ANGEL OLSEN

I'm sure that the meaning of the songs that I've written will change for me over the years, the same way that I can't even say what inspired some of the songs that I've been singing for a long time anymore.

'Sweet Dreams' is such a dark-sounding song, but it's about not taking anything for granted; share yourself with others after you have first spent some time with yourself.

I guess that in a lot of ways, my writing is more of a character to me than something that I feel personally attached to.

I'm not trying to prove that I'm capable of doing many things.

It's very important to enjoy time alone with yourself and just existing, because existence is kind of cool.

When people disappoint you, it's just as much your responsibility to be aware of it and what you don't want.

There's a lot of expectation after you do something that seems to have been well received. It's kind of unfair.

My first ever tour of my music was in the Netherlands. I didn't really have a grace period to grow or anything; people just started booking for me. I feel pretty lucky.

Go and experience life the way that someone else might experience it. Maybe you'll find meaning in a different corner of your brain. The fact that it changed doesn't negate the fact that it ever mattered.

I enjoy singing the songs a certain way, but I don't even know how the writing even began. To me, it's work that is kind of invisible; it's a weird kind of work to have because you're not working, but it's not not work. Formulating your thoughts and making a melody that's catchy enough for people to listen to what you're saying is really hard!

If, you know, all your life you're making films or whatever, and somehow along the way you lose meaning in whatever you're doing when you're making the films, they're just not the same as they used to be to you. That doesn't mean your life is over; it just means maybe go try to live a different life.

I don't know what folk music means anymore, because the meaning of that just keeps changing.

I know it sounds so lame, but the songs are like my children.

I don't believe people when they say their songs have nothing to do with their personal life.

You get to a certain age and it really occurs to you: "My mother and my father will not always be here. My spouse or my girlfriend or boyfriend are here right now, but someday they won't be." You realize that you need to like yourself.

I'd rather people interpret the songs and get whatever they can out of them instead of thinking about me crying in a room with a guitar.

I sometimes write as if I were talking to myself, or to a mirror, or to someone for the last time. There's this element of confrontation.

It's hard to force a relationship with a stranger even if they happen to be someone you happen to share blood with.

I've been writing a lot of songs in twos, songs that are like twins in my mind.

Different cultures have different audiences.

I wasn't an only child, but I was the youngest, and no one else in my family played music.

I listen to tapes a lot. I have a car that only (has a cassette player). I like the nostalgic factor.

It's a bit of a weird thing to know that (my music) has translated to that many people.

A lot of people ask me if I'm OK. I'm capable of crazy - a lot of people are - but I'm OK.

My family life, my adoption - it could be related to the songs, but I think the songs are deeper than that. They're not just about this experience.