Benjamin Clementine Quotes

Write your own songs. It helps you to mean what you're singing, which will then make it mean something to listeners.

The songs I write and sing try to say important things with a lightness.

A lyric has to mean something to me, something that has happened to me.

Sure, I love people, and I want to communicate with people. I mean, what is music anyway? It's a form of communication - at least for me it is. And that's why I play the kind of music that I think - that I hope - can communicate with people.

I tend to explain my songs.

In other words, musicians know that going back to the Spoonful, what we were doing was not copying.

My songs are self-explanatory... somebody pointed out to me that... my songs pretty much speak for themselves.

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

Music is about communication... it isn't just something that maybe physically sounds good or orally sounds interesting; it's something far, far deeper than that.

A song is a lot of things. But, first of all, a song is the voice of its time. Setting words to music gives them weight, makes then somehow easier to say, and it helps them to be remembered.

I'm not the type of guy to go so deep with the concept songs, but there's deep thought in everything. Maybe it's not just a repetitive hook telling you what the song is about - you have to use your brain a little bit.

I've always wanted my lyrics to say something meaningful and, you know, you always want to tell a message with your art. So yes, as I continue to write music, I will write about things that are real and things that I feel aren't written about a lot.

The words of the songs speak for themselves.

I love songs that tell stories. They make you feel something, something real.

Once the subject matter of rock n' roll changed from cars and pop love songs to songs about really true love and the blues and death and mortality, this light bulb went off in my head and I went, 'Oh, that's what they're doing. That's kind of - that's art.'

I write to music, and Nina Simone is always on my playlist to write to. I mean, she's inspiring. She's truthful and real and raw.

We don't need another Woody. Even Bob Dylan knew he couldn't be Woody Guthrie... I like Woody Guthrie fine, but I don't need the 50th generation version of it.

I believe in working with songs that have personal value for me.

When Billie Holiday sings a song, I hear the song, but I always hear her and her truth.

This thing that I do with caring about the message in my music, it's not separate from my work as a commercial artist; they're totally one and the same. I'm always going to be thinking about what my voice means.

I am not a person who just wants to be an actor. Do you know what I mean? I am an artist who wants to speak to people through his work: through his vessel.

I make music for people to relate to and to connect with me. I want to tap into different emotions.

I'm far more interested in putting a little more meat into the lyrics than some people are.

Country's more than about what the music sounds like. It's what you're saying and who you are as a person.

I don't know, I've always written songs that are mainly about attitude, not me personally.