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" I can't help what people write or think. If somebody thinks I'm a serious archivist, they're wrong. That's been a problem. It's a shame people take that attitude, because it affects how they listen to the music. It's a big mistake to treat any pop music that way. "

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" I'm used to music as a tool, taking the various elements and then making something completely new out of them. And writing film music is the perfect opportunity to do that, because you can look at the film and then just let your imagination soar. "

Ry Cooder

Music

Imagination

Writing

" The thing I always found about the gospel music was that it reached further into your being if you like, your mind. It takes hold of you - especially if you sing it and play it. "

Ry Cooder

You

Always

" How many BMWs do you need? How many Rolex watches you gonna wear in your lifetime, for crying out loud? What is it about that kind of desire? I don't understand it. "

" Travelling is hard. I'm no traveller. I hate flying, and I hate hotels. "

" I give up on pop music. As far as a commercial entity, as far as pop music goes, I quit; I absolutely throw in the towel. I can't handle it. I can't do it. I can't be what they need you to be. "

" Music is a treasure hunt. You dig and dig, and sometimes you find something. "

" Uncle Dave Macon was a great balladeer and banjo player from the early part of the 19th century... He would take a social problem or something that he was looking at and make up a clever little song about it, you know, in a language everyone understood, a man of the people. "

" Music is all starting to sound alike in the modern era. Afro-pop sounds exactly like L.A. pop - there's no difference, no ambience, no real resonance. "

" You go through these phases. That's how life is. Over the long term, you just can't do one thing. I saw that back in the Sixties when I was getting started. "

" If it hadn't been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would've been unbelievably dull, and I would've been sacking groceries somewhere and probably, at this point, running a little 7-Eleven down by the airport. "

" That's what records do: represent a compressed, heightened version of the sound. Because of the compression of the tubes and microphones and the wax, it's magic! "

" The '50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, 'X-File'-like reason I can't quite understand. "

" Santa Monica, where I have always lived, is not a town where you will find storefront Church of God in Christ churches. So, the whole idea of gospel quartet singing is something I never knew existed until I began to hear it on record. "

" People have all sorts of expectations which you can't meet. Me, I'm so reclusive I stay away from such things as much as I can. I never go anywhere. "

" You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done. "

" I wanted to be a car pinstriper, but there was nobody to teach me how to do it. So I said, 'Music's good too. I'll do that maybe, since I can't work out how to do this pinstriping.' "

" Promoters don't book you 'cause they like you; they do it 'cause there's good business to be done. "

Ry Cooder

Business

You

" I didn't want tunes that preach heaven: you know, life on Earth is bad and heaven is the only hope we have. I don't quite care for that. I mean, when people sing that stuff, it's good when they do it, but I didn't want to do it. "

" I don't like being watched, and I don't like being an entertainer. "

Ry Cooder

Being

Entertainer

" Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough. Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. "

" People respond to any good you can do in music. "

" The story of American pop music is the story of failure. The blues, country music, it's not the story of success. People don't win; they lose. "

" When the real world intrudes on your musical fantasies, I get put out. "

" Nat King Cole - I listen to him a lot. "

" Country hillbilly music I love. Always have. "

" Who does this, at age 71, try to put a tour together from scratch? I have to say it's scary at times. But I like a challenge 'cause it keeps you on your toes. "

" I hate films. Films make me sick now, and if something makes me sick, I always back off. "

" After all is said and done and institutions fail, people still have some ability to care for each other. "

" I've tended to look at my albums as research and development. I was just trying to get someplace new on each one. "

" People who aren't as interested in recorded music as they used to be will say, 'Oh, 'Buena Vista?' Loved it.' And I'll say, 'Well, how about any of my other recent records. I've been doing some pretty good ones. You like those?' And they go, 'Huh?' "