One of my realizations is that if you revel over joy, you're going to ache over pain and get killed over hurt. Your span of feelings are going to go just as far one way as the other.
Chuck BerryRead
I directed my music to the teen-agers. I was 30 years old when I did 'Maybellene.' My school days had long been over when I did 'School Day,' but I was thinking of them.
Interpretation
Chuck Berry reflects on how he aimed his music at teenagers even as he aged, recalling his own school experiences.
In this quote, Chuck Berry expresses his connection to the youth culture through his music, highlighting how he created songs that resonated with the experiences of teenagers despite being older than them. Songs like 'Maybellene' and 'School Day' serve as a bridge between his past and the present teenage audience, showcasing the timeless nature of youth and the universal themes of growing up.
In practice
This quote could be cited during a discussion about the influence of nostalgia in music.
One of my realizations is that if you revel over joy, you're going to ache over pain and get killed over hurt. Your span of feelings are going to go just as far one way as the other.
Everything I wrote about wasn't about me, but about the people listening.
Rock is my child and my grandfather.
In the Fifties, there were certain places we couldn't ride on the bus, and now there is a possibility of a black man being in the White House. You have to feel good about it.
Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old.
I wanted to play blues. But I wasn't blue enough. I wasn't like Muddy Waters, people who really had it hard. In our house, we had food on the table. We were doing well compared to many. So I concentrated on this fun and frolic, these novelties.
The blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll.
There's a new hit rock group or singer every five minutes, but with country music, you have one hit and those people love you forever.
I've never thought about songwriting as a weapon. I've only thought about it as a way to help me get through love and loss and sadness and loneliness and growing up.
It's warts and all in my songs, and I think that's why people can relate to them.
I think that music opens portals and doorways into unknown sectors that it takes courage to leap into. I always think that there's a potential that we all have, and we can emerge, rise up to this potential, when necessary. We have to be fearless, courageous, and draw upon wisdom that we think we don't have.
When punk came along, I found my generation's music. I grew up listening to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, 'cause that was what got played in the house. But when I first saw the Stranglers, I thought, 'This is it.'
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