Beck Quotes

Sometimes a movie encapsulates a period or a moment in all of our lives in such a way that it never dies.

Old events have modern meanings; only that survives of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives.

Smiths songs certainly have an astonishing afterlife.

It used to be that we felt that when we went to a theater, a legitimate theater... that we were going to share an experience together. That when we walked away where there would be something to talk about in that movie that had some meaning and relevance in our lives. And I think that we have lost that.

As society changes, as politics change, as people change, certain songs still seem to resonate.

Songs like 'One Love' by Bob Marley - they stand the test of time - it doesn't matter - so anytime I write music, I try to write in tune with an emotion, and I hope there are more times like that for everyone.

Everything has a feeling to it, even if it's not your type of music - it has a feeling for somebody in the world.

I think that the best part of music is when it comes from a real place and has an ability to kind of connect on a much larger scale. It no longer is a personal thing, it becomes everyone else's thing as well.

I like how pure the expression is in music. You can go straight to the heart of an audience rather than through their brain.

I know that when I like music, when it touches my heart, that it will touch your heart, too. That, I think, is the secret to my success.

Queen songs are not about the life of a rock star - they tend to be about the lives of normal people, which is why I think the songs connect so much. We're very lucky that they seemingly connect with every generation.

Human nature is not amenable to prediction based on the trends or tendencies prevailing at the time. It is amenable to startling creativity of the kind practiced by great artists, directors, writers, musicians, actors, who know how to touch a chord in humans everywhere.

Because they're my stories, they're my version of events of the past three years. But I really hope people can hear their own stories within the songs and they can become our version of events.

American Pie speaks to the loss that we feel. That's why that song has found the niche that it has.

We've had hassles, ups and downs, ins and outs, failures and triumphs. We're human beings, and we're not perfect. And we're mortal. But the Beach Boys is musically a tremendous body of work that transcends individuality and time and national boundaries.

Poems and songs penned as an unstoppable outpouring of the heart take on a life of their own. They transcend the limits of nationality and time as they pass from person to person, from one heart to another.

People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience.

As a songwriter, I do kind of look at 'Santa Monica' as a thing outside of itself, because it isn't just my song. This is a song a lot of people tell me is a part of their high school or college years. That means a lot to me.

Surely every band wants to be a pivotal point in history.

It's so interesting how you can take a bad situation and make a great song out of it that somebody else can listen to and have a completely different perspective of the song and have their own meaning. That's what's great about it.

It's a contract of connection to be in the same space and watch and listen to stories and be caught in them. When you're in a theater, your brain expands because somebody in the theater may do something or respond to something that you wouldn't have.

When Marvin Gaye made his music, he evoked this feeling that would reach everybody.

It's so cool though when I see thirty-year-old men that are coming in to watch my shows. It's like, 'You really like my music? Like a teenage girl, you relate to it?' It just proves how much people are alike.

A good song gathers the years in. It's why you can sing it with such conviction 40 years after it's been written.

That's what's amazing about songwriting: you can write a story that everyone connects to.