If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
Neil PeartRead
People say to me, 'Are you still excited when you go on tour?' Should I be excited about leaving my family? No, and no one should. It's as simple as that. If you put aside the fantasy of it, it is what it is and has to be done. And that's fine, and I pour my entire energy and enthusiasm into it, but of course, I'm of two minds about the whole idea.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complex emotions of a performer torn between their passion for touring and the pain of being away from family.
Neil Peart expresses the duality of emotions that come with a musician's life on tour. While he acknowledges the excitement and energy he brings to his performances, he also candidly admits the sadness of leaving his family behind. This tension between professional duty and personal attachment highlights the sacrifices many individuals make for their careers, ultimately validating the notion that life is a balance of joy and sorrow.
Themes
TouringFamilyEmotionSacrificeMusician
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a musician's interview to highlight the emotional struggles of performing on tour.
More from Neil Peart
All quotes →The real test of a musician is live performance. It's one thing to spend a long time learning how to play well in the studio, but to do it in front of people is what keeps me coming back to touring.
Neil PeartRead
Performing live in front of an audience is such a matter of will - all of those things you can do just fine in your basement, suddenly you have to do them in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and it becomes a different matter entirely.
Neil PeartRead
It seems to me that's the only way you can have a truly creative aggregate of people is if they're all contributing in different ways.
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What I've learned over the years is that the craft of songwriting is trying to take the personal and make it universal - or in the case of telling a story, taking the universal and making it personal.
Neil PeartRead
I've heard the stories. Like, Eric Clapton said he wanted to burn his guitar when he heard Jimi Hendrix play. I never understood that because, when I went and saw a great drummer or heard one, all I wanted to do was practice.
Neil PeartRead
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