Nellie McKay Quotes
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I don't listen to much rap, really. I can rarely listen to a whole record of it, because musically, it's very formulaic, and oftentimes it doesn't have the best hooks on every track.
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In high school, I was always into Jerry Lee Lewis, and they decided they needed a piano player for the jazz band. I had my little boogie-woogie thing that I did, so I did my little boogie-woogie thing. I had a very high-pitched voice.
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I'm pretty indiscriminating, and I have awful taste, generally.
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The other kids wanted to play Destiny's Child, but I wanted Anita O'Day.
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Music can make the cerebral accessible, the subconscious hummable. It communicates our shared needs and desires as sentient beings better than any other medium.
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I tried to be just a singer of standards when I was starting out. And there was nothing special enough about my voice to make it that far. So I feel a bit like Rod Stewart. Once you've had that rock career, people will give you that chance where otherwise they might not.
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You know, I wanted to get married, and so I - but I, you know, I realize no matter what you want, it's kind of a fantasy.
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I will say that art may well be the only thing that lasts, so I guess it's worth trying.
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Toronto's a delightful city.
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Less money for public media means less access to the arts.
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I kind of go for the MGM version of every musical style.
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It's always so nerve-wracking being up there on stage. It's even harder playing in your hometown - and I have a couple of home towns - but, you're playing for all the people you knew in high school, so it causes no small degree of panic in my mind.
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I thought I had a talent for alienating people, but I have no idea what it is that doesn't go over.
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There's a side of me that identifies with Aileen Wuornos.
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You can criticize something you strive for, and you can avoid something you dream about.
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I really don't care what people say. It's amazing that feminism continues to exist at all, considering how much counter-feminism is out there.
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I'm not sure I know how to make music anymore. Maybe you're given a window into things for a time, and beyond that maybe it goes away. Why should you expect it to stay?
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I have trouble with any kind of focus or concentrating, or getting anything done at all, really.
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I guess you deal with what you get.
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I think I have advanced ADD.
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In the hierarchy of instruments, if you're a harpist, you're considered someone with a brain much more than if you're a singer.
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If you look through the century, certain things have gotten better and certain things have gotten worse. I wouldn't say overall that things have gotten better. I think you could say things have gotten worse, but I don't think you could say that things have gotten better. Overall. You can't say that.
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I used to play in the subway. If everyone tossed in a quarter, at the end of the day it would add up. It shows you aren't invisible. And it's better than being ignored, or kicked in the head, or worse.
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Love is such a fleeting emotion. It's such a small part of the things you do in your life.