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" I found with this record I had to really be strong-willed, because in the past I've tended to tinker and add a thing or take a thing away, and nearly always been wrong. "
Elvis Costello
In The Past
Past
Wrong
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" These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. "
Elvis Costello
You
Passion
Curiosity
" Well, T Bone's had a remarkable career as a producer since the time that we first worked together. He was dividing his time between recording and producing when we first met, and touring. We toured together and we were great friends. "
Elvis Costello
Great
Career
Together
" Songs are more powerful than books. "
Elvis Costello
More
Books
Than
" You have to face the fact that I have no reputation as a composer; I have my reputation as a songwriter and a performer-and that opportunity came this summer, when I was invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre festival in New York... three nights. "
Elvis Costello
Face
Opportunity
Reputation
" Obviously I got known for some other songs early on, and some of those were rock'n'roll songs. Some of them were melodic pop songs. And I've done lots of different things, as you know, but every so often I get drawn back. "
Elvis Costello
Done
Back
You
" I find it to be the ultimate backhanded compliment when you are compared against yourself. "
Elvis Costello
You
Yourself
Find
" You do have to be a bit careful with your voice. It is an instrument. "
Elvis Costello
You
Your
Instrument
" Mention Hubert Sumlin, as well, because Hubert's a great man, and again, you know, I don't play the guitar very good, but when I'm playing this kind of music, I always have him in my mind. I wish I could play like Hubert. "
Elvis Costello
Man
Good
Great
" People become so deeply attached to the sound of one period that they blow a fuse when you move on. I've heard people complain bitterly about recordings they haven't even heard. "
Elvis Costello
You
Move On
Sound
" It's a petty thing, but I wouldn't join the Scouts when I was a kid, 'cause you had to swear allegiance to the queen. I'm just not a royalist. I think it's idiotic, a hereditary principle. "
Elvis Costello
Think
Kid
Principle
" Life for me is about movement. "
Elvis Costello
About
Me
Life
" And obviously, when I started out, I had a little bit more curiosity than some, and went seeking out the original artists, or in some cases searching up country music. "
Elvis Costello
Up
Curiosity
Searching
" Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music. "
Elvis Costello
Listening
People
Choices
" Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing. "
Elvis Costello
Write
Difficulty
Sometimes
" Well, I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you. "
Elvis Costello
Different
Everything
Music
" The Internet is overrated. It's much smaller an innovation than people think it is. I don't think it's changed the way anybody makes music. "
Elvis Costello
Think
Music
Way
" There was not a lot of rock n' roll in the house. Our parents didn't think it was very groovy, and I tend to agree with them. If you grew up with Charlie Parker, Bill Haley wasn't very hip. "
Elvis Costello
Up
Rock
Think
" Women hear rhythm differently than men. "
Elvis Costello
Rhythm
Men
Differently
" I get very frustrated by this term 'genre exercise.' I mean, what exactly is that? Genre is not really relevant when you are writing a song; hopefully you are doing it to explore something, to create something, and I don't agree that any of my albums are genre exercises. "
Elvis Costello
Doing
Exercise
Song
" You need a platform upon which to release an orchestral record, otherwise it's just going to be an obscurity. "
Elvis Costello
You
Need
Just
" Smokey Robinson writes the heartfelt songs, whereas it was my job to write the songs about weakness and failure in love. "
Elvis Costello
Love
Weakness
Job
" Living a very long time would be a very scary thing. "
Elvis Costello
Scary
Living
Time
" I've never felt British. I'm just not interested in national identity. I don't know why. "
Elvis Costello
Just
Why
Identity
" I've worked hard, every single day since I left school. I think I have a Protestant work ethic. "
Elvis Costello
Day
School
Think
" I've had an unusual life. A life far removed from most people's experience. "
Elvis Costello
Experience
Life
Most
" I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies. "
Elvis Costello
I Believe
Music
Connected
" I know that when I make a record like The Delivery Man as a contrast to even Il Sogno, this is going to reach a wider audience, because it communicates in that very direct way. "
Elvis Costello
Way
Audience
Know
" And over the last ten years, after my work with the Brodsky Quartet, I had the opportunity to write arrangements for chamber group, chamber orchestra, jazz orchestra, symphony orchestra even. "
Elvis Costello
Jazz
Group
Work
" I don't think I was ever particularly mean. I can certainly think of some idiotic exchanges I've had. I was accused of destroying pop music, like Wagner destroyed opera - a guy in Germany started ranting that at me. "
Elvis Costello
Think
Music
I Can
" And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it. "
Elvis Costello
Feel
Understand
Sense