Nana Mouskouri Quotes

I don't really know what inspires me to write the music I do, but usually, the music will set the tone for the lyrics.

In college, I would follow Bob Dylan around, and I would show up to a concert, and he would sing some song he hadn't sang in a long time, and it would speak to something, and I would think it had some great fateful implication.

The arts have always been in and around my life.

I always write my music based on what is going on in my life at the time.

For each album, I let the music that I love at that point in my life be my guide.

I draw inspiration from anything and everybody and that's what country music is to me... real life stories and real life emotions.

The more I do in my life, the more I can write music about new experiences.

To hear people saying, 'The music you are doing has really touched my life and it's moved me in a lot of ways. It's helped me get through some tough times.' That's the best compliment that you could get.

I want to move people the way Edith Piaf did.

I saw the film 'Amadeus' from when I was five, which made me want to take piano lessons.

I was really lost for a while in my teens. I was angry. But when I found music - Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell - it was a new discovery. It was a door to this other world where I wanted to be.

When I sing I have a lot of visions. Like what's happening now in my life.

When I run into a person or a kid that comes up and gives me the spiel about, 'Hey, I got your record at this time in my life, and it really helped me,' that stuff totally still rings true. If you're standing there talking to someone, it's really easy to tell if they're being authentic or not. And that's great.

I'm a big fan of Beyonce and Rihanna. I've listened to Beyonce all my life, and she's a big influence on me.

I was supposed to go see Led Zeppelin when I was in, like, the 8th or 9th grade, and then John Bonham died and I never was able to. For me, music is such a huge part of my life, and I use songs like memory triggers. So a lot of my memories of being a kid and growing up are associated with different songs.

I went to Ithaca, found the Grateful Dead and my life was changed.

Growing up, I was inspired by The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Damian Rice was a huge influence for me musically.

Music is an important part of my writing process.

Still, to this day I go back and listen to music that inspires me to write now.

For me, playing music while I write is important. Several of the romantic scenes in 'Paris' were written with Debussy's 'String Quartet,' his 'L'Apres-midi d'une Faune,' or Canteloube's 'Songs of the Auvergne' playing in the background.

Ed Sheeran wrote his songs, so I wanted to write my own songs.

It's good to be in a position to know that I've inspired musicians, from what I've learned to lay down personally, and collectively with Led Zeppelin.

It's weird: I don't really know where I pull my inspiration from. I think it's N.E.R.D.

Raffi doesn't have any grand theories about why his music has been so successful, but he credits a group called the Babysitters as early inspiration.

Amy Winehouse affected my life tremendously. I think maybe she was the first sense of intimacy that I had with a complete stranger, musically speaking.