I've worked hard, but this business can be tough, and I just consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the career that I have, and to still be having so much fun playing drums and making music.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the balance between hard work and gratitude for one's achievements in a challenging field.
In this quote, Taylor Hawkins emphasizes the significance of hard work in achieving success, while also acknowledging the role of luck in his career. He expresses immense gratitude for the opportunities he has had to pursue his passion for music and the joy he finds in his work, highlighting that success is not solely the result of effort but also of fortunate circumstances.
In practice
This quote can inspire young musicians to remain grateful for their journeys.
In the studio you can auto tune vocals, and with drums, you can put them on a grid and make them perfect. I hate that sound. When someone hands me a record and the drums are perfectly gridded and the vocals are perfectly auto tuned, I throw it out the window. I have no interest in rock music being like that.
In hindsight, if I could go back in time and relay a message to my younger self, I would tell him to work on his time keeping, and that the job of a drummer is not to be the one that gets noticed the most on stage, or to be the fastest, or the loudest. Above all, it is to be the timekeeper.
The door to a balanced success opens widest on the hinges of hope and encouragement.
Which would you rather be, a conqueror in the Olympic games, or the crier that proclaims who are conquerors?
The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.
What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of it, because you'll be lousy at it. You don't have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don't like it you'll never be successful in it.
Standing on that platform, I said a silent prayer. I thanked God for giving me the strength and the opportunity to come back, to play basketball again, and to be part of that whole magnificent Olympic experience. It's a memory I will always cherish.
In the past when I was in Hollywood, I was like a dog. I felt humiliated. My English was not good. People would even ask me 'Jackie Who?'.
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