It's a folk singer's job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people
Woody GuthrieRead
A song ain't nothing but a conversation fixed up to where you can talk it over and over without getting tired of it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A song is like a structured conversation that can be revisited repeatedly.
Woody Guthrie captures the essence of songwriting by likening it to a conversation that is crafted in such a way that it remains engaging and allows for multiple interpretations. This perspective emphasizes the artistic nature of songs as forms of expression that can convey emotions and stories that resonate on a deeper level over time.
Themes
SongConversationMusicExpressionArtistry
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the power of music at a local event.
More from Woody Guthrie
All quotes βA folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be _x000D_ who's hungry and where their mouth is or _x000D_ who's out of work and where the job is or _x000D_ who's broke and where the money is or _x000D_ who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.
Woody GuthrieRead
The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.
Woody GuthrieRead
Nobody living can ever stop me. As I go walking my freedom highway. Nobody living can make me turn back. This land was made for you and me.
Woody GuthrieRead
It's round the world I've traveled; it's round the world I've roamed; but I've yet to see an outlaw drive a family from its home
Woody GuthrieRead
I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that.
Woody GuthrieRead
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You know, I would say that songwriting is something about the expression of the heart, the intellect and the soul.
Annie LennoxRead
I hope my recordings of my own works won't inhibit other people's performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn't always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.
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