Beth Ditto Quotes

Along with a lot of other things, becoming a Bob Dylan fan made me a writer. I was never interested in figuring out what the songs meant. I was interested in figuring out my response to them, and other people's responses. I wanted to get closer to the music than I could by listening to it - I wanted to get inside of it, behind it, and writing about it through it, inside of it, behind it, was my way of doing that.

I try not to think about the idea of reaching more and more people, because once you get in that mindset, I think you lose the point of why you're doing it in the first place. Still, the best feeling I ever get is when I finish a song, and it exists, and it didn't exist before, and now it's there, and it makes me feel a certain way.

Inviting audiences to open up and hear things differently is an important part of what I do. But I still love to sing songs with words, too.

I think there's thousands of good songs in the world - the songs that we can all sing along to, songs that are just so catchy they end up being in your head. But I think a great song is something that emotionally engages with you and connects with you.

I think myself that, rather like books, music is meant to enter into the brain, well via your ears rather than your eyes but, it's - I think a lot more should be left to the imagination.

I think music isn't just a genre or sound. If it sounds good and makes you feel good it's a beautiful thing.

Songwriters write songs, but they really belong to the listener.

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.

Maybe if my songs feel personal, that's very nice. I like that. I take that as a great compliment.

I love music. I do play. It's like mathematics, and it's also emotional. It's nice to play, for no other reason than just to play.

I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film.

I don't expect everyone to get something deep out of it. Some people can just listen to the music, or get their aggressions out, but I think with any great painting or movie, album or whatever it is, it's better if people can take what they need from it. That they're not forced to get some particular message.

Once you think you know the song, then you have go and see how other people have done it.

When you think about it, some people don't like certain things, but when it comes to music, no matter who you are, where you're from, what kind of personality you've got...everyone loves music of some sort; that's what's so epic about it.

Being a rock musician is already like ego-tripping hardcore. You're self-consumed, and you're always thinking. It's really easy to say, "I'm going to write a song about this situation, and when I'm done, everyone will care." To everybody else, that's ego-tripping.

I'd like to think that what I've written over the years and what I'm doing now means something to people. People in the street all the time are saying "love the new record" or "I love that record," this tune or that tune. It means an awful lot, or it's been a big part of their lives. As a songwriter, what else would you really want? You're trying to connect with people, people's emotions, and maybe say something about their lives or feelings. That's probably a good enough compliment to receive, really.

I don't think people care about the mechanics of songwriting.

Beyond hoping that someone will like one of my songs, I don't think about how a song will be received. I just hope that, when somebody hears one of my songs, they'll want to hear it again.

We think we understand a song's lyrics but what makes us believe in them, or not, is the music

I am fond of music I think because it is so amoral. Everything else is moral and I am after something that isn't. I have always found moralizing intolerable.

My favorite Dylan song? I think it's 'Just Like a Woman.' It always makes me cry.

If I was an actor, it would be like a part that was me. It has to be real to me. I have to make it mine. I really enjoy taking a song I feel that way about, and sometimes it can take a long time to come up with just the right touch. I think that's really my greatest talent, interpreting.

Other people singing my songs is something that I've never been casual about. I've always been very touched by it and I always go into immediate critical suspension.

But I think if any song can touch the heart, then one should value it.

Some people think a song without words isn't a real song. Tell that to Beethoven and he'll kick your ass!