The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I'll keep playing until I feel like I can't.
B. B. KingRead
If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you're going to the bank to borrow money.
Interpretation
What this quote means
To succeed in the blues music scene, one must be prepared for criticism and embrace a confident appearance.
B. B. King's quote highlights the dual challenges faced by blues singers: the societal judgment they may experience and the importance of maintaining a strong, confident demeanor despite it. The metaphor of dressing like you are appealing for a loan suggests that one should present themselves with a level of seriousness and intention, reflecting the gravity of their art in the face of skepticism.
Themes
BluesMusicConfidenceJudgmentArtistic Expression
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote during a music workshop discussing the emotional challenges of performing.
More from B. B. King
All quotes βEverything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do and then just go for it. I never know what the public's going to like, anyway.
B. B. KingRead
A guitar is like an old friend that is there with me.
B. B. KingRead
I have not been a good father, but no father has loved his children more. Like my father, I decided the best thing I could do for my kids was work and provide. Fortunately, I've been able to do that. Unfortunately, my work was on the road, and that's meant a life of one-nighters.
B. B. KingRead
People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.
B. B. KingRead
When people treat you mean, you dislike them for that, but not because of their person, who they are. I was born and raised in a segregated society, but when I left there, I had nobody I disliked other than the people that'd mistreated me, and that only lasted for as long as they were mistreating me.
B. B. KingRead
Similar quotes
There are places where writing is acting and acting is writing. I'm not so interested in the divisions. I'm interested in the way things cross over.
Sam ShepardRead
The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.
Jean CocteauRead
A writer's job is to give the reader a larger vision of the world.
Natalie GoldbergRead
What does one prefer? An art that struggles to change the social contract, but fails? Or one that seeks to please and amuse, and succeeds?
Robert HughesRead
With Bound, we wanted to pull at conventions, because you begin to wonder, Why do these stereotypes exist? Where do they come from? You use that as the subtext.
Lana WachowskiRead
The painter must enclose himself within his work; he must respond not with words, but with paintings.
Paul CezanneRead