Ric Ocasek Quotes
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I often write songs, and when I do, I usually write quite a few of them. I really have to be in the mood.
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I've always been a fan of poetry. I grew up with Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Beat poets. I really followed that stuff for a while. I just love the way people threw words around like they were painting.
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People tell me all the time that I look forbidding or aloof. That doesn't bother me much - I am fairly private, withdrawn, and... distant, I guess. But, um, I think that's okay.
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I could never be a country person, sitting around trees trying to write a song. I would rather be in the middle of society, whether it's growing or crumbling.
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There's more to light than the opposite of dark.
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The creative part for me is making songs, and that's what I really love the most, and that's what I've always done for every band I've ever had.
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Never mind a world that can't see past brutality.
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I've never been on a water slide in my life.
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I've been in a band, so I understand the politics. Sometimes the bass player doesn't like what the guitar player is doing, and you have to sort of even that out.
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As a songwriter, oddly enough, my influences were people like Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Buddy Holly. Some psychedelic stuff, too.
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People are strange. We're all morticians. Hey, what's on TV?
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People sometimes say that bands sound like The Cars, but when I hear it I don't know if they do or not.
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I didn't feel like gymnastics were part of The Cars. I certainly philosophically didn't want to prod the audience to react to anything. To me, it was more like negative theater. We didn't really talk to the audience. I didn't see that being a part of this band.
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They're caught where there's no way out or where you can't see out. What are you going to do about it? I don't have the answer. If I did there would be no insane asylums.
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There are a lot of bands that have a huge appeal, but I don't understand why. Guns n' Roses. U2. But you know, that's just my thing. Music is pretty personal.
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I love walking down the street and seeing faces and drama and happiness and sadness and dirt and cleanliness.
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Sometimes you want to run away, sometimes you think you do, but you never had a dream like this before and you don't want to ask for more, sometimes you leave a mark before you know the score.
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Once they're on paper, they're gone. I like to do as much with the words, as far as image goes.
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When I produce other people, that's the thing I can do well because I've been in a band, and I can play the political game and make everybody feel happy, and I can check their performances, and I can work on the sound while they're being a band.
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Your high points and your low points. High points don't last that long, it's a high and it happens. It's great at the moment but you really can't live on it.
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The most important thing to a lot of people, is to belong to something that's hip or whatever. To be a part of something that's not society, just a clique.
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I think bands, when they're on the road, they keep their sanity by developing an internal sense of humor.
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Refusing to ask for help when you need it is refusing someone the chance to be helpful.
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I don't think I'm an entertainer. I never think, 'Wow, I can't wait to get the crowd moving.' Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch.