Shawn Colvin Quotations

Music is a healing force. That's what good art is. That's what art is. I shouldn't say 'good' because that's an entirely personal call. It's magic, ... What is music? Where does it come from? We have the ability to take these instruments and voices and make these notes with them and do these things with them. What the heck is that? It's magic. It does what nothing else can do.

I think when you have a record that makes money, there's pressure, sure, ... The label wanted another big seller, and I did, too.

I think that the indefinable space between happy and sad is the most moving and compelling place for an artist to be. If there's anything I consistently strive for, it's a melancholy limbo.

I told her we're not as proud of that in public as we are at home. She looked around and said it's OK because everyone there was Chinese. I guess, in her mind, she farted in English.

I have yet to have a successful outcome of sitting in a room with someone and trying to write a song. The way that I generally co-write is that someone else writes the music or part of the music.

I dont like doing whats expected. Ive always done best when Ive listened to my instincts rather than following convention or doing what other people think I should do.

John Floridis was very inspiring. He plays so well.

I consider myself as a singer first, but something that really helped me come into my own is that there's not a separation between me singing and me playing the guitar. The two fed off the other.

What's great about art is that if you can reach people, if they hear or see what you do and it moves them, there's a commonality.

There were bars that began to have acoustic musicians play, it was 1970: Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, America, The Eagles, all that kind of stuff was popular. It was very easy for me to just kind of move in and be noticed.

Cynicism is tough. A cynic's point of view is really pitiful. I derive pleasure out of a lot of things in life. As long as I'm fairly healthy, it's hard to stay dismal for very long.

One of the dumber things my manager said was, Stick to the melody. But I can't.

This world's a blessing and a beast everyday.

Give me some credit for the hell I've paid.

You say in life, mistakes are many. How come you never admit to any?

And I never saw blue like that before across the sky around the world

The past is stronger than my will to forgive forgive you, or myself, I don't know.

Physically, I'm healthy as a horse, always held up. But in the mental illness department, I got my share. It's just what I got.

Without music, I could not get through.

The less you know, the more I comprehend. You don't have to drag me down, I descend.

I think the thing that has made it possible for me to write personal songs and sing them year after year is the sensibility for good writing. Just opening your veins all over the paper is not necessarily going to be interesting. I wanted to speak to people.