I feel like a quote out of context, withholding the rest so I can be for you what you want to see.
BEN FOLDSWhy would I want to sound like Joni Mitchell? I’ve got Joni Mitchell records, and they’re great, and I couldn’t possibly be that good.
More Ben Folds Quotes
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The way I see it, there’s only one melody for any song.
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I used to do this big rant at the end of some gigs with Ben Folds Five. The band broke into this big heavy metal thing and I started as a joke to scream in a heavy metal falsetto. I found myself saying things like: Feel my pain, I am white, feel my pain.
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Everyone, when you’re a teenager and you’re growing up, you do feel like your life is dramatic enough to be on a TV screen, but we know that it’s not.
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A lot of 18-year-olds are like old men. They think they’ve seen everything.
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It’s a tough thing to know that when you’re making your album, you’re going to end up collaborating with, say, Wal-Mart, on your artwork. That just sucks. And the pressure behind getting the numbers real fast is, to me, dizzying.
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Next door, there’s an old man who lived to his nineties and one day passed away in his sleep. And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days and passed away. I’m sorry, I know that’s a strange way to tell you that I know we belong.
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The nature of honesty is that if someone has information or knows something about you that you don’t want heard, then they have power over you.
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The press is like any business. Its a group of really intelligent individuals that ends up being one slathering, one-eyed, drooling monster.
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I could probably live in Bali the rest of my life and completely live in the sticks and have a f – king moped and make a record every couple of years and not step in public and break even like I do anyway. That’s really tempting.
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I think alcohol is a good drug for me when I’m writing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with it. I can stop for a few weeks, so I think it’s okay. I don’t think it’s good for my liver, but I do love it. It’s a huge part of my life, and it makes me happy.
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Everyone grew up with a piano in their living room, so rocking out on the piano was accessible – it wasn’t an upper-class thing. Now pianos have become very much a piece of furniture.
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I always feel very lucky that I am forced to make records at certain times. If I was forced to make 2 records a year, I would write twice as many songs. I can’t make myself finish something unless I am forced
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There is still some art in pop music. But it can’t happen if you’re not inspired.
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I think people use temp music quite a bit, but the people who write the temp music don’t ever really learn that their music was inspiring a movie.
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If the melody is telling me this is what the song is about, then I’m sort of forced into confession, autobiography or fantasy. If I don’t do that, I’ve hamstrung the melody.
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White people don’t sing together very often, and when they do, it’s about the celebrity of the song. The singing at my shows is all about harmony.
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I’m aware that I’m very fringe, and it’s nice that way.
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Billy Joel and Joe Jackson were both great, and they both play piano.
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The clock never stops, never stops, never waits. We’re growing old. It’s getting late.
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What stupid f – king idiot gets married a second time if the first time didn’t work out?
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To the modern ear, it seems soft. When you hear it against other things, it seems vulnerable. Lyrically and musically, though, this is more subtle. And, yes, it’s asking a lot of someone who’s used to being hit over the head with bright neon to listen to this.
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If you can’t draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall
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I have manic energy. What can be done about it? I don’t know what to say sometimes. I’m professional in public, but I like to stay inside and be a hermit.
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My parents told me I must get married. I was seen as a failure if I didn’t do it.
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Rock and roll is – and should be – a kid’s place.
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It’s like being in the position of – in half of the industry’s mind, you’re kind of a cult-following, independent rocker. And on the other hand, you’re a sellout. But neither one of them are right.
BEN FOLDS