Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" You could write a song about some kind of emotional problem you are having, but it would not be a good song, in my eyes, until it went through a period of sensitivity to a moment of clarity. Without that moment of clarity to contribute to the song, it's just complaining. "

Related Quotes:

" It's in my stars to invent; I was born on Madame Curie's birthday. I have this need for originals, for innovation. That's why I like Charlie Parker. "

Joni Mitchell

Innovation

Born

Stars

" The Beginning of Survival is my best album. I am very proud of it, and I am surprised at it, too. I thought some of Travelogue was a little heavy, but I don't think this is heavy. "

" With a painting, you don't have to go back and paint it again. "

" I'm a method actress in my songs, which is why it's hard to sing them. "

" Paul Simon started piling up a lot of words, more than the bar could handle, and I stopped! "

Joni Mitchell

Handle

Started

" I can't remember anything I ever wrote. "

" I'm not a pitiable creature. It's just that I suffer very eloquently. "

" I hate show business. "

" If I'm censoring for anyone, it's for my parents. They are very old-fashioned and moral people. They still don't understand me that well. "

Joni Mitchell

Moral

People

" I see music as fluid architecture. "

" Not to dismiss Gershwin, but Gershwin is the chip; Ellington was the block. "

" I know my generation - a lot of them, they're getting old now, and they want to think back fondly, they want to kid themselves. A lot of them think, 'Yeah, we were the best.' That's the kiss of death. That's non-growth. And also that's very bad for the world. "

" We have a war dictator who was not elected, he snuck in. so he punishes people that threaten him in any way, or even say something he doesn't like. It has no resemblance to democracy. "

" When the world becomes a massive mess with nobody at the helm, it's time for artists to make their mark. "

" At the point where I'm trying to force something and it's not happening, and I'm getting frustrated with, say, writing a poem, I can go and pick up the brushes and start painting. At the point where the painting seems to not be going anywhere, I go and pick up the guitar. "

" Eventually, with success, I started to feel more and more isolated - like I didn't have a community of artists. "

Joni Mitchell

Community

Feel

" I used to be monastic, almost. Now I'm like a Tibetan that has discovered hamburgers and television. I'm catching up on Americana. "

Joni Mitchell

Almost

Used

" I thrive on change. That's probably why my chord changes are weird, because chords depict emotions. They'll be going along on one key and I'll drop off a cliff, and suddenly they will go into a whole other key signature. That will drive some people crazy, but that's how my life is. "

" My individual, psychological descent coincided, ironically, with my ascent into the public eye. "

" White rhythm is waltzes, marches, and the polka. In Africa, rhythm is used for a celebratory groove, but white rhythm doesn't have such an enormous vocabulary of spirits. It's basically militant. "

" Van Gogh was impulsive. "

" What I do is unusual: chordal movements that have never been used before, changing keys and modalities mid-song. "

" To enjoy my music, you need depth and emotionality. "

" The coming of the kids hasn't come out in my art yet. "

" I think I would go further into fine arts, I think, if I were to continue. "

" You know, Neil Young is singing Rock n' roll will never die, and Neil never rocked and rolled in his life. I mean, he rocked, but he didn't roll. He has got no swing in him. "

" I loved Debussy, Stravinsky, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, anything with romantic melodies, especially the nocturnes. Nietzsche was a hero, especially with 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra.' He gets a bad rap; he's very misunderstood. He's a maker of individuals, and he was a teacher of teachers. "

" In some ways, my gift for music and writing was born out of tragedy, really, and loss. "

" My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species. "