Elvis Costello Quotes

I'm not the biggest Miley Cyrus fan. I'm not the risque type.

Let's face it: pop music in its myriad permutations will always be sexually presumptuous, racially controversial and, frequently, politically charged.

I don't want to name names, but the least I can say about rock and roll is that I'm suspicious.

I gladly accepted the commission but was uncertain about what the end result would be. On the one hand, Cuban music was conquering the world; being heard everywhere, and our small island was already producing one of the popular musical genres of the 20th century.

I think celebrity culture and sexuality in pop music is really important, but I want there to be an alternative for people.

The XCX really stands for 'kiss Charli kiss,' which is unbelievably crap.

The Beatles are not merely awful. I would consider it sacrilegious to say anything less than that they are godawful.

I'm making music that I love and I want to hear. At the same time, things like making money, making crazy money - you gotta find ways to reach to everybody but uplift everybody.

'None of Your Business.' It's the only Salt-N-Pepa song that I regret.

I come from a time when pop music was the coin of the cultural realm and in a certain way was the only coin of the realm; movies didn't matter as much, and not TV - it was all about pop music. In the era when I started - which was the early '60s - it was all about singles leading to albums.

I love Mariah Carey. Remember the breakdown? I loved the breakdown.

The only thing that exists to me is commercial pop music.

No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.

I told Celine Dion not to record that 'Titanic' song. That's about as big as you can get. 'Flashdance?' I thought, 'Welder by day, disco dancer by night - who wants to see that?'

I think Lady Gaga is great and is changing pop music and bringing back a certain rock 'n' roll spirit, swagger to the game.

I've never intended to be controversial, but it's very easy to be controversial in pop music because nobody ever is.

Today, music is great for entertainment, but it is lacking soul; it's lacking substance, and it's difficult to find good stuff. There are too many corporate interests. It's not about the actual music because it's about the corporation, and music just becomes part of a package.

I think there were early critics who wanted us to change the world because the Sex Pistols failed.

I criticized the whole American songwriting industry and the pop side of it and I was bitter about it. And I stepped back and thought 'Why are you bitter? You can't just stand there like every other indie musician and criticize this so-called 'generic' music when you're not doing anything to challenge that.'

If rock-and-roll is well done, there's nothing so terribly wrong with that kind of music. But the lyrics are another story.

Speaking out against rap music is useless, and it's futile. The reality is there's criticism for everything, but Jay-Z is one of the most remarkable artists of our time of any genre, and as a hip-hop artist he carries the weight of that art form with such splendor and grace and genius.

There is still some art in pop music. But it can't happen if you're not inspired.

Dick Clark was a really great influence in my career; he helped me a lot with his whole organization, and they were awesome to me at all different points - but one thing that I really disagreed with him on was when he said that what I do, pop music, is a disposable art form.

I am a Justin Bieber fan, but I am also so fascinated by how weird pop music can be and how manipulated it can be, so I enjoy thinking about that side of it too. I feel bad for him. I could never imagine growing up that way.