Most of them are mangled and even have made up stuff in them, that is to say, made up stuff by the writer or editor.
BLACK FRANCISMost of them are mangled and even have made up stuff in them, that is to say, made up stuff by the writer or editor.
BLACK FRANCISI don’t make records that way, where I’m trying to please the marketplace or anything. Not because I have anything against that, it’s just never been a part of my aesthetic, even when I was with the Pixies.
BLACK FRANCISStuff that you get for free, stuff that your older brother gives you, stuff that you can get out of the local library.
BLACK FRANCISBob Dylan is quite a songwriter, and a great singer and musician. I won’t bother with comparing myself to him, but I will say that I heard his records at a very young age and I still listen to all his records.
BLACK FRANCISI have always been a singer, a writer, and a musician, not as a prodigy or as in a trade handed to me by my parents, but because of an inner voice or maybe a command from beyond reality as it is usually defined.
BLACK FRANCISI listen to Neil Young and jazz and classical stations and, if my girlfriend’s driving, it tends to be Hall & Oates.
BLACK FRANCISWho do sing SONGS. It’s like I never sang before; like I was – I don’t know – reading PROSE on my previous records and now I sing. EXCUUUUUUSE me for singing
BLACK FRANCISThey’re pretty good actually, Hall & Oates. I gotta give them credit. They got a lot of toe-tappers.
BLACK FRANCISWhen I think about that I get stimulated and excited. It’s a feeling that you can’t label with words.
BLACK FRANCISThere was a f**king review in f**king Melody Maker [of the first BOSSANOVA single, ‘Velouria’] – ‘Sounds like someone’s been taking singing lessons’. Like, motherf**king A! I am the singer.
BLACK FRANCISWhen you look at something that’s really good, it might be Iggy Pop or it might be Leonard Cohen. Whatever it is, you want it to be really good.
BLACK FRANCISThat’s the most important thing, to get along with people. When you feel like you click with them.
BLACK FRANCISThat’s more important even then what their background is or what they’ve done before, how good they are, how new they are or whatever. All that stuff is really secondary to just getting along with the person.
BLACK FRANCISI think that painting is a very ancient form of expression.
BLACK FRANCISI like visual images and there are certainly other bands that have strong visual images going all the way back to Elvis Presley, but it’s kind of like that’s never really been my bag. Probably because I’m too shy.
BLACK FRANCISThe first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more.
BLACK FRANCIS