I see a young man playing 'Plaisir d'Amour' on guitar. I knew I didn't want to go to college; I was already playing a ukulele, and after I saw that, I was hooked. All I wanted to do was play guitar and sing.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the transformative power of music and passion in guiding one's life choices.
Joan Baez shares an autobiographical moment that reveals how witnessing a young man's performance of 'Plaisir d'Amour' on the guitar ignited her passion for music. It illustrates a pivotal moment in her life where she realized that her desire to play and sing outweighed the conventional path of attending college, emphasizing how inspiration can lead individuals to pursue their true calling.
In practice
This quote can be shared at a music school graduation to encourage students to follow their passion.
I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being.
The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one.
The hardest song to write is a protest song, a topical song with meaning.
That's all nonviolence is - organized love.
To sing is to love and affirm, _x000D_ to fly and to soar, _x000D_ to coast into the hearts of the people _x000D_ who listen _x000D_ to tell them that life is to live, _x000D_ that love is there, _x000D_ that nothing is a promise, _x000D_ but that beauty exists, _x000D_ and must be hunted for and found.
The foundation of my beliefs is the same as it was when I was 10. Non-violence.
I will keep playing as long as my body lets me, and as long as I'm wanted by my listeners. Because music is the only thing that keeps me going.
It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.
I always say that the problem with jazz accessibility is not the content of the music, it's people's ability to access it.
If you feel that you're not getting enough out of a song, change the instrument - go from an acoustic to an electric or vice versa, or try an open tuning. Do something to shake it up.
I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. ... I'm probably writing music now for the same reason as I started writing songs when I was 14-to meet women. ... If you make music for the human needs you have within yourself, then you do it for all humans who need the same things. You enrich humanity with the profound expression of these feelings. ... My songs are like my kids.
Rock n' roll means so much more to people; it enriches the culture. Also, it inspires people; there's no half-feeling. When I first got into it, I was inspired by people who had come before me, and I found myself in the position of handing that on.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.