The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.
Terry SouthernRead
There's so much chaos in life, I think I make music to make things feel calm and sane, to define something, to bring some meaning into it - it's a real peaceful thing to me.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the idea that music serves as a refuge from life's chaos, providing peace and meaning.
Bill Callahan reflects on the chaotic nature of life and articulates how music serves as a soothing balm, helping him to find calmness and a sense of purpose amidst disorder. Through the process of creating music, he seeks to impose order and meaning, transforming chaos into something that feels peaceful and fulfilling.
In practice
During a speech at a music festival, this quote can highlight the therapeutic power of music.
The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.
We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.
Against barbarity, poetry can resist only by confirming its attachment to human fragility like a blade of grass growing on a wall while armies march by.
Being called a conscious rapper is quite a compliment. It's a great thing to be. But as an artist, my nature is to not be in a box.
I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story.
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