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Quote by Tom Verlaine

“Style to me is incidental. The British are very adept at creating it for its own sake, but the best style is incidental. John Coltrane had a style but it was totally incidental to what he was.”

Quote by Tom Verlaine

Author

Tom Verlaine, born on December 13, 1949, is an American singer-songwriter known for his unique musical style and innovative lyrics. He is considered a pioneer of post-punk and new wave music. more

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“In Old English they don't say I had a dream, but there's another usage of the word - "life is but a dream," to be corny about it. It's implied with eyes wide open, rather than asleep. But I'm not a philosopher to explain myself. I wish I could. Maybe that's why I'm a musician.”

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“You can't get so interested in just making sounds. The point of it all is some kind of expression.”

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“I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.”

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“I like thinking of myself as invisible. I find it a very advantageous way to live.”

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“With my records, it's just a matter of trying to create something fresh for myself in a very finite context, which is the pop song. I don't know anything about the people who buy my records, and what, if anything, they get out of them.”

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“When I think of 'influence', I think of 'influenza', like somebody's picked up a germ.”

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“I always thought I was commercial. I always thought I was writing hit singles. These days, whatever's on the radio is considered commercial. People like what's on the radio, whatever it is.”

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“The whole reputation of being a rock guitar player, I could really care less about it. Still, when I hear new groups today I do occasionally hear something where I think... ahh, I've heard that lick before.”

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“However great an evil immorality may be, we must not forget that it is not without its beneficial consequences. It is only through extremes that men can arrive at the middle path of wisdom and virtue.”

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“I can't remember ever being really bored. I find life very interesting, actually. I think some other musicians are always looking for something to give them an idea, but I find I have to reject 90 percent of my ideas because they don't live up to some self-imposed standard. That's also why I don't make a record once a year. I throw so many things out, and I have to have something to say.”

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