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" A lot of kids spent more time out of school than in, but I always loved school and thought it was my way out of Cleveland, and out of poverty. "
Tracy Chapman
Loved
Time
Poverty
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" I meet people in my daily life, people who seem to experience some change and some growth on a personal level, and that gives me hope. "
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Life
Growth
Hope
" I'm not sure about anything as far as religion and spirituality go. "
Tracy Chapman
Far
About
Go
" That's what everyone should do with their lives: stand up for what they believe in or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else. "
Tracy Chapman
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Think
Good
" When you feel like you've had a good show, you go backstage and you talk to yourself about it, and if you have a bad show you talk to yourself about it. "
Tracy Chapman
Yourself
Bad
Feel
" Men are able to sustain a career into their 50s and 60s and still present themselves as sex symbols. With women, on the other hand, people say, 'Why doesn't she retire?' "
Tracy Chapman
People
Men
Career
" When we started making 'Where You Live', I bought a bunch of Polaroid cameras in so that people could record the experience. Some of those pictures are in the CD sleeve. "
Tracy Chapman
Live
You
Pictures
" You need to keep something for yourself. As a writer, I feel that even more strongly. I feel like I need to be able to freely observe the world. That's the way I like to move through the world; I don't need to be the focus of attention. If I am, it impairs my ability to write and to do what I do. "
Tracy Chapman
You
Yourself
I Am
" I could make records at home in a vacuum, but that is not the situation. I'm just taking it one phase at a time. "
Tracy Chapman
Situation
Home
Just
" There's a time and place for everything, and my focus is music. So that's what I prefer to spend most of my time doing, and not talk about making music. "
Tracy Chapman
Time
Focus
Doing
" Some things remain fragments, just the lyrics and melodies or a line or two or a verse. "
Tracy Chapman
Just
Two
Things
" As a child, I spent a lot of time at the library. "
Tracy Chapman
Lot
Spent
Time
" One of the reasons I chose Tufts is that they have one of the best veterinary schools in the country. Since I was six years old, I wanted to be a veterinarian. "
Tracy Chapman
Years
Veterinarian
Best
" People's real hopes and dreams can be distorted and misdirected and packaged until you're not sure what you really want or what you even really need. "
Tracy Chapman
Dreams
Real
Want
" I don't try to project any image at all, other than the person that I am. "
Tracy Chapman
Person
Try
Project
" You have to pay attention to the moment and make it the best it can be for you. I've been trying to do that. It's really made a major difference for me. I'm a happier person. "
Tracy Chapman
Best
Me
Attention
" I see some recurring themes: things that feel threaded together, some symbolic references, and songs about some of the big questions, like death. There are a lot of references to weather, too! "
Tracy Chapman
Together
Weather
Death
" I was raised in a Baptist tradition, but then I went to an Episcopalian high school, and they were very accepting of people of all faiths. "
Tracy Chapman
People
Tradition
School
" Growing up in Cleveland, I learned about singing from my mother, who had once sung professionally and who admired Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin. "
Tracy Chapman
Singing
Mother
Growing Up
" What does the future look like if the heads of society ask our young people to risk their lives for questionable causes? I think it looks rather bleak. "
Tracy Chapman
Look
Think
Society
" I dressed up as a veterinarian for a Halloween costume party. I had the lab coat. I got a couple of stuffed animals for patients and put bandages on them. "
Tracy Chapman
Animals
Got
Halloween
" I grew up with music in the house. I was told I could sing as soon as I started talking. Everybody in my family sang, always lots of records, blues and jazz and soul, R&B, you know, like Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Coltrane, that kind of thing. "
Tracy Chapman
Family
You
Soul
" My first record was almost not my first record. "
Tracy Chapman
Almost
First
Record
" I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in. "
Tracy Chapman
Believe
Stand
Think
" Honestly, I think, as an artist, it's everything that's in your life that informs what you do. So, obviously, growing up in Cleveland has played a big role in how I see the world. "
Tracy Chapman
Growing Up
Life
World
" I think religion played a huge part in Bush's re-election. "
Tracy Chapman
Religion
I Think
Think
" I always considered trying to make a living playing music. But it was always really clear to me, at the various stages in my life, that it really wasn't a possibility unless some phenomenal thing happened. "
Tracy Chapman
Music
Life
Living
" I mentioned that I received a scholarship to Episcopalian school, and the model for the school was 'From each according to his or her ability and to each according to his or her need.' And it's something that is still really important to me in thinking about how I prioritize what I do with my life. "
Tracy Chapman
School
Her
My Life
" We all must live our lives always feeling, always thinking the moment has arrived. "
Tracy Chapman
Live
Always
Feeling
" There are some concerns that are universal. Everyone wants to be loved, and everyone wants to feel like they belong somewhere in the world. Everyone wants to do something and feel like they have a sense of purpose. These are just the things that I think about and the things that make their way into my songwriting. "
Tracy Chapman
World
Think
Purpose
" I'm still thinking and hoping there's an opportunity for people to have better lives and that significant change can occur. "
Tracy Chapman
Opportunity
Change
Thinking