf my edge is dull, my sword is dull, and I don’t want to fight another guy whose sword is dull. If you’ve got two steel swords going back and forth hitting each other, what’s gonna happen? Both of them are going to get sharper. Everybody that’s in the industry has lost their edge.
Kendrick LamarFive or six songs leaked from the original version of ‚Encore.‘ So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them.
EminemMan, I’m the No. 1 living and breathing rock star. I am Axl Rose; I am Jim Morrison; I am Jimi Hendrix.
Kanye WestOpen Graph is a language for structuring content and sharing that goes on in other apps, and we’re continuing to build it out longer term. But we found we need to build more specific experiences around categories like music or movies. Where we’ve taken the time to build those specific experiences, stuff has gone quite well.
Mark ZuckerbergLyrics are the only thing to do with music that haven’t been made easier technically.
Brian EnoBob Dylan is like an alien on this earth, and I love him! I cried when I saw him play live because I was so close to him.
AuroraIt’s always great to perform at home in the good ol‘ U.S.A.
Dolly PartonIn Hawaii, some of the biggest radio stations are reggae. The local bands are heavily influenced by Bob Marley.
Bruno MarsCause I’m a musician, I’m not really good at posing and being a model, like, modeling.
Amy WinehouseMy purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there’s no pressure.
The WeekndThere’s something about pulling out a real tape from a shelf and looking at it and knowing that ‚Everlong‘ is on it, or ‚Best of You‘ is on it, and it’s really special.
Dave GrohlWe have a Boesendorfer piano that I play every day. It keeps my brain and my fingers active.
Anthony HopkinsWe uploaded ‚Ocean Eyes‘ to SoundCloud, and it started getting a lot of plays pretty much immediately.
Billie EilishI’ve been singing Shakira songs in front of my bathroom mirror into my hairbrush forever. It’s like a daily routine.
Taylor SwiftThe stores and the things like that, the business side of things came out at the point when, I’d say probably in the early ’70s, it looked like the year of the singer-songwriter was over, ‚cause music changed in our time and the spotlight was out.
Jimmy BuffettHere in England, everyone’s a pop star, innit, whereas in America they believe in the term artist.
Amy WinehouseYou just don’t wake up one day and decide that you need to write songs.
Bob DylanWithout music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.
Frank ZappaWhen I was writing the Destiny’s Child songs, it was a big thing to be that young and taking control. And the label at the time didn’t know that we were going to be that successful, so they gave us all control. And I got used to it.
Beyonce KnowlesIf it’s good music, it’s good music.
Billie EilishI need drama in my life to keep making music.
EminemSome people are making music just for numbers and views.
Bad BunnyI love movement. I love moshing.
Billie EilishSpeech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.
F. Scott FitzgeraldIndustry need not wish.
Benjamin FranklinMusic is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.
PlatoA market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.
Henry FordI think ‚Hail to the Chief‘ has a nice ring to it.
John F. KennedyThe music we do is for people to enjoy, dance and sing to it. Dreamers – keep on dreaming and keep working hard to achieve your goals. There are many difficulties, but what matters is to stay focused and have perseverance.
Bad BunnyI play piano every day. I enjoy that.
Frank OceanI love to play music. So why endanger that with something like drugs?
Dave GrohlMy music fights against the system that teaches to live and die.
Bob MarleyI do put a lot of God in my music, but not because I’m super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music, too. I acknowledge both.
J. Cole