You know, traditional country music is something that's going to be around forever.
George StraitRead
I've always thought that whether I'm writing or not, I've gotta pick the best songs, whether or not they're mine. I'm not gonna sing them just because I wrote them. I've gotta find the best songs to make the best record I can.
Interpretation
The pursuit of excellence in music requires selecting the best songs, regardless of their origin.
George Strait emphasizes the importance of quality over personal pride in his creative process. He believes that the goal of making a great record involves choosing the best songs available, rather than solely focusing on his own compositions. This perspective reflects a commitment to artistic integrity and the desire to deliver the highest possible standard of work to his audience.
In practice
During a music workshop discussing the essence of songwriting.
You know, traditional country music is something that's going to be around forever.
Life's not breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.
I'd say three years ago we played in my hometown of San Antonio for 55,000 people at the Alamodome and walking out there with a crowd like that is just, you're excited, you're scared. There are just so many emotions going on. I still get nervous for things like that until after I sing about the first one or two songs, then I settle down.
You know, traditional country music is something that's going to be around forever... I'm not worried about it.
This is the kind of problem you want to have! Country radio has been great to me my whole career. I can't thank those folks enough.
If it's a good song and it fits me, that's what I'm going to do, I'm not out there trying to change the world. I'm just out there trying to sing country music the best way I can.
To me, beauty is inclusion - every size, every color - that's the world I live in.
Color transmits and translates emotion.
There are neither good nor bad subjects. From the point of view of pure Art, you could almost establish it as an axiom that the subject is irrelevant, style itself being an absolute manner of seeing things.
I think the more the listener can contribute to the song, the better; the more they become part of the song, and they fill in the blanks. Rather than tell them everything, you save your details for things that exist. Like what color the ashtray is. How far away the doorway was. So when you're talking about intangible things like emotions, the listener can fill in the blanks and you just draw the foundation.
As I listen to the silence, I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the Creator of the Universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory.
To be an artist you have to give up everything, including the desire to be a good artist.
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