Chuck Berry Quotes

I wasn't playing the music, the music was playing me... and once that went away, and I had the feeling I was playing music, I had to stop. The need to go onstage and get my brain flattened every night left me, and what I didn't wanna do is go onstage and perpetrate a fraud... You cannot fool an audience.

I wanted to write some lyrics that had some meaning to them, lyrics that were meaningful to me and hopefully people can take something from that.

For me, the backdrop of half the experiences of life includes music.

The reason I'm an actor and am trying to make my way in drama is to move people, to affect people, to gain a response - so these people who come up to you in the street are your audience.

The true musician is to bring light into people's hearts.

Own every note I sing and sell it. Make a connection to the audience. That's what it comes down to, you know?

As a songwriter, that's really what you hope for - to make that connection with your audience.

I loved the idea of dramatic art of storytelling as a way to make sense of things. It's really what I love and what I care about.

I have known in my heart since I was a little girl that music was a major part of my life and always would be, but seeing others respond to the words I sing amazes me.

I find it hard to not like music if it has passion behind it and good integrity. Only if it's made for the wrong reasons and shows a lack of respect for its audience will I find something to dislike.

Hopefully, somebody who's hearing my music, it's relatable to them, and it strikes a cord with them.

That's what made me fall in love with music in the first place was the idea of being able to take listeners on a journey across forty or sixty minutes.

That's the ideal to me - to make music that is well-crafted and sophisticated technically, but has a soul and a heart that touches a lot of people.

We need music that makes complete sense to us, and that's how 'Mess' came about.

The thing that makes me want to proceed and finish a song is when it really touches me and makes me feel something.

All of the songs on 'Kiddo' were a part of my soul; they're songs that I could never give away.

The women I'm attracted to playing I hope will mean something to someone.

It doesn't matter how big the set is or how florid the music is: if it doesn't touch people's hearts, then I don't want to be in it.

Music is supposed to be entertaining and if it touches you emotionally, so much the better. Sometimes you do it to save your own life, not anybody else's. That's why I write. I'm not trying to change anybody else's life or the world, I'm trying to keep from blowing my own brains out. That's the real point.

When art is really great, it's really powerful, can really do something to you, make you feel more alive and make you feel more connected to something. If you don't feel like that when you do it, and you just make a movie to make money, that would be pretty boring to me. I just wouldn't do it. That would be like sitting in an office, which I don't want to do.

The point is to let the music be itself. If it doesn't mean anything to you, then it's bullsh*t.

I don't care how much people understand what it is that I'm doing, except if they're players in my ensemble or other ensembles. I just want people to be moved by the music. If you're not moved by the music, then everything else falls away. You're not interested in the text, you're not interested in how it was done, and you're not interested in interviewing the composer and all the rest of it.

I just fell in love with Thomas McGuane the minute I saw him. He was the handsomest guy I'd ever seen, and gorgeous and sexy, and he had long hair and cowboy boots and tight jeans. So it was truly an act of love, to say the least, and it ended up having a permanent impact on my life, obviously.

Papa sat with me tonight. He brought the accordion down and sat close to where Max used to sit. I often look at his fingers and face when he plays. the accordion breathes. There are lines on his cheeks. They look drawn on, and for some reason, when I see them, I want to cry. It is not for any sadness or pride. I just like the way they move and change. Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.

I know that sometimes you have to reason with yourself and say, "This is just TV" or "This is just a movie," but I think also as an actor it's your job to find it so very important.