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Life is passing you by as you speak, you're on a path and you're all on the same path toward death.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
When you're a writer, you know that a lot of times you have to sneak up on yourself in order to achieve what you want to achieve, and sometimes you don't even know what it is until you've done it.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene
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We don't have T-shirts with my face, but there I can see the beginnings, especially young girls seeing me as sort of a icon in that way. And in that regard I'm more than happy to step in.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I like the idea that you would participate in mainstream culture, especially for young girls and young kids who are looking for an alternative. It's not that I'm superior, but I know that my heart is in it more than people who get into music for other reasons.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I think that every band is different, and in fact that's one of the biggest problems with the old-school music industry is that... one band would be successful according to a certain approach, and then every other band in the label gets sent down the same tube.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I have an identity crisis which is not resolved because I'm a dual citizen. My whole family is American, and I was born in India but I was raised in Canada. But all my extended family is American, I've held an American passport and I've spent my whole adult life in between New York and LA. So I feel like an American... and I also feel like a Canadian! I wish more people were dual citizens and then I wouldn't feel like such a freak.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I mean that's really depressing man. Of course, the kids are freaking out. They watch cartoons and sit in front of the television and their parents are just probably yuppies who focus their entire lives around the child. The child has no sense of context, no sense of what world they are inhabiting-just like this Disnified bag of Cheerios reality. Don't give them a @#$%& pill! God! Take them out on a canoe already! You know what I mean?
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
Lots of people take the option of not activating their own life, of really letting it happen.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene
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But its crazy - like ten percent a year increase of children taking fucking anti-depressants. Pre-schoolers are like, the most prescribed. That makes me so mad!
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
The complete self-absorption, and childish indulgence and disregard, and having to feel as though everything you're doing is so people can live vicariously through you, so you have to pursue more and more unpleasant pastimes in order to satisfy the armchair people. That's a kind of scary existence.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
For as long as I can remember, I have written songs because I wanted to, because I was experiencing something that couldn't be described except through a sound.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I see how 14-year old girls react to me and I think I'm a good role model. Rockstar maybe not, but I'm willing to play with it for a little while, until my hair gets gray.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
In Canada there's an extensive grant system that really allows people to make their work without having to suffer that much, and I'm staring to come around on that, that maybe people don't have to suffer. Maybe you can just not be unhappy and make beautiful music in Canada, maybe that's ok.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
In my imaginary utopian world there would be a greater allegiance between music writers and musicians.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene
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Of course there are influences, of course there are things that are inspiring, but it's weird to think that I'm trying to keep a mental inventory of them and report them clearly to whomever might ask.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
The architecture of the song, if it's built properly, can withstand all kinds of things.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I think every musician is different, every artist is different, and in a perfect world people would be able to pursue their own path and have the inspiration and the drive to, and the energy and dedication to take their path to its fruition. I don't really believe in formulas.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
Sometimes it's better to live through someone's work than the person themselves, and to realise that every human being is flawed, but through art they can be perfect.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I just write what comes to me. I didn't sit down and say ok, here is my statement. It's just a song that has a shout out.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I like the idea of interviews where you just talk about stuff instead of where it's my chance to talk to my public through something else.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene
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It's very hard to separate what is a conscious decision and what's not.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
I do like touring but my life sort of starts to fall apart under it after a certain point. So you just have to stop. And it's hard to.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
Being alive and understanding that and making the decision to actually live take a lot of courage.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene -
This is the thing I've noticed is that the greater the distance between you and any ordinary task is the measurement of how much rockstar potential you have.
Emily Haines Broken Social Scene