We're all just animals. That's all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That's where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels.
And I'm up while the dawn is breaking, even though my heart is aching. I should be drinking a toast to absent friends instead of these comedians.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a sense of longing for absent friends, highlighting the solitude felt in their absence during moments of celebration.
In this quote, Elvis Costello reflects on the bittersweet experience of being awake and aware of the dawn, a time often associated with new beginnings and celebrations. Despite the rising sun, his heart feels heavy with the absence of friends who are no longer present, and instead of reveling in joy, he finds himself surrounded by comedians, perhaps serving as a reminder of the joy that once existed. This juxtaposition of celebration and sorrow encapsulates the deep emotional connections we have with our friends and the impact of their absence in our lives.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a toast to friends during a gathering, you might say, 'As the dawn breaks, let's remember those who can't be with us today.'
More from Elvis Costello
All quotes βThere are five things to write songs about: I'm leaving you. You're leaving me. I want you. You don't want me. I believe in something. Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we musicians do pretty well.
It's the damage that we do and never know. It's the words that we don't say that scare me so.
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it.
Happiness isn't a fortune in a cookie. It's deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that.
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.
Similar quotes
A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace.
All I required to be happy was friendship and people I could admire.
There is nothing sweeter than to be sympathized with.
I don't want enemies. I want friends, and I want them in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and loving whoever they want to.
As widowers proverbially marry again, so a man with the habit of friendship always finds new friends.
Oh how sweet it is to hear one's own convictions from another's lips.