Elliott Smith Quotes

A writer, or a beginning writer, is faced by the huge walls of self-consciousness. Most people think, "What if I say the wrong thing? What if I don't sound erudite and sophisticated? I'll be considered a fool." In time, with a lot of practice, you realize that's your foolishness is your gift.

I think as a mature artist, you're probably always trying to undo the compromises of one's self [in general]. It's not necessarily to do with youth.

I think I've been a bit misunderstood; the first record was more timid than I wanted it to be. I don't like getting pinned down by sex or how I sound like because it's not who I am or what I want to be.

I started to write songs. And I started to like what I was writing. I think it's a new way for me to express things that are closer to myself than when I play a role, because, of course, it's really not me. I'm finding a new way. I don't know what it's going to be. But I know that I will need to give it to people one day.

My style is so tightly tied in with our songs that I don't think you could even ask me to quit Radiohead and play guitar for another band. I don't think I could do it. It would probably reveal me to be the bluffer that I believe I am. That's how it feels. I wouldn't have the confidence to do anything but this.

I loved the Brazilian music I played. But this is finally me. For the first time I think it's really me.

I'm 43 now. I've reached the point where I really can't care what anyone thinks. Of course, I do. I'm an actress. I'm totally insecure, but I'm trying to stick to my guns about what is important to me, and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks I should or shouldn't do.

When I was young, I had this contrarian thing, and my music for a long time was an extension of that. I didn't want to entertain people; I had too much vanity to be an entertainer. I think that some layers of vanity came off.

On the first album I was saying, that's just one part of me. And then I was thinking, well, am I going to hide the rest of me now just because I'm afraid of something? No. I'm just going to be myself.

I can be bolder on the page, as a character. I can gnash my teeth, I can scream and yell, in a way that I'm perhaps too timid to do in real life.

In the past, I tried to be more of a typical session guitarist. I wasn't so concerned with impressing anybody.

When I rap, it's just an extension of how I speak, and that's how I talk. If you don't like it, don't listen.

Just stick to what you feel you sing best at, no matter what it is.

To me, that's what music entails. It's freedom, it's having the undeniable confidence to express yourself in a way that you know is right.

Find your voice and don't be afraid to explore it.

I'm now able to show who I am as an artist.

I'd been so heavily influenced by Em, but artists that don't grow out of that don't go anywhere. Ultimately, I came to understand that what Eminem stood for above all else was 'be yourself.'

The late 80s was quite a difficult time for me as an artist because I'd almost become a parody of myself. All people wanted was pink hair and for me to sing 'I Want to Be Free.' There's nothing wrong with either of those but people need to see you as a person for you to be an artist.

I feel like I've just got to be me and let my play speak for itself.

Even though I was 34 or 35 or something. I was like, “People can do that? Women can actually just say what they think?” It was an extraordinary experience to do that movie with her because every day was a lesson in how to just be yourself.

How can I be sincere if I am constantly changing my mind to conform with the shadow of what I think others expect of me?

Basically I just had to say, 'Screw everyone around me - from now on I'm just gonna play what I think is important to me and our music.' So I gave the big finger to all the current trends in technical wizardry, and just went off and did what I felt was best for the songs.

You don't have to fit into a particular box. You fit into a box that you're comfortable in, and you'll attract people with like minds. It took me a while to figure this out, but there are many ideals. You have to figure right what's best for you and that will radiate out of you. I think a certain amount of letting go and being brave and not being afraid to make mistakes to get there.

I've learned a lot about genuinely not caring what strangers think about me. It's very liberating.

All I want to say to people, man, is, "Yo, you see me walking down the street and I got a little bop in my walk, don't think because I've got a bop in my walk I'm trying to be all that. The bop in my walk is because I'm just like you, man. I bop when I walk." Know what I'm saying? I'm proud. If you see me smiling, standing straight up, gold around my neck, it's not because I'm conceited. It's because I'm proud of what I achieved. I made this. I worked hard for this. That's all this is about.