Benjamin Clementine Quotes
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When I lived in Paris, I would shop at antique shops and buy these huge coats because I was very cold. And then I started performing in them because I felt safe. I never stopped doing that.
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Because I didn't think anyone would actually listen to my music, I thought I could say whatever I wanted.
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I believe when the music is being sung or being played, at the end of it, there's some sort of grace and understanding. And that's all I want for humanity. I just want us to understand each other. That's the point of my music.
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I just want us to understand each other. That's the point of my music.
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Life is life. You have to learn how to forgive people and how to gain forgiveness for yourself.
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The greatest in heroes in life are the anonymous. That's what I believe. Your neighbours are heroes. People who, when you walk down the street, you see them feeding their little baby - these people are heroes because they are living under difficult situations, but they're still trying to save a life.
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Music is the reason I started talking to people. When I started singing in bars and trains, I began to learn the behaviour of people. Music was the bait that helped me get something from them and give myself to them.
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I know, deep down, that what makes my music what it is are my words. It always starts from me wanting to say something. Once I've run out of things to say, I'll be done.
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I've learned in the little bit of my life so far that you can't fool people. And so I only tell people what I think about: my ambitions, my dreams, what inspires me.
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Where you're from shapes you, but you can actually do whatever you want.
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Studying music involves a lot of mathematics and a lot of exercises of memory. Or you've got to be able to be like somebody, to play like somebody, to play Mozart's music the way he played it and how he intended it. You've got to make it perfect, and that's not what I want to do. Although it is beautiful.
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I grew up as a man because I was by myself.
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Poetry itself is music. I'm just lucky that I can convert it into music. William Blake is my favorite poet of all time, and he said that he wasn't quite familiar with the sounds of music. If so, he would have been a musician. All of his poems are all like songs, and that's how I always try to start my thoughts.
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If you live in central London, that's probably fine for you, but in places like Edmonton, where you're almost out of sight of London, you've got to pay more and more to get into central London. How does that work?
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I found it quite pleasing to be alone from a very young age. The piano became my source of release.
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It's amazing how people believe you if you use long words.
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I adopted this feeling that the stage is my home, so just keep my coat on and not wear anything else.
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Music isn't a competition.
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Where I'm staying, near Lafayette Street, Bowery, and Houston, you get different people with different spirits, and that's what I like.
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I always see my music for its rewards rather than its awards. But I always thought if there was one award I'd want to win, it would be the Mercury.
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I just wanted to eat, to survive. I started singing a cappella in bars. I saved up money to get my first guitar and started writing songs.
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The day has the color and the sound of winter. Thoughts turn to chowder...chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation.
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I realised that we're all equal - it's all about helping each other.
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My music isn't mainstream music.