What we've had to do is learn to control success, put it in perspective, and not lose the essence of what we're doing - the music.
Interpretation
Success should be managed and kept in perspective to preserve the true essence of one's passion.
In this quote, Janis Joplin emphasizes the importance of maintaining a clear perspective on success while staying true to oneself and the art one produces. She suggests that while achieving success can be enticing and overwhelming, it is crucial to focus on the underlying passion—music in her case—to ensure it doesn't lose its value or authenticity amid external pressures and expectations.
In practice
In a motivational talk about pursuing your dreams, you might quote Janis Joplin to stress the importance of staying true to your art.
I gotta go on doin' it the way I see it...I got no choice but to take it like I see it. I'm here to have a party while I'm on this earth...I'm gettin' it now, today. I don't even know where I'm gonna be twenty years from now, so I'm just gonna keep on rockin', cause if I start saving up bits and pieces of me...man, there ain't gonna be nothing left for Janis.
When I sing, I feel like when you're first in love. It's more than sex. It's that point two people can get to they call love, when you really touch someone for the first time, but it's gigantic, multiplied by the whole audience. I feel chills.
Like most girls I'm always really self-conscious about do I look fat, if my legs are short, if I'm weird shaped, but when I go on stage, man, it never occurs to me. I think I look beautiful.
I won't quit to become someone's old lady.
Audiences like their blues singers to be miserable.
You can feel all things at once, so why not wear all things at once?
Jazz has the power to make men forget their differences and come together... Jazz is the personification of transforming overwhelmingly negative circumstances into freedom, friendship, hope, and dignity.
Much as I adore the melodies, I choose a song for what it has to say.
It's the group sound that's important, even when you're playing a solo.
Videos destroyed the vitality of rock and roll. Before that, music said, "Listen to me." Now it says, "Look at me."
It's an endless proving of myself, that I really am a musician, that I have something to offer in the room. That women can be musicians, women can be rock stars, women can be more than an objectified idea of a pop star.
I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear, when I make a mistake you hear it. If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake. Never be afraid to dare.
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