“Where words fail, music speaks,” or so goes a quote by Hans Christian Anderson in his story “What The Moon Saw.” Of course, we think that if you’re looking for the mot juste, you can try to find it in the dictionary. (And we hope you do!) However, there are some feelings that cannot be shared in typical language, and for that, we have music.
Musicians are able to tap into these emotions that can be hard to define. To understand better how musicians think about their important work, we have rounded up a selection of quotes of musical artists from across time and genres to share how they feel about music.
1.
I know I’m stronger in the songs than I really am. Sometimes I need to hear it myself. We all need to hear those empowering songs to remind us.
—Beyoncé, Marie Claire, 2009
empowering
In a rare, candid interview, artist Beyoncé discusses how she tries to make her music empowering, which comes from the verb empower, a word that literally means “to give power; authority to” but more generally is used to describe feelings of inspiration, bravery, and confidence. Anyone who has listened to her song “Run the World (Girls)” knows exactly what she is talking about.
2.
Music has the power to inspire the world. The music we do is for people to enjoy, dance and sing to it. Dreamers—keep on dreaming and keep working hard to achieve your goals. There are many difficulties, but what matters is to stay focused and have perseverance. We’re impacting the world like never before and now is our time.
—Bad Bunny, ET, 2018
perseverance
Bad Bunny, the stage name of artist Benito Ocasio, highlights how music not only makes people happy but also “impact[s] the world.” In order to make that happen though, you have to have perseverance, “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” The word perseverance ultimately comes from the Latin persevērus, meaning “very strict.” In order to persevere, one has to have strict discipline.
3.
As you begin to realize that every different type of music, everybody’s individual music, has its own rhythm, life, language and heritage, you realize how life changes, and you learn how to be more open and adaptive to what is around us.
—Yo Yo Ma, Huffpost, 2012
adaptive
Pop artists aren’t the only ones who have ideas about music. Classical cellist Yo Yo Ma has spent a lot of his career encouraging people to embrace listening to and playing music. He thinks music teaches us how to be adaptive, which describes the ability to adjust or modify oneself to a given situation. Being able to adapt to new situations is part of what makes us strong and capable.
4.
Like all music, the figured bass should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamour and ranting.
— Johann Sebastian Bach, J.S. Bach by Albert Schweitzer, trans. Ernest Newman, 1966 [1911]
recreation
Early classical musicians and composers, like Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), often thought of music as a form of religious expression. In this quote, he explains how music should support the “recreation of the soul.” Recreation here means “refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like.” In this quote, the word also suggests a re-creation, or “making anew.”
5.
People haven’t always been there for me, but music always has.
—attributed to Taylor Swift
there for me
Country-star-turned-pop-star Taylor Swift is known for her songs of heartbreak and relationship woes. Perhaps that’s why this quote is commonly attributed to her. The expression been there for me has a variety of meanings including “sympathize,” “commiserate,” and “support.” For Swift, her music is a source of support and sympathy.
6.
Being a musician enables a person to bend the notes and express things that are inside you, no matter what. That is probably why I am so happy when I am playing music or making a record.
—Neil Young, Waging a Heavy Peace, 2012
bend
Canadian folk artist Neil Young has had a long career. In his autobiography Waging a Heavy Peace, he makes an explicit connection between the expression of music and the expression of feelings. To bend a note is when a chord is played and then the string is held taut and played again, making a higher-pitched note. Young says here one bends notes, literally and figuratively, through music.
7.
Jazz arises from a spirit of love, it comes from the mind and heart and goes through the fingertips.
—Mary Lou Williams, Pittsburgh Catholic, 1973
spirit
Mary Lou Williams was one of the greatest jazz pianists and composers of all time. For her, jazz is an expression of spirit, a word with many meanings but that here is used in the sense of “an attitude or principle that inspires, animates, or pervades thought, feeling, or action” or “the soul or heart as the seat of feelings or sentiments, or as prompting to action.” The word spirit comes from the Latin spīritus meaning “a breathing.”
8.
Everything I do, in every channel of my life, is part of a legacy that I’m making for my child. For my children, if I have more. I’m not motivated by much, certainly not by money—but I’m motivated by that. I want my child to see his mum running a proper business again. Being a boss again. Hopefully smashing it again.
—Adele, The Guardian, 2015
legacy
Music isn’t just a spiritual or emotional practice—being a musician is also a career. In her discussion of her music, artist Adele draws focus to this aspect of the work. She says she wants to leave a legacy for her child. Legacy literally means “a gift left in a will or bequeathment.” But it can also be used more generally to refer to “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.” In this case, Adele’s music career will be the legacy she leaves behind.
9.
Everyone’s got to be different. You can’t copy anybody and end up with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. And without feeling, whatever you do amounts to nothing. No two people on earth are alike, and it’s got to be that way in music or it isn’t music.
—Billie Holiday with William Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues, 1956
different
Billie Holiday was a widely celebrated jazz and swing music singer. She broke the mold in many ways, so it’s not surprising that for her it’s important that music be different, which she uses in the sense of original, “new; fresh; inventive; novel.” The best music is something that makes you really sit up and listen because it is completely unlike anything you have ever heard before.
10.
My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.
—Joan Jett, 2013
extension
Joan Jett was one of the first major female rock stars. She has been performing live since the 1970s, so it makes sense that she describes her guitar as an extension of, or part of, herself. In an interview, she explains how she feels most alive onstage when she has her guitar with her. She says, “My guitar wouldn’t sound like my guitar unless my hands were playing it.”
11.
I feel like I write so that people can think of it as theirs. If my song is exactly about your life right now then it is—I don’t even want to say that it’s mine because it’s yours.
—Billie Eilish, RNZ, 2017
exactly
Billie Eilish is one of the youngest and hottest pop stars of the moment. At the young age of 16 she catapulted into the public eye. In this early interview, she talks about how she wants her music to sound as if it is exactly describing your life. Exactly in this sense means “accurately.” Even though music expresses complex, difficult emotions, it can be universal and apply to anyone.
