Phil Ochs Quotes

A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.

Phil Ochs

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Quotes to Explore

• The white man made the mistake of letting me read his history books. He made the mistake of teaching me that Patrick Henry was a patriot and George Washington – wasn't nothing non-violent about old Pat or George Washington.

  

  Malcolm X
  • History
  • Man
  • Mistake

• I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' when I was a kid and say 'Yeah!' or 'Boo!' at every single song. So there was nothing in the middle. You brutally put it on one side or another.

  

  Damien Hirst
  • Song
  • Single
  • Kid

• There's something about live players that you cannot get with machines: With live musicians, you can strike a groove, you can feed off each other... And, even though somebody might make a slight mistake, it's all real!

  

  Isaac Hayes
  • Live
  • Real
  • Mistake

• To me, there is nothing more soothing than the song of a mosquito that can't get through the mesh to bite you.

  

  Madison Smartt Bell
  • Song
  • Me
  • Soothing

• I fantasise about what the future could be in terms of aesthetic and psychology. It's the most difficult thing to do because you have to start from the past - your favourite architect, your favourite song - you take it all with you.

  

  Raf Simons
  • Future
  • Song
  • Past

• Very often, writing a song is a process that happens to me rather than one that I instigate. I feel a song coming on and, like a sneeze; I wait for it until it comes.

  

  Kat Edmonson
  • Writing
  • Song
  • Process

• The first album I ever bought with my own money was 'Ten.' Every single song reminds me of my childhood.

  

  Aaron Paul
  • Money
  • Song
  • Single

• It is such a gift to be able to write songs in general, but when you can share it with somebody, it is just such a pleasure. It is such a happy moment when you finish a song, and you are just like, 'Wow - that was great.'

  

  Valerie June
  • Great
  • Happy
  • Song

• I like finding that common point between another song and my music. It's like between people; you can be of religion or another, from this country or from another country, but we're all basically the same. It's just the same with songs.

  

  Yael Naim
  • People
  • Music
  • Country

• Music's always been really cathartic. It's the best drug for me to get away from the everyday pressures just for a second via a good song.

  

  Ville Valo HIM
  • Good
  • Music
  • Song

• At first, I did have that thought, like, 'Oh crap, what are we going to do after?' Then I realized 'Girl in a Country Song' was an honest, truthful song, and we were telling our truth, and that's all we have to do - write songs that are true and tell our stories.

  

  Madison Marlow
  • Country
  • Truth
  • True

• When I was a little girl, my dream was just to hear my song on the radio. It was very fascinating to me, and I was like, 'How do I do that?' Now it's like, 'Oh my God, my song is on the radio!'

  

  Bebe Rexha
  • God
  • Dream
  • Song

• If someone had told me when I was a kid I'd get an ovation from Frank Sinatra! One time, I did a song called 'I Am A Singer', but I rewrote the words for Frank. I was in tears and, when he got up, so was he.

  

  Irwin Thomas
  • Song
  • Tears
  • Frank Sinatra

• It usually takes me 20 to 90 minutes to write a song because once I start, I don't stop. If I start writing a song, and you try to have a conversation with me, you're a bad person.

  

  Halsey
  • Writing
  • Bad
  • Song

• Sometimes videos make a bad song very tight.

  

  Thebe Neruda Kgositsile
  • Bad
  • Song
  • Sometimes

• I'm ambitious. But if I weren't as talented as I am ambitious, I would be a gross monstrosity.

  

  Madonna Breakfast Club
  • Talent
  • Ambitious
  • Monstrosity

• If the great Government of the United States were a private corporation no bank would take its name on a piece of paper, because it has cynically repudiated the words engraved upon its bonds.

  

  Garet Garrett
  • Great
  • Words
  • Government

• I didn't used to do shows, because I used to be so shy. We'd perform, and I'd be at the back, thinking of another song. I was so shy, I ain't never getting in front of the camera; I would never get on stage.

  

  Young Thug
  • Thinking
  • Song
  • Camera

• Failure is a great teacher and, if you are open to it, every mistake has a lesson to offer.

  

  Oprah Winfrey
  • Great
  • Mistake
  • Failure

• I think once you're in the public eye, whether you're a boss, a teacher or whatever you do, that you're automatically in the position of role model. You have people looking up to you, so whether you choose to accept it or not is a different question.

  

  Talib Kweli Black Star
  • People
  • Up
  • Different

• Nowadays when a person lives somewhere, in a neighborhood, the place is not certified for him. More than likely he will live there sadly and the emptiness which is inside him will expand until it evacuates the entire neighborhood. But if he sees a movie which shows his very neighborhood, it becomes possible for him to live, for a time at least, as a person who is Somewhere and not Anywhere.

  

  Walker Percy
  • Time
  • Live
  • Movie

• I realized that was what was happening in my work already. I think that's where, as artists, we begin to master our craft: when we're able to step back and understand things.

  

  Kalup Linzy
  • Work
  • Thinking
  • Artist

• A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.

  

  Phil Ochs
  • Song
  • Mistake