Famous quotes
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Music
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“I said, ‘Put back your heart, and sing, sing While you know you’re still living.’ Sing, sing, sing, while you know there’s still – New Music, new Music, new Music Sweet Music can lighten us Can brighten the world – can save us”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Philip Marlow: You're the girl in all those songs. De-dum. Nurse Mills: What songs? Philip Marlow: The songs, the songs, the bloody, bloody songs. Nurse Mills: I wish I knew what you were talking about. Philip Marlow: The songs you hear coming up the stair. Nurse Mills: Sorry? Philip Marlow: When you're a child, when you're supposed to be asleep. Those songs.”
Dennis Potter (1935–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve been listening to my father’s songs lately. He was a wonderful composer; I love his songs very much. My father used to say to me, “My son Ranariddh sang my songs the best,” because you had to sing it with your own heart. I used to sing a lot. He didn't like to sing his own songs, so I used to do it.”
Norodom Ranariddh (1944–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa I keep singing them sad sad songs, y'all. Sad songs is all I know. I keep singing them sad sad songs, y'all. Sad songs is all I know. It has a sweet melody tonight Anybody can sing it any old time. What's in your heart puts you in a groove And when you sing this song, It'll make you're whole body move.”
Otis Redding (1941–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know, a song does not stay at one place. Now for me, this song is calling for the unification of voices. That is where ‘Chachimurenga’ is now. Voices, singing together. People talk a lot. They never come together to sing. Sing, sing. Just sing, sing”
Stella Chiweshe (1946–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In ‘industrial’ music, the irreversibility of time is immanent. It is entropic music, music that destroys itself. Pop music is the epitome of the self-dissolution of music. And yet it is the only form of music that makes sense to everyone. On the edge of the abyss, Mahler composes ‘The Song of the Earth’ but hums a Neapolitan song.”
Manlio Sgalambro (1924–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His mother taught him to sing. And when he had grown up and had listened to the world's song, he felt that there could be no greater happiness than to return to her song. In her song dwelt the most precious and most incomprehensible dreams of mankind. The heath grew into the heavens in those days. The songbirds of the air listened in wonder to this song, the most beautiful song of life.”
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat”
Selena Gomez (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think an interpreter has to sing everything, to sing what wants to sing. It cannot be with that foolishness, that here in Brazil we face this thing that when one records a song, later no one can rerecord it. This is madness, absurd. Music doesn't have an owner, the music doesn´t belong to anyone.”
“Supper was as convivial a meal as our picnic had been. They sang songs for us, sitting round the table, unaccompanied, Byelorussian and Ukrainian and Russian songs. And they asked me to sing, in return, an English song for them; but I sing , and couldn't.”
Emma Smith (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wanted just a song to sing, and there came a certain point where I couldn't sing anything. So I had to write what I wanted to sing 'cos nobody else was writing what I wanted to sing.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Bert Kleinman (30 July 1984). Cf. C. S. Lewis: "People won't write the books I want, so I have to do it for myself.
“I Shall Sing No Song That Is Not A Country Song. I Shall Make No Record That Is Not A Country Record. I Refuse To be Known As Anything But A Country Singer. I Am Proud To be Associated With Country Music. Country Music And Country Music Fans Made Me What I Am Today. And I Shall Not Forget It.”
Buck Owens (1929–2006) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pledge To Country Music" in Music City News (March 1965)
“I shall not sing a May song. A May song should be gay. I'll wait until November And sing a song of gray.”
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things." She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?" She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play." She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away.”
Harry Chapin (1942–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music is my life, music is something I love doing, like I said earlier, I grow up in a family where music runs through us, music is my passion and it’s what I love doing, can’t stop doing music, I have to keep doing it because I love to do it and isn’t that I don’t have other things doing but basically I can’t leave music and music can’t leave me because it’s my passion and I love doing it.”
Monica Ogah (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before the conquest, the Filipinos had a literature written in characters of their own, and its manifestation in verse constituted of maxims, proverbs, boat-songs, nuptial-songs, war songs, love-songs, and the like.”
Epifanio de los Santos (1871–1928) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As a quote in Quirino & Hilario's "Short History of Tagalog Literature" in Thinking for Ourselves. Manila Oriental Co. 1924, p. 56-57.
“I write all my own songs and they are just simple melodies with a lot of lyrics. They usually have to do with current events and what is going on in the news. You can call them topical songs, songs about the news, and then developing into more philosophical songs later.”
Phil Ochs (1940–1976) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Testimony at the Chicago Seven trial (11 December 1969)
“Now we'll start the song of the wild man who lives on the mountain top, who does not want to be seen let us now start that song without words, without music, come on.. (let's not do anything for at least ten minutes) That's the spirit, there he comes, the song of the inner voice, the song of the primitive man”
Karel Appel (1921–2006) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: a poem of Karel Appel, 1981; from Karel Appel. The Colourful Stranger. Poems and Drawings (Karel Appel. De kleurige onbekende. Gedichten en tekeningen), Amsterdam, 1986
“Those songs will make you cry and perhaps fall in love again. For sure, you know very well the songs that we will sing. So expect to hear those songs and expect a good concert. Expect a lot of things.”
Ella May Saison (born 1901) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She loves to sing. She loves to do ballet, sobrang bibo talaga (really so bouncy). And she can sing like whenever I practice my songs, she can pick up the songs. Ang cute!”
Anne Curtis (born 1985) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2022/05/27/2183883/after-2-year-hiatus-anne-curtis-now-ready-her-comeback
“Now they sing out his praises on every distant shore But so few remember what he was fightin' for Oh why sing the songs and forget about the aim? He wrote them for a reason, why not sing them for the same?”
Phil Ochs (1940–1976) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bound For Glory" from All the News That's Fit to Sing (1964)
“Oh! We already, we done already done it, done it, dammit! I could you know, like, sing a thing, and then not sing it for a little while, and then sing it again... and people would be like, "Why'd he sing that again?”
Dave Matthews (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Frank Ocean played a huge part; the first song that I’d heard by him was “Swim Good.” I used to also listen to Lil Wayne and Aaliyah. Lauryn Hill’s “I Gotta Find Peace of Mind” was very, very spiritual. I could feel the energy on it. Songs like those made me want to release. The songs that all of these artists sing are releases and the expression of their spirits.”
“…It’s, you know, the words to the song are your script. You have to bring the correct emotion to every word. You know, if you sing it pretty – a lot of people that cover my songs will sing it pretty – it’s going to fall flat. You have to bring more to it than that.”
Joni Mitchell (born 1943) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On inhabiting the sentiment behind a vocal performance in “Joni Mitchell: 'I'm a fool for love. I make the same mistake over and over'” in The Guardian (2020 Oct 27)
“The water in music the oar forsakes." The air in music the wing forsakes. All things move in music and write it. The mouse, lizard, and grasshopper sing together on the Turlock sands, sing with the morning stars.”
John Muir (1838–1914) first seen 1874 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to Mrs. Ezra S. Carr, from Yosemite Valley (September 1874); published in William Federic Badè, The Life and Letters of John Muir (1924), chapter 11: On Widening Currents
“Sing, sweet nightingale, Sing me a song of a night never-ending, Sing, sweet nightingale, And I'll try to pretend That tomorrow's nowhere near And there's nothing to fear.”
Tom Springfield (1934–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sing boldly, O spouses of a Bridegroom such as mine! you, I say, whom are my companions in this fate and enjoyment so happy as ours! Sing at my happy insistence as I will sing by yours, a new song containing endless praises of the infinitely excessive grandeur and love of our Bridegroom, coming to so admirably espouse us, to deiformly deify us of him and in him, and to make us oneself of oneself.”
John of St. Samson (1572–1636) said by 1636 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He had a notebook: he'd take it, list through it and sing every song one by one over the radio. The chetniks would sing him Ceca and Vesna Zmijanac, and he would sing for them Zaim Imamović and Safet Isović.”
Jusuf Prazina (1963–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music itself seeks to collaborate. Every song has collaboration—every instrument collaborates with another to make a song. Drums collaborate with a bass, with a voice, with strings, to make a song. I love collaborating; you can’t make music without collaborating instruments and minds”
Zakes Bantwini (born 1981) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Roger: I think that we still do what the song is asking for; you can't really control what kind of songs come out while writing,, so if the songs needs horns, we'll do some horns, if not, then that's ok too. We really don't think too much about what our fans want us to write, we just try to stay true to what is best for the song.”
Roger Manganelli (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Interviewer: Don't you think that by saying ‘'Nuntereggae più'’ you risk being accused of populism? Gaetano: You risk populism when you attribute the effect of a political rally to a song, not when you think you're writing a song about happy times, evasive [...] My songs are love songs for society.”
Rino Gaetano (1950–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This genre of music is called Electronic Dance Music, or sometimes Club Music, or sometimes just Loud Unimaginative Absurdly Repetitious Boring Music, because—follow me closely here—it sucks. That is only my opinion, of course; taste in music is subjective. It is possible that you like Electronic Dance Music, in which case you are wrong because it sucks.”
Dave Barry (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music’s for grooving man, and music’s not for puttin’ yourself through bad changes, y’know? I mean, you don’t have to go take anybody’s shit, man, just to like music, y’know what I mean? You don’t. So... so if you’re getting’ more shit than you deserve, you know what to do about it man. Y’know, it’s just music. Music’s... music's s’posed to be different than that.”
Janis Joplin (1943–1970) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Spoken on the live recording of "Piece Of My Heart" on "Cheap Thrills" (1968)
“Dear friends, have you begun to sing the "new song? " Loved ones are singing it in the heavenly home, and we may sing it here; and by and by we shall join them, gaze with them on the risen, glorified Lord, and our voices will mingle in the "new song" "unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.”
Abbott Eliot Kittredge (1834–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who knows who wrote that song of summer, That blackbirds sing at dusk, This is a song of colour, Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust, Then climb into bed and turn to dust.”
“Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight. Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright.”
Billy Joel (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In those days, dances were dances and songs were songs. Film dances always had a semi-classical or folk element to them and songs were all about soul-stirring lyrics and haunting music. These days, they are more about technique and technology, often it's the camera that's dancing, the synthesiser that's singing. Not my cup of tea.”
Vyjayanthimala (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I will be as popular as anything in the North but because it’s (Ghana Music Awards) an Accra-based program and most of the radio stations are Accra-based, it is normal that they only hear Accra songs. Most of the DJs don’t understand our songs and a lot of people are not willing to understand our songs.”
Wiyaala (born 1986) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Edith Mensah, VGMA rewards only Accra-based acts- Wiyaala, Graphic Online, 10 May 2023.
“In those years, when I came to the States, people were always asking me why I didn’t sing anymore. I’d tell them, ‘I sing all around the world—Asia, Africa, Europe—but if you don’t sing in the US, then you haven’t really made it.’ That’s why I’ll always be grateful to Paul Simon. He allowed me to bring my music back to my friends in this country.”
Miriam Makeba (1932–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Poet, J. (11 February 2009)
“I've now got the music book ready, Do sit up and sing like a lady A recitative from Tancredi, And something about "Palpiti!" Sing forte when first you begin it, Piano the very next minute, They'll cry "What expression there's in it!" Don't sing English ballads to me!”
Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797–1839) said by 1839 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Don't Sing English Ballads to Me; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 56.
“I connected with the 'older' generation's music and I find that hard to be seen as extraordinary, because the music is so good!" he explains. I think what all those artists have in common is that their music Is timeless. A Neil Young song or a Bob Dyian song, whether or not they are singing it, can transiate to any generation.”
Brett Dennen (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s always just about the music. I’ve got to be true to who I am. Music is my religion. My way of communicating. When I write a song, I feel like the music is coming through me. It’s a beautiful experience to write a song that becomes something that has an influence on other peoples’ lives.”
Ike Moriz (born 1972) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in this The Bay Magazine interview, article 95., cover story, The Man behind the voice, September 2010 issue, by Romy Gordon, South Africa.
“Song sung blue, everybody knows one. Song sung blue, every garden grows one.Me and you are subject to The blues now and then. But when you take the blues And make a song, You sing 'em out again.”
Neil Diamond (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(After Houston asks the audience in Central Park to sing along to a new, un-aired song) And the poor gays with the signs are like "We don't know that song yet....it's not even (on the radio)...go Diva....I mean, we don't know that song. I would like to...I don't...??”
Kathy Griffin (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a DJ, I work with a lot of music. While mixing songs sometimes, I blend two artistes together to create a refix and it sounds nice. I really don't have any rules to my music. Music is spiritual. I might be in a particular place at a particular time and I try to create something out of that. Whatever collaboration I am trying to achieve, the end result has to be great sounds, quality music.”
DJ Neptune (born 1990) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with The Guardian Nigeria, "Music is spiritual to me — DJ Neptune" (2020)
“The song is heroic because the song confronts death. The song is immortal and bravely stares down our own extinction. The song emerges from the spirit world with a true message: Some day I will tell you how to slay the dragon.”
“I have a lot of visual ideas … My brain is working backward right now. I usually have the music first, and the music leads me into all of these visual opportunities, and now I’m having all of these visuals … I don’t have the songs for them yet, but maybe that’s the key, this time. Maybe the visual ideas are leading me to the songs that I need to make.”
Rihanna (born 1988) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://thegrio.com/2024/04/10/rihanna-on-potential-new-music-i-have-a-lot-of-visual-ideas/?
“I really grew up listening to international music more than Moroccan music. When I started my career, I used to write my own songs in English and French. I would never have thought that someday I would write my own songs in Arabic, because Arabic, especially the Moroccan dialect, has a lot of harsh sounds.”
Manal (singer) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Meet Manal, the Moroccan Artist Changing the Game, retrieved on April 20, 2020
“One sunny spring day I heard the music coming down Karl Johan [street] and it filled me with joy. The spring, the sun, the music, all blended together to make me shiver with pleasure. The music added colour to the colours. I painted the picture [his painting 'Music on Karl Johan'] allowing the colours to reverberate with the rhythm of the music. I painted the colours as I saw them at that moment.”
Edvard Munch (1863–1944) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in 'Livsfrisen tilblivelse', Blomqvist, Oslo 1929, p. 12
“On film music: "There are cases in which a film can stand on its own without music, but if music is used, it's better for it to touch the soul and create emotions that the rest of the film cannot do. Music should continue emotions where words finish. Unfortunately most films are flooded with music, due to mediocre scripts and to producers' and directors' lack of talent".”
Vangelis (1943–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source