Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" When I first was trying to play the clubs around Houston to start playing my own songs, songwriters like Eric Taylor and Vince Bell and Townes Van Zandt and Don Sanders were just really encouraging to me and would let me sit in with them during their sets and introduce me to the person that owned and booked the club. "

Related Quotes:

" Never guess a woman's age. Never guess a woman's weight. Never even talk about weight in front of a woman. And never, ever ask a woman when she's due. "

Lyle Lovett

Woman

Talk

Age

" I don't feel like I'm on a mission. I'm trying to play music that I like to play and like to listen to. "

Lyle Lovett

Play

Feel

" Fortunately, I've never had a job. "

" Women always go through the door first. Even ardent feminists would admit it's nice. It's not an acknowledgment of women as the weaker sex; it's perhaps an acknowledgment of women as the stronger sex. "

" A woman comes to a table, and you're supposed to get up. Period. But I don't always do it. In general, you're supposed to do it every time. But sometimes you're seated against the wall, and it's awkward. "

" I enjoyed hearing people do their own songs. I became attracted to singer-songwriters. I became interested in them as people; was curious about what they wanted to say. "

" The first time I toured with the 'Large Band' in 1988, I got so tired. If I just stood still anywhere, I could go to sleep. I was that tired. But I had to perform. And I did, and after that tour, I was much less fretful about going out onstage. "

Lyle Lovett

Tired

Sleep

" My first performance was in second grade with my friend Rodney Fisher, and we worked up versions of 'Long Tall Texan' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' It gave me a little early confidence that I could actually do this music thing. "

" I've been lucky to be able to make the records I've wanted to make. The record company has never pressured me to cut certain songs. "

Lyle Lovett

Lucky

Company

" Singing your own songs is all about individual expression. "

" If someone gives you a belt buckle, it's like a piece of jewelry. It has the same sort of emotional significance. It would be something you would intend to keep forever. "

Lyle Lovett

You

Jewelry

" My parents worked for Exxon, and they gave me every chance to take part in music. I took guitar lessons, and I was in the choir at school. "

Lyle Lovett

Chance

School

" The idea that we humans are good-natured, politically correct, nonjudgmental beings is pure fantasy. We are, at the very least, judgmental. "

" I've always thought that writing isn't really that hard. It's having a good idea that's hard. "

" I've gotten to work with some wonderful directors and people who have been great teachers to me. "

Lyle Lovett

Work

Teachers

" Wear what you want to wear. Do what you want to do. Be who you are. Pick out your own clothes. Be a man. And if that's too much to ask, as it almost always is for me, think of someone you consider to be a man and pretend to be like him. I pretend to be like my dad. "

" As a songwriter, you try your best to write a good song, and you like nothing better than hearing a good song. It's easy to admire a great song, and you want to share out of enthusiasm. "

" I played guitar when I was young and never really considered it as a way to make a living. "

" The most important thing you can do as a performer is to be yourself, or be an onstage version of yourself. If you're not being true to yourself, and somebody likes that other version of you, you're kind of stuck. "

" I'm not really a competitive person, and I'm not naturally comfortable in front of people. "

" Songwriters aren't always performers, and even performing songwriters aren't always the kind of show-biz performers you think they'd be. "

" I sort of cringe when I hear myself say the word 'work.' Getting to do something you love to do never really feels like work. "

" I am limited by what I can think of to do-my choices are not so great. "

Lyle Lovett

Choices

Think

" It's important to be successful enough to be able to keep doing what you love. "

" I've just always written songs in a style that appeal to me personally. "

" Records are very powerful promotional tools to go out and be able to play on the road, but you do have to think about it as a way of sustaining itself at some point. "

" Helen Hunt is terrific, and I got to do a couple of guest spots with Helen and Paul Reiser on 'Mad About You.' "

" It's difficult to get started-when it comes to dealing with an unknown quantity, people are reluctant to trust their own opinion. It helps if two or three people give you a boost. "

" Dad often told me, 'My job is to help my boss do his job and make him look good.' That was my dad's objective. Everything about the way he conducted himself was to communicate support for his superiors and respect for his coworkers. The way he dressed was his starting point in that communication. "

" You don't have to have anything in common with people you've known since you were five. With old friends, you've got your whole life in common. "