Andrew Bird quotes

Playing the violin and singing and whistling are just three different ways of making sound. (Andrew Bird)
Melodies are just honest. They can only be what they are. Words have the capacity for deception. They're all full of subtext, and some of them are cliche and overused and vernacular. They're tricky. All I can say is, words are tricky. View quote
Andrew Bird
I guess I'm attracted to more archaic words because they can be imbued with more meaning, because their definition is elusive. View quote
Andrew Bird
No, it's not dissatisfaction that inspires me to tinker with my songs, it's just restlessness. View quote
Andrew Bird
Every time I get up in the morning, melodies occur to me and I start trying to shape lyrics to melodies. View quote
Andrew Bird
My favorite literature to read is fairly dry history. I like the framework, and my imagination can do the rest. View quote
Andrew Bird
Music as a social conduit has always been important to me. View quote
Andrew Bird
I still kind of believe this absurd line that if you have to write it down, it's not worth remembering. View quote
Andrew Bird
All the folks I play with come from jazz backgrounds or at least appreciate spontaneity within the parameters of a pop song. View quote
Andrew Bird
I am, in some sense, a writer. Even though I kinda downplay the word thing, I do enjoy writing sometimes. View quote
Andrew Bird
I think when I was pretty young I got really into the tone of my instrument and I remember just playing one note for an hour to just kind of feel the resonance of the violin. (Andrew Bird)
A good espresso to me is a little bit salty; you just become used to a good taste. Anytime I go into a new place and they don't clean their machine properly or the water temperature isn't right, it tastes awful. View quote
Andrew Bird
A day off after a show with no agenda in a foreign city is about the most fertile creative situation I can imagine. Just walking with nothing to do, killing time and hearing the sights and sounds of an unfamiliar place. View quote
Andrew Bird
Well, my main instrument is violin, but I think of myself as a songwriter who happens to play violin. View quote
Andrew Bird
Guitars are kind of just, you know, sexy, especially old vintage ones. View quote
Andrew Bird
Honestly, I didn't have the patience for biology or history in an academic sense, but I always liked the kind of big questions. View quote
Andrew Bird
I write a lot more when I'm happy, because you're hopeful, you're motivated. View quote
Andrew Bird
The first notes I still play when I start a sound check are classical. Those are my roots. View quote
Andrew Bird
There is something comforting about going into a practice room, putting your sheet music on a stand and playing Bach over and over again. View quote
Andrew Bird
What's cool about indie rock is that one band can do effectively the same thing as another band, and one band nails it, and the other one doesn't. I like that elusiveness. View quote
Andrew Bird
I've always found that whatever you say about indie rock, it is the most inclusive genre or title for anything. It doesn't pin you down too much, like other labels would. It's just newer, it has less baggage. (Andrew Bird)
I've always been fascinated and stared at maps for hours as a kid. I've especially been most intrigued by the uninhabited or lonelier places on the planet. Like Greenland, for instance, or just recently flying over Alaska and a chain of icy, mountainous islands, uninhabited. View quote
Andrew Bird
You travel with the hope that something unexpected will happen. It has to do with enjoying being lost and figuring it out and the satisfaction. I always get a little disappointed when I know too well where I'm going, or when I've lived in a place so long that there's no chance I could possibly get lost. View quote
Andrew Bird
The idea of writing songs because you're depressed and you need to communicate it somehow, that isn't really true for me. View quote
Andrew Bird
The problem is, when you're working with orchestras, you only get the orchestra for about two hours before the performance to pull it all together, and that doesn't sound like a real collaboration. View quote
Andrew Bird