You can't kill the past by denying the past. You can kill it only by making it obsolete. And even in that, you have to find honor in the past. You can't hack off pieces of yourself, and expect them to grow again.
Jeff BuckleyRead
Music is my mother and my father; it is my work and my rest...my blood...my compass...my love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music is a fundamental and integral part of the speaker's life, shaping their identity and experiences.
In this quote, Jeff Buckley expresses the profound impact that music has on his existence. He personifies music as a parental figure, suggesting that it nurtures his spirit and guides his life. It is both a source of labor and solace, emphasizing how deeply intertwined music is with his sense of self, passion, and direction in life.
Themes
MusicIdentityPassionLifeArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the power of art, one could say: 'As Jeff Buckley once said, music is my mother and my father; it shapes who I am.'
More from Jeff Buckley
All quotes βI became a human jukebox, learning all these songs I'd always known, discovering the basics of what I do. The cathartic part was in the essential act of singing. When is it that the voice becomes an elixir? It's during flirting, courtship, sex. Music's all that.
Jeff BuckleyRead
Critics... They're like traffic cops. They say what they have to say, then leave, and another guy moves in ,and he has his say - and it's often just the opposite. The result is either critical acclaim or critical murder, and neither has any bearing on my music or direction.
Jeff BuckleyRead
Grace is what matters. In anything. Especially life, especially growth, tragedy, pain, love, death. About people, that's what matters. That's a quality I admire very greatly. It keeps you from reaching for the gun too quickly; it keeps you from destroying things too foolishly; it sort of keeps you alive and keeps you open for more understanding.
Jeff BuckleyRead
I've always felt that the quality of the voice is where the real content of a song lies. Words only suggest an experience, but the voice is that experience.
Jeff BuckleyRead
I don't see people. I don't see men and women at all. When I see them, I see... their mothers and fathers. I see how old they are inside. Like when I look at the president, or anybody in a record company, or a store owner, I may see a little boy behind the counter with the face of an old man. And that's who I talk to.
Jeff BuckleyRead
Similar quotes
It is to be remembered that all art is magical in origin - music, sculpture, writing, painting - and by magical I mean intended to produce very definite results. Paintings were originally formulae to make what is painted happen. Art is not an end in itself, any more than Einstein's matter-into-energy formulae is an end in itself. Like all formulae, art was originally FUNCTIONAL, intended to make things happen, the way an atom bomb happens from Einstein's formulae.
William S. BurroughsRead
I'd like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls.
John ColtraneRead
I play until my fingers are blue and stiff from the cold, and then I keep on playing. Until I'm lost in the music. Until I am the music--notes and chords, the melody and harmony. It hurts, but it's okay because when I'm the music, I'm not me. Not sad. Not afraid. Not desperate. Not guilty.
Jennifer DonnellyRead
I have not lost any of my crazy, fearless, raw, soulful, eclectic side and I plan on continuing to tell universal stories in an unforgettable way.
Janelle MonaeRead
From the moment you are born, you could die. I think as an artist it is important to meditate on that.
Marina AbramovicRead
The trouble with writing fiction is that it has to make sense, whereas real life doesn't.
Iain BanksRead