Steven Patrick Morrissey Quotes

I want to create music that moves me, not just music that is going to get me famous or make someone at a label happy.

Music is still above all else the thing that does it for me.

Music will always be a part of my life. I love music and I don't care how many units I sell.

Early on, I had to structure my ideas of success around things like, 'Can I go back and listen to the record months or years after I made it and still get some enjoyment out of it?' Or 'Have I said what I wanted to say on this album? Did it connect with people on a personal level, even if it's a small number of people?'

We don't play to be seen. I'm addicted to music, not audiences.

I always just made music that resonates with me emotionally.

It'd be negligent to say that I don't want to be at the top of the charts. Of course I do, it's proof that your song is being heard. But I think it's more about the work for me and being proud of what I'm doing in music than what people think about my music. I want to like my music before you like it. I don't want to sell anything that I don't really like. I don't want to sell myself short just to get to the top of the charts. It doesn't feel that great. Feeling proud of your work feels greater than being at the top of the charts.

I think part of the bad thing is that skill is emphasized so much that a lot of people, by the time they get to Juilliard, well I think they kind of forget why they got into music in the first place and if they're performers - this is a simplification, but a lot of them are trying to win a competition and play more accurately, or better, or more beautifully, whatever can be measured, than somebody else.

My greatest sense comes from the experience of performing in the movie. When I have a great experience, that becomes a perfect movie. If it makes a nickel, it's still perfect. The same is true with a movie that's a bad experience. If it makes a bejillion dollars, I will hate it till the end of time.

If you get to participate with a group of artists and make something that's really truthful, that's about the highest you can go, in my opinion.

I want to be a part of films that elate me and resonate with me.

Creating music based on art and giving away from your spirit is more important than making a living.

I hope that I am, in a way, helping and touching other people with my music, and being a musician and having this as a job gives me a sense of purpose beyond my own selfish needs.

At the end of the day, I love singing, whatever the style might be.

It's definitely a joy when you make a record to know you are doing it for the right reasons: You want to do it and that you think you have something valid to offer.

I think the main focus as a musician should be to play the music you love to play, and the rest is going to come naturally.

Jazz isn't like pop, where you sell millions of records with a hit. Your spirit and soul aren't important in pop music. But jazz is like classical music. If people like you, they'll remember you and you'll last forever.

I always felt like I could combine good pop songs that are easy for people to like with a real person and a real mind and integrity.

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.

The last thing I think about when I'm making music is its reception.

I’m not producing movies to make money

Even if you don't understand the language, you can still love the music.

I knew that when it came time for me to finally make my own album, it wasnt going to be about being a jock. It had to be more personal and intimate.

I guess the most emotional part is when I have that moment when I end up writing something that I really, really love. So not only is there the emotional connection with the music that's being created, but there's also the magic of the fact that you're essentially creating something from nothing.

I already have a wife who is too much for me.. she is my art, and my works are my children.