Donald Fagen Quotes

I don't think a lot of people listen to their old stuff, do they? I spent a long time making it, so I don't really want to spend much time listening to it again.

The history of jazz for the last 45 years has come through the Monterey Jazz Festival stages. I think there's developed a legacy and an aura around the festival.

People who have witnessed all the years of me playing, they bring their kids and say, 'I used to see this guy when I was fourteen!'

Unfortunately, the young generation, who I believe have their own place in the sun like I had mine; but I wish it was possible there were other ways to have them understand this music was here before they came, and the reason that it was here.

I see my life flashing before me when I see people in the audience singing along to something I wrote in the '80s, and they're maybe standing next to someone who knows the more recent stuff.

Late 20th century music was a really important thing. It changed the world, and I'm part of that, and now I'm part of the museum that celebrates that.

Well, in the sense that we do not tour or record together anymore - then I suppose not. But if our old recordings get heard more we shall be delighted.

Jazz was uplifted by what I did.

I always kind of think if The Beatles were still around now, people would've lost interest quite a long time ago. Seven years of recording - it's there forever. I think not outstaying your welcome is a vital ingredient.

We're trying to have the band create something beautiful that hopefully one day, 20 years from now, can be picked up by a kid and hopefully have the same effect that Neil Young had on me, or Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.

Once you've changed who you are or who you've portrayed in your music, the fans, they'll catch it... Once I feel like the world knows me for anything else but my music, then I feel like I failed.

It's good - it's great when somebody who is 20 years younger than you comes up and says, 'Wow, we just got turned on to you guys, and you're really great,' or something like that. I like that.

If you're only a fan of the old music, that music's gonna wind up sounding even older.

I've got these die-hard fans on Facebook, and you'd swear they haven't heard anything I've done since 1962, 1963.

We have to make a living, sure, but it's about the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd and what it stands for, what the fans are all about.

It's kind of weird to think about our fan base now, where our hard-core fans have kids, families and jobs.

If somebody told me people would still care about our music 25 years ago, I would have thought they were crazy.

I just want my music to measure up to. Part of it's just thinking about my place in history and how this music is going to be perceived, if it's listened to 30, 40 years from now.

I have so many people come up to me, 20-some years later, and saying, "I loved you in Jawbreaker!".

The main thing is, you just want to have your place in history. You hope that people will look back on it in 15, 20, 30 and beyond years, and say, "That was an exciting film."

I'm always looking, people are always presenting and I have found that every year of my life there's been great bands. All over the world, all the time. So when someone goes, "Music sucks now!" I'll go, "I don't think so. Not over at my house."

We're genuinely happy if some musicians of this younger generation are influenced by our music, as we were ourselves influenced 10 years ago by older musicians.

Critics and fans use the music of their youth as reference points. For years, people seriously wondered who "the next Beatles" were going to be, and classic rock bands were the de facto yardstick for rock quality.

When you think about Walt [Disney]'s life, I don't know of anybody on Earth over the last hundred years who has touched as many people as he did. He's touched every nation on Earth.

The object is to make beautiful music for people to have forever. Music that stays - not just becomes a ringtone. Longevity.