Thom Yorke Quotes

I don't intend to simply go away and write my plays and be a good boy. I intend to remain an independent and political intelligence in my own right.

All good art should be political, I think, and inevitably it all becomes political really, in one way or another.

There have been many socially conscious concept albums. I wanted to make a 'social consciousness' concept album disguised as a country record.

There was a band in Australia named Midnight Oil, and they were a very, very political, and they literally hit you over the head with a hammer. U2 sometimes can hit you over the head with a rubber hammer.

I think right about now we have to beware of marketed Malcolms and Martins. Real people do real things.

Artists look at the environment, and the best artists correctly diagnose the problem. I'm not saying artists can't be leaders, but that's not the job of art, to lead. Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte - there are artists all through history who have become leaders, but that was already in them, nothing to do with their art.

I wouldn't characterize my work, however, as directly political.

I think the good thing about Macklemore is that he is very precise about what he gets involved in. As you can tell, he's very passionate about what he puts his name on, because he talks about things people don't usually talk about, and his concepts are very, very passionate.

I don't set out to write a political song. I am not one of those that feels compelled to write about what's going on.

I took a political stance early on, but I don't think my work is overtly political. I respond to events.

I don't think I'm a political songwriter as much as I am just a political person. I think it's in my fabric.

Well, a lot of people within government and big business are nervous of Hip Hop and Hip Hop artists, because they speak their minds. They talk about what they see and what they feel and what they know. They reflect what's around them.

I don't spend my hours worrying how to slip a social message into my act.

I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.

I'm drawn to making films that in some way move the social conversation.

To call someone like me a writer-activist suggests that it's not the job of a writer to write about the society in which they live. But it used to be our job.

I wouldn't say even that I'm a broadly political person. But on occasion, I have felt that I have no choice but to paint something with a strong moral stance.

Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me as patting yourself on the back.

I think artists throughout the history of time have always been controversial and have been a voice to speak to public culture in a way that a politician can't because they'll lose their constituency.

In Japan, there has always been a small number of musicians who have been outspoken on social issues, but they tend to be dismissed as radical.

I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society and make a commentary. They're not in a la la land.

I don't know if I would describe myself as a political artist.

We've never been a political band.

Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is / I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses.

I think if you're going to make political art, you have to engage at some level. You can't just write about politics, you have to try and be politics as well.