quotes

quotes from suede about life and music

• "Music is the universal language. Good music is good music." - Brett
• "I think the people who get the most messed up by fame are the ones who, maybe, didn't want it in the first place, or who weren't prepared for it and didn't know what the consequences would be." - Brett
• "Stupidity is really important - to have this blind confidence based on absolutely nothing about yourself at all. You merely say 'I'm gonna go through life like a bull in a china shop,' and you keep getting better at being a bull in a china shop. You just do it. That's what it's all about - just doing it and not thinking too hard about it." - Brett
• "People say nothing can be said anymore. People say that everything's been said. How defeatist is that? Art is an expression of humanity and, just because people have been saying the same things for two thousand years doesn't rob those things of their potency. You can't just give up on it. There's always different ways of saying the same things. There's always emotion. Intensity's still there." - Brett
• "You can either say, 'Well, the world around me is blank, so I'll just give into the logic of it all - y'know, theoretically life is blank so let it be blank' - which is what everyone seems to be doing, just giving in. Or you can take a gigantic leap of faith and say, 'I don't believe that, I believe life can be fascinating, extraordinary and absurd.' And, if you take that leap of faith and believe it, you can change your life. You shouldn't be scared to do it. Take the risk. That's what we're doing in a way, taking that risk." - Mat
• "I've always been attracted to people who actually think of themselves as stars, people who actually treat life like a film or a book." - Brett
• "You've got to be honest about who you are - I could ponce around in Versace, but I like secondhand clothes, old suits." - Brett
• "There's a lot of people who have sold 60 million records who you see 50 times a day who don't have the faintest star quality to them, and then there's a lot of people working gas stations, they just have that aura around them? They just make things happen out of everyday life." - Brett
• Brett explains how The 2 of Us along with Still Life - was written from the point of view of suburban housewives: "I wanted to write about them, ask for attention to be paid to them. Because there's probably not much going on in their lives. They're tragic people. Maybe even the least glamorous creatures on earth. I feel connected to them in a sense that I had a pretty useless life, and wanted to get out of that with all my strength. Tradition teaches us that the most brilliant artists always rise from poor, desolate surroundings. Because they, more than anyone, have the will to be creative, do something with their lives. That struggle results in great art."
• "The whole build-'em-up, knock-'em-down thing in Britain - everyone knows about it, it's a shitty thing that happens, but the one good thing you can say about it is, if you survive its difficult machinery, actually avoid the knives and daggers that are thrown at you, it actually makes you stronger. And I'm a strong believer in the power of change - the band, in its previous life, had gone as far as it could. I think it just changed naturally, and I'm glad it has." - Brett
• "There's a lot of shit going on, a lot of sadness in the world, and to actually get something out of it, I think, is the key to life. So trying to find a community within a fucked up world is quite a goal for me. Lots of the songs are about other people, because I find the warmth of other people quite a commendable thing to strive for." - Brett
• "When all your worldly possessions are gathered up in black bin-liners and you've faded away to some nursing home - having inspired people, and made people fall in love with songs you've written, it's a really worthwhile thing to do." - Brett
• "I've never seen the point of cover version. If a song's really good, you leave well alone, and if it's really bad - you leave well alone. Why spend ten hours re-recording someone else's stuff when you could write one of your own? It's all to do with having a bit of confidence." - Mat
• "I find it amazing that people get so attached to someone they never knew. She really didn't mean anything to me personally. She did a lot of good things and she had a positive frame of mind about life, and she probably made quite a lot of changes, but I don't think it justifies all that grief. It was like everyone had gone mad. It was bewildering." - Brett on Princess Diana's death
• "We always liked bands that were central to people, rather than just another purchase, like 'Should I buy a pair of shoes or a record?' We want to be the kind of band that people save their pennies for." - Brett