Hank Williams Quotes

I don't sing to people. I sing for them. I told that once to Elvis Presley. He bought it. After that Elvis sang not to but for the audience. A subtle difference.

People often complain that music is too ambiguous, that what they should think when they hear it is so unclear, whereas everyone understands words. With me, it is exactly the opposite, and not only with regard to an entire speech but also with individual words.

We had something to say. Whenever we played, people didn't dance, they listened.

If we communicated with something like music, we would never be misunderstood, because there is nothing in music to understand.

I just play to good people; they seem to like what I do, and the more they like it, the more I play.

I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to study that. And he must find out in which station of life of Beethoven he did.

Is it not the business of the conductor to convey to the public in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition; and how can he convey that idea successfully if he does not enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolds?

People just love to be entertained, and in order to entertain them, you have to do things in a way that they understand.

In chamber music, the audience can hear each instrument and understand (and feel) what the composer and the musicians have in mind as they play.

I do love to sing. Had I a longer set of thigh bones and a sweeter voice, I should have loved to be a performer.

How does my music connect to an audience? That is just a complete mystery to me.

Making noise is easy; making stuff people understand is an easy thing to do.

The thing I do, really, is a communication with audiences more than any achievement through records.

The great musicians are those who can reach people, who can make people feel something.

As a singer, the biggest joy I have are the arrangements.

You must be loud but you must also be understandable. There’s no point in being loud if you can’t be understood.

My basic rule is to speak slowly and simply so that my audience has an opportunity to follow and think about what I am saying.

We can play all we want, but if nobody's there, if nobody feels anything with what we're playing, then what's the purpose?

If people respond to the songs, whether they love you or hate you, then you've really done your job. You've evoked something.

I don't know what really makes a great musical or not. In the end, you write it, and you write it because you want to write it.

I don't know how to get a crowd singing along. That's not what my music does.

When we were younger, playing a bar or a club, we did what we did to get as many people to like what we were doing. I wanted the person in the back of the room to like it as much as the ones in the front. That's how I've always looked at it.

I really like conducting my music in concerts because I'm convinced it's not just for films; it has its own life. It can live far away from the images of the movie.

If you watch me for a long time, you'll really understand and appreciate the way I play.

During 'Torches,' I was more concerned with communicating the spirit of the song than the actual lyrics.