The only time that I am really truly happy—when I feel at my best—is when I'm on the stage.
Interpretation
True happiness comes from expressing oneself in a fulfilling way.
Etta James expresses that her deepest sense of joy and fulfillment is found in her performances on stage. This suggests that for her, artistic expression is the pinnacle of happiness, highlighting the importance of pursuing one's passions and the emotional connection to one's craft.
In practice
During a motivational speech about pursuing passions, one could quote Etta James to emphasize the joy of following one's dreams.
Jazz took too much discipline. You have to come in at the right place, which is different than me singing the blues, where I can sing, 'Oh, baby,' if there's a pause in the melody. With jazz, you better leave that space open, or put in something real cool.
I figured I could do "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" because I believe it's the truth.
It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.
I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.
When I'm singing the blues, I'm singing life.
People always say 'Etta, you know what your problem is? You're neither fish nor fowl. There is no place to rack you.' When I would go in a record shop, you might find one or two records by me in different stacks.
The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.
I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile and I want to make people laugh. And that's all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy.
Mankind is engaged in an eternal quest for that ‘something else' he hopes will bring him happiness, complete and unending.For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that Something Else.
You traverse the world in search of happiness which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all.
my lips never know my problem they just always smile
Obviously, there were ways to have made a lot more money and to have had more leisure. But I wouldn't choose that. I feel rich in ways that are unique and that I would never trade for tens of millions of dollars in the bank.
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