If you’re looking for a little inspiration, look no further than David Byrne. The singer-songwriter and musician has led an interesting life, filled with highs and lows, failure and success. In this post, we’ll take a look at Byrne’s quotes compilation and see what lessons we can learn from his journey. From his early days in punk rock to his current work as a solo artist and member of the Talking Heads, Byrne has always been willing to experiment and push boundaries. He’s also never been afraid of failure – in fact, he’s often turned it into success. So if you’re feeling down or struggling with your business, take a cue from Byrne and keep on moving forward.
Discover the most interesting Making, Feelingsing, Music, Love, Life, Songs, Stuff quotes from David Byrne, and much more.
There’s more good music being made now than ever before. — David Byrne
It didn’t even occur to me that I’m the last person in the world who should play salsa or Brazilian music. — David Byrne
If anything, a lot of electronic music is music that no one listens to at home, hardly. It’s really only to be heard when everyone’s out enjoying it. — David Byrne
With music, you often don’t have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don’t know why. — David Byrne
I found music to be the therapy of choice. I guess it is for a lot of people. — David Byrne
We tend to mistake music for the physical object. — David Byrne
Western music in the Middle Ages was performed in these stone–walled gothic cathedrals, and in architecturally similar monasteries and cloisters. — David Byrne
Some artists and indie musicians see Spotify fairly positively–as a way of getting noticed, of getting your music out there where folks can hear it risk–free. — David Byrne
You create a community with music, not just at concerts but by talking about it with your friends. — David Byrne
Before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context. — David Byrne
We don’t make music–it makes us. — David Byrne
People probably heard a greater quantity of music, and a greater variety, on these devices than they would ever hear in person in their lifetimes. — David Byrne
Music eats its young and gives birth to a new hybrid creature. — David Byrne
As music becomes less of a thing––a cylinder, a cassette, a disc––and more ephemeral, perhaps we will begin to assign an increasing value to live performances again. — David Byrne
Ninety percent of all music is always crap, and when too many people decide they’re going to have guitar bands, then ninety percent of them are going to be crap. It’s just a given law. — David Byrne
People are renovating places and opening ambitious new venues. That’s one thing that music does. It gets people out of their houses, and gets them hanging out together. — David Byrne
What do we need music to do? How do we visit the land in our head and the place in our heart that music is so good at taking us to? — David Byrne
I’ve noticed a lot of younger artists have less fear of doing different sorts of things, whether it’s various types of music, or gallery artists moving between video and sculpture and drawing. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ABOUT SONGS
I think sometimes–not always–I write songs that are accessible. — David Byrne
The world isn’t logical, it’s a song. — David Byrne
Doing the box set is one of those things where you get to rewrite your own history to some extent. We could take out some of the songs that we felt weren’t as strong as some of the others, so you look better. — David Byrne
Punk. . .was more a kind of do–it–yourself, anyone–can–do–it attitude. If you only played two notes on the guitar, you could figure out a way to make a song out of that, and that’s what it was all about. — David Byrne
I still feel like if I can get a song to work with, say, a basic beat, a rhythm, some chord changes, and a melody, a vocal melody–if it works with that, then I feel it’s written and there’s something there. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ON MAKING
Still, making music is its own reward. — David Byrne
A lot of cities are making a real effort, neighborhood by neighborhood, to make themselves into a place where life can be pretty good. — David Byrne
I’m proud of ‘Stop Making Sense,’ but it’s a little bit of an albatross; I can’t compete with it, but I can’t ignore it either. — David Byrne
The making of music is profoundly affected by the market. — David Byrne
Performing is a thing in itself, a distinct skill, different from making recordings. And for those who can do it, it’s a way to make a living. — David Byrne
I’m very much into making lists and breaking things apart into categories. — David Byrne
From what I’ve heard, Paris did a little bit more prep work as far as making bike lanes and all of that stuff. They really did it properly, which New York is getting to little by little. — David Byrne
I try to devote my afternoons to making music in my home studio, but it’s a lot more fun hanging out with musicians and friends, and trying subtly to influence a band than making your own stuff. — David Byrne
Redundant Thematics
In David Byrne Statements
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DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ABOUT LOVE
Sometimes it’s a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence. — David Byrne
There are plenty of people who are, I think, completely racist who love hip–hop. — David Byrne
I love getting out of my comfort zone. — David Byrne
People in Latin America… love America from afar and emulate America in some ways but also hate a lot of things that America does to them. — David Byrne
When you fall in love, you feel like a missing piece of a puzzle that’s been found. — David Byrne
I love writing. I don’t claim to be great at it. Occasionally I get a good sentence off. But I love the activity. — David Byrne
I try to write about small things. Paper, animals, a house… love is kind of big. I have written a love song, though. In this film, I sing it to a lamp. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ON STUFF
Sometimes I write stuff that strangely predicts what’s going to happen in my life. — David Byrne
It’s more about the stuff you think about when you’re getting from place to place on a bicycle than it is about actually riding the bicycle. — David Byrne
People hear about stuff from their friends or a magazine or a newspaper. — David Byrne
I didn’t have any agenda or plan when I started writing stuff. — David Byrne
It seems almost backwards to me that my music seems the more emotional outlet, and the art stuff seems more about ideas. — David Byrne
I certainly agree that putting everything into little genres is counterproductive. You’re not going to get too many surprises if you only focus on the stuff that fits inside the box that you know. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ON LIFE
You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpting is you. — Rhonda Byrne
You are the masterpiece of your own life. You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpturing is you (Dr. Joe Vitale) — Rhonda Byrne
The two biggest self–deceptions of all are that life has a ‘meaning’and each of us is unique. — David Byrne
The assumption is that your personal life has to be a mess to create, but how much chaos can you allow in before it takes over? — David Byrne
Most of our lives aren’t that exciting, but the drama is still going on in the small details. — David Byrne
Life tends to be an accumulation of a lot of mundane decisions, which often gets ignored. — David Byrne
People are already finding ways to make their music and play it in front of people and have a life in music, I guess, and I think that’s pretty much all you can ask. — David Byrne
Music was an experience, intimately married to your life. You could pay to hear music, but after you did, it was over, gone–a memory. — David Byrne
I like a good story and I also like staring at the sea–do I have to choose between the two? — David Byrne
I’m not all about money, but, like most musicians, I am about survival. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE QUOTES ABOUT FEELINGSING
If I’m feeling that I have an angle or something to say or something where in a way I’m having a conversation with myself, that’s immensely pleasurable. — David Byrne
There’s a pervasive feeling that when somebody sings a song and records a song on a record, that it’s their true feeling. — David Byrne
There’s still a feeling that uncensored emotions make a good song. They don’t. Pure emotion is just somebody screaming at you, or crying. It doesn’t communicate anything. — David Byrne
My personal feeling is that human beings have this incredible capacity for denial. — David Byrne
Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create. — David Byrne
DAVID BYRNE Quotes Take Away
David Byrne is not only a talented musician, but also an insightful thinker when it comes to the creative process. His words about creativity ring true for all of us, whether we’re artists or not. We hope that these quotes have inspired you and given you some food for thought. If you’d like to learn more about how to be creative and productive, check out our courses page where you can find tutorials on everything from writing to web development.