I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn't thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life.
Every record I have done was because I was a person's friend. The only time we did not continue to be friends was if the record did not become a hit. If it did, we became great friends.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Friendship can both inspire collaboration and determine the strength of relationships based on success.
This quote reflects the importance of friendship in creative endeavors, particularly in the music industry. Nile Rodgers conveys that many of his records were born out of personal connections, suggesting that the bond and collaboration with friends can lead to successful outcomes. However, he also highlights the paradox in these relationships, where the success of a record can dictate whether friendships continue to flourish, implying that success can complicate personal dynamics.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about teamwork, one might quote this to emphasize the value of friendships in achieving success.
More from Nile Rodgers
All quotes βMusic has to keep moving. But I was lucky. For me there was always something around the corner.
There's been this strange irony to my whole life. All my original bandmates have died, when I was the most wild and most reckless of us all. But I'm still here.
Music is the one part of the entertainment business where you can't fool anybody into buying a record.
With Sumthin Else Music Works, I wanted to spread the love and give newcomers a chance to make it because something that really helped me were all the people who had given me an opportunity when I was putting my career together.
I'd probably be a super wealthy guy if I had sat around writing songs and getting them placed like everyone else I know. But I write songs about people or after I meet them and they're somewhat biographical - they're fiction but also non-fiction.
Similar quotes
My war buddies, some were Americans, but some were Afghans. These were the guys that I fought alongside. We bled alongside each other; we mourned together. When I came home, these weren't people I could keep up with on Facebook.
My father prayed because he had a good friend with whom to share the problems of the day.
Strangers are family you haven't recognize yet
Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.
The true and not despairing Friend will address his Friend in some such terms as these. "I never asked thy leave to let me love thee,--I have a right. I love thee not as something private and personal, which is your own, but as something universal and worthy of love, which I have found. O, how I think of you! You are purely good, --you are infinitely good. I can trust you forever. I did not think that humanity was so rich. Give me an opportunity to live.
Friendship is so weird. You just pick a human you've met and you're like, 'Yep, I like this one,' and you just do stuff with them.