Wisdom

Here’s some words of wisdom from musicians:

Punk is musical freedom. It’s saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster’s terms, ‘nirvana’ means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that’s pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock.

Kurt Cobain

The deeper I get into my life as a musician, I’m discovering that it becomes less and less about other people, and more about what I want to do. And that’s a good place to be.

Billy Corgan

Music is for people. The word ‘pop’ is simply short for popular. It means that people like it. I’m just a normal jerk who happens to make music. As long as my brain and fingers work, I’m cool.

Eddie Van Halen

It was my 16th birthday – my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song, and I just knew that that was the only thing I could ever really do – write songs and sing them to people.

Stevie Nicks

Song writing is about getting the demon out of me. It’s like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won’t let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you’re allowed to sleep.

John Lennon

There was a point in the last year or so when I finally saw the beauty I had been blind to for so long, These songs say ‘don’t stress worrying about tomorrow, next week, next year, when there’s so much beauty around.

Dolores O’Riordan

Nobody notices me. Nobody thinks I’m me. But then I look less like me than most of the people coming to our concerts.

Robert Smith

On tour, there was a young girl that came up to me and said if it wasn’t for the song ‘Home’ she had felt that she wouldn’t be here anymore. She related to that song so much that it apparently saved her life.

Adam Gontier

Coldplay fans are the best in the world. If you like Coldplay then you’re obviously very intelligent and good looking and all-around brilliant.

Chris Martin

…I feel like music is my life. If I can just put some food on my table and a roof over my head, I don’t care if I’m playing at the Holiday Inn. I don’t care if I’m playing at clubs. When the thing took off the way it did, I think we were all just stunned and in some ways, didn’t really understand the importance of it until years later. It was just such a tremendous rocket ride. 

Dan Peek 

Our band is very polarizing. There are people who absolutely can’t stand us, and people who absolutely can’t live without us. I’d rather spark those kind of polar-opposite feelings than have people be indifferent.

Ben Gibbard

There’s no huge, deep message in any of the songs. It was just what was going on in my head right then. We had good times, and we had bad times. We recorded a few months of being human.

Layne Staley

I started singing in coffeehouses when I was still in high school in Santa Barbara. I took a job washing dishes and bussing tables in the coffeehouse, so I could be there, and would beg permission to sing harmony with the guy who was singing onstage. That was the first time I ever got on a stage in front of people. Of course, I didn’t get paid, but for me it was the big time.

David Crosby

There’s no leader of this band, and there never will be. That’s the key. You can’t control how the public perceives you – people see rock n’ roll bands as the guitar player and the singer.

Shannon Hoon

It’s great that people are basically spending their two weeks of vacation to come out and be with us in some weird part of the world. And I think we owe it to them to take ’em to some cool places.

Jeff Ament

It’s not until I hear songs that I’ve done, that I realize how much of an inspiration music from the ’60s and ’70s has been. 

Alicia Keys

A whole other generation is coming up to me now – anywhere from 8 to 22 years old – wanting me to sign autographs. They think Journey was awesome.

Steve Perry

It will shock many – I’ve lived a full life and really enjoyed my time as a pop star.

Belinda Carlisle

There’s two facets to writing a song – there’s you sitting in your room writing the sentiments of the song; the lyrics, the melody and the changes, and then there’s the part where you go into the studio and you put clothing on it.

Nuno Bettencourt

I get the greatest feeling when I’m singing. It’s other-worldly. Your feet are anchored into the Earth and into this energy force that comes up through your feet and goes up the top of your head and maybe you’re holding hands with the angels or the stars, I have no idea. 

Cyndi Lauper

One thing I don’t feel is separation from the crowd. I don’t feel like we’re speaking from a platform, I feel like we are communicating on the same level.

Eddie Vedder

Put your energy into music. If it fails you, you can become an accountant or a dentist. And then if you become a dentist or an accountant, it’s too late to become a musician afterwards.

Peter Tork

It’s a marvelous feeling when someone says ‘I want to do this song of yours’ because they’ve connected to it. That’s what I’m after.

Mary Chapin Carpenter

There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something, we’d all love one another.

Frank Zappa

Rock isn’t art, it’s the way ordinary people talk.

Billy Idol

It’s more important for me to have a good record with good music and be part of a movie that’s good and where the music is used in a really great way. That’s the important thing. The other stuff you want to say about it, I don’t care.

Aimee Mann

I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.

Billy Joel

Heartbreak can definitely give you a deeper sensibility for writing songs. I drew on a lot of heartbreak when I was writing my first album, I didn’t mean to but I just did.

Adele

I have had success throughout the years. Some of the hard rock bands today don’t have the history that I have.

Gary Cherone