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“While 9 Songs is sexually explicit in the basic sense, its directness is what's most fascinating, and ultimately most moving, about it.”
Stephanie Zacharek (born 1963) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of 9 Songs (2005)
“All things are hush'd, as Nature's self lay dead, The Mountains seem to nod their drowsy head; The little Birds in dreams their Songs repeat, And sleeping Flowers, beneath the night-dew sweat; Even Lust and Envy sleep.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) first seen 1667 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Indian Emperor (1667), Act III, sc. ii
“I would resign the words of praise which now Make my cheek crimson and my pulses beat. Could I but deem that when my heart is cold And my lip passionless, my songs would be Numbered 'mid the young minstrels' first delights, And murmured by the lover where his suit Calls upon poetry to breathe of love.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) said by 1838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A thousand songs from a thousand boughs The glad birds' pleasure declare ; The rills are laughing in crystal light— For the presence of Spring is there.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (3rd March 1827) Birthday in Spring
“Clara: The loving heart delighteth in old songs ; They say so many things we wish to say, And wake our sympathies, and make us feel Less strange ourselves. Others have loved as well, And left these tender relics of their love.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) said by 1838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore.”
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am a writer an a singer of the words I write I am no speaker nor any politician an my songs speak for me because I write them in the confinement of my own mind an have t cope with no one except my own self.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter sent to the ECLC after Dylan received the Tom Paine Award at the Bill of Rights dinner on December 13, 1963, as reported in "Mr. Dylan Regrets" by Niall Stokes, Hot Press (11 November 2005)
“Bob Dylan: I do know what my songs are about. Playboy: And what's that? Bob Dylan: Oh, some are about four minutes; some are about five, and some, believe it or not, are about eleven or twelve.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Playboy Interview (February 1966)
“My songs always sound a lot better in person than they do on the record.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Rolling Stone Interview: Bob Dylan (29 November 1969)
“If the songs are dreamed, it's like my voice is coming out of their dream.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Robert Shelton's No Direction Home (1986), p. 281
“The people in my songs are all me.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bob Dylan Sounds Off On The Origin Of His New Record, Parlor Music, Dr. Dre, And Who His Songs Are About", Huffington Post (20 May 2009)
“I put one on the turntable and when the needle dropped, I was stunned — didn't know if I was stoned or straight... All these songs together, one after another made my head spin. It made me want to gasp. It was like the land parted.”
“Ron Rosenbaum: When you hear your songs in your mind, it's not just you strumming alone, you mean?”
“Bartholomew was a sommelier of heavy metal. “Yeah. Not bad for a two-umlaut band. First album was so-so. Then they ran out of material—they write maybe two songs a year. Got into a black magic thing for their videos. Already passé.” “Isn’t that the whole point of heavy metal?” “Yeah. I’m the one who told you that,” he reminded me. “Heavy metal will never leave you behind.”
Neal Stephenson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One thing I've found that I can do that I really enjoy is rereading my own writing, earlier stories and novels especially. It induces mental time travel, the same way certain songs you hear on the radio do ... the whole thing returns, an eerie feeling that I'm sure you've experienced.”
Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been surprised, excited and pleasantly shocked by these comics that are extensions of the songs that I have loved and therefore welcome these amazing stories of pictures and words because they are uncompromisingly inspiring. It shows you thought is a powerful, formidable essence and can have a breathtaking domino effect.”
“I'd like to protect children, too, but... is everything worth sacrificing to that? I mean, drugs have done a lot of good. [...] They've midwived a lot of good ideas... lot of great songs, you know? I think "Penny Lane" is worth 10 dead kids. [...] I think Dark Side of the Moon is worth 100 dead kids. There, I said it.”
Bill Maher (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
Stephen King (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are no bridges in folk songs because the peasants died building them.”
Eugene Chadbourne (born 1954) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mark Michaels Quoted in The Billboard Book of Rock Arranging (1990)
“I brewed potions in a vain search for life everlasting, I read books, I sang songs of history, And today I've come home to Cold Mountain To pillow my head on the stream and wash my ears.”
“The kids out there want something they can relate to, something that's real; most of that whiny stuff isn't real. The cheesy pop songs just bore me to death." (commenting on how he feels about rock and pop.)”
Jonathan Davis (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On golden chairs Sitting at ease, you paid for the songs which we chanted To those less lucky. You paid us for drying their tears And for comforting all those whom you had wounded.”
Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Song of the cut-price poets" [Lied der preiswerten Lyriker] (1927/1933) from Songs Poems Choruses (1934); in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 161
“I like them all. … They're all pictures of me when I wrote them. … I have no favorite songs.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pop Chronicles Show 36 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. Part 2, interview recorded (20 December 1967)
“And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never shared No one dared Disturb the sound of silence.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A young girl in a parkin' lot was preaching to a crowdSinging sacred songs and reading from the BibleWell, I told her I was lost and she told all about the PentecostAnd I seen that girl as the road to my survival...Even now that sweet memory lingers”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Two disappointed believers Two people playing the game Negotiations and love songs Are often mistaken for one and the same.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My style is my soul and my feelings. I’ll tell the world in my songs what I wouldn’t have told my mother.”
Dolly Parton (1946–2026) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (people, August 25, 2026)
“I know my fans look up to me and that's why I make my songs so personal; it's all about things I've experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say.”
Avril Lavigne (born 1984) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Avril Lavigne Over the Hedge Interview" by Gaynor Flynn, in Girl.com.au (July 2006)
“Of all the nations in the world the French are the most renowned for singing over their grievances. Of that country it has been remarked with some truth, that its whole history may be traced in its songs.”
Charles Mackay (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is peaceful here. I am far from the fishmongers and the drainers and the wine-peddlers and all those others whose songs of commerce clang in the streets of cities. A man can think; a man can look within his soul, and find those things that have been the shaping of him, and draw them forth, and examine them, and come to know himself.”
Robert Silverberg (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm blowing, and just as wild and whirling as you are, and lots of times I've been picked up, throwed down, and picked up; but my eyes has been my camera taking pictures of the world and my songs has been my messages that I tried to scatter across the back sides and along the steps of the fire escapes and on the window sills and through the dark halls...”
Woody Guthrie (1912–1967) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bound For Glory (1943). QUoted in
“…British louts with guitars and emetic little songs…infantile screamers…”
Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You could say, more accurately, I had found my voice but I had forgotten that I found it, or I had found my voice but stopped hearing it for a while. I think that happens throughout life. That is maybe why you can write songs about yourself for ever because you cycle through the same things over and over but you’re seeing it a little more clearly every time.”
Fiona Apple (born 1977) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the lyric "I hadn't found my voice yet" in the song "Relay" in "Fiona Apple on the album of the year, Grammys hypocrisy and how #MeToo helped her get sober" in The Guardian (2020 Dec 18)
“You could say it like was like a fairy tale at the time; Andy would be the good fairy, and Jim would play the giant, Brian would be the witch, Paul McCartney would be the frog who turns into a prince, no, it would have to be the other way round. Well, it didn't seem like a fairy tale at the time. It was a lot of hassle. But I learned a lot of things, and I began to compose my own songs.”
Nico (1938–1988) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Describing her tumultuous experiences of 1967, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
“I'd really rather put songs on people's lips than in their ears.”
Pete Seeger (1919–2014) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1994 interview, quoted in Filene Romancing the Folk: Public Memory & American Roots Music (2000), p. 197
“It's coming on Christmas, They're cutting down trees. They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace. I wish I had a river I could skate away on”
Joni Mitchell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Old Christmas Songs. I feel something like a longing for a lost homeland. We are giving gifts to each other. A beautiful, old New Testament from Hertha Holk is my greatest joy. I thank her for being my solace and my strength.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know, of all the songs I have ever sung, that is the one I've had the most requests not to.”
Tom Lehrer (1928–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel that if any songs are gonna come out of World War III, we'd better start writing them now.”
Tom Lehrer (1928–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind. A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure. Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds; Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.”
Ikkyū (1394–1481) said by 1481 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Fisherman" in Wild Ways : Zen Poems (2003), edited and translated by John Stevens, p. 37.
“A lot of songs I sang to crowds to get their reaction. That's how I knew they'd hit.”
Little Richard (1932–2020) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Life and Times of Little Richard : The Authorized Biography (2003) by Charles White
“I never make songs to disrespect women / or to judge people about the way that they're living / but the way I am is based on the life I was given / Like those white boys "Losing My Religion”
Immortal Technique (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mozart's melodies, Beethoven's symphonies, Schubert's songs, acts two and three of Tristan are symbols in which are revealed the most profound spiritual truths. They are not "invented", but are "given in their dreams"to those privileged to receive them. Whence they come no one knows, not even their creator, the unconscious mouthpiece of the demiurge.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, the problem I've had with all the interviews I've had in America - I had meetings with about nine labels - and they all say to me "Will your new songs fit in with what is popular and what is in the chart?" And I say "Good God, I hope not!”
Morrissey (born 1959) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a radio interview with Janice Long (2002)
“I have so much pride and love for the songs of The Smiths. However, I must ask you, if you come across any Smiths CDs, don't buy them, because all the money goes to that wretched drummer.”
Morrissey (born 1959) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Live at Edinburgh, (2008)
“I have very mixed feelings about [Napster]. On one hand, I'm concerned that the rampant downloading of my copyright-protected material over the Internet is severely eating into my album sales and having a decidedly adverse effect on my career. On the other hand, I can get all the Metallica songs I want for FREE! WOW!!!!!”
"Weird Al" Yankovic (born 1959) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ask Al Archives: May 2000.
“For every age there is a popular idea about what madness is, what causes it, and how a mad person should look and behave; and it's usually these popular ideas, rather than those of medical professionals, that turn up in songs and stories and plays and books.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Esperando (Cuando Cuba Sea Libre) is probably one of the most personal songs from the new [September, 2007] CD, "90 Millas" . . . as it really speaks about the celebration, nostalgia and emotion that will happen the day Cuba is free. If we're to move forward in Cuba, we really have to have a lot of forgiveness for each other and look towards the future.”
Gloria Estefan (born 1957) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: www.gloriaestefan.com (March 28, 2007)
“Well, not so much politics. A couple of my songs have a social commentary, like Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice). I really can't escape from politics because my father was a political prisoner in Cuba; he went to Vietnam. But I try to stay away from politics as much as possible.”
Gloria Estefan (born 1957) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: answer to question "Do you inject politics into your music?" www.philpost.com (November 25, 2006)
“My favorite process is writing, from day one. The songs I have written throughout the years were a real great opportunity for me to communicate, because I think that's my prime objective on this planet.”
Gloria Estefan (born 1957) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Associated Press interview (November 3, 2006)