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" My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant. "
Elvis Costello
Ultimate
Vocation
Life
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" Happiness isn't a fortune in a cookie. It's deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that. "
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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. "
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" 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. "
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" I've never felt British. I'm just not interested in national identity. I don't know why. "
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" You need a platform upon which to release an orchestral record, otherwise it's just going to be an obscurity. "
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" 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. "
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Opportunity
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" 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. "
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" Smokey Robinson writes the heartfelt songs, whereas it was my job to write the songs about weakness and failure in love. "
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Weakness
Job
" 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. "
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Listening
People
Choices
" 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. "
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Man
Good
Great
" There are many critics who have an idealised version of where my strengths lie. "
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Where
Who
" I've been lucky to listen to lots of different types of music. "
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Music
Been
Different
" Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing. "
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Difficulty
Sometimes
" Living a very long time would be a very scary thing. "
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Scary
Living
Time
" Really the only thing holding a lot of records together is the personality of the singer, and the will to write all of these different things. "
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Will
Singer
" Songs are more powerful than books. "
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More
Books
Than
" These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas. "
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Passion
Curiosity
" 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. "
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Music
Way
" 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
" 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 believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies. "
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I Believe
Music
Connected
" But there are things in Il Sogno that the methods of The Delivery Man could never achieve. "
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Things
Delivery
Achieve
" You do have to be a bit careful with your voice. It is an instrument. "
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You
Your
Instrument
" I find humming is very useful. "
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Useful
Very
Humming
" 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. "
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Great
Career
Together
" I'm a working travelling musician, but just on a bigger scale. "
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Just
Travelling
Scale
" There's no such thing as an original sin. "
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Original Sin
Original
Sin
" 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. "
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Different
Everything
Music
" It's what I do. I don't deserve any awards for this, it's just music. It's just writing songs. You sit down, you write a song, you record it. You tour and play the songs live, dress them up a bit differently, or dress them down. "
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Song
Music