I wanted to get a guitar [when I was 13] so I could play punk songs because kid taught me power chords at summer camp. He was like, "You could play a…

- Ezra Furman

I think most of the work of songwriting is thinking of great phrases - I'm addicted, always on the hunt for a really great phrase.

- Ezra Furman

I was like, "Who the hell is Bob Dylan?" I was going to learn one song to appease my mom and alphabetically the first song in the book was "Absolutel…

- Ezra Furman

Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan I heard when I was 13. It was one of those things where it was like, "Hey, the world is much bigger than you imagined a…

- Ezra Furman

I'm certainly not interested in religion for religion's sake or for some kind of structure or stabilizing force. Religion is supposed to be for God's…

- Ezra Furman

I think I gravitate towards rock 'n' roll as a playground where I can say anything.

- Ezra Furman

What really is wild about rock 'n' roll? Nothing. It's so banal and so part of corporate culture. It threatens to lose all its life.

- Ezra Furman

I thought [ as a kid], "Maybe I don't want to start a punk band necessarily. I just want to learn to be a great songwriter," and got really into tryi…

- Ezra Furman

I had so many secrets and so much social repression throughout my life. I guess I'm just a shy person and feel like my true self is unacceptable to m…

- Ezra Furman