John Cale Quotes & Sayings

I missed out on my teenage years. I led a sheltered life. I was practicing scales instead of playing football. — John Cale

I learn from thinking about the future, what hasn't been done yet. That's kind of my constant obsession. — John Cale

In cities like New York and Austin, there's much more of a social context for music than in other places. — John Cale

I never use the word, it's loaded. What love means to me is need. — John Cale

If you're all loaded up on love, you haven't got anywhere else to go. — John Cale

In the studio you have pretty much carte blanche with whatever you're doing. You can turn natural instruments into electronic instruments. — John Cale

I'm content with making records, but I don't want to be doing the same thing all the time. — John Cale

I'm impatient. I get twitchy. When I get that feeling I just go out and make something happen. — John Cale

What I enjoy most about being on stage is that the natural instruments give you a greater freedom with texture. When you use natural instruments they have their own resonance. — John Cale

I want to get lean and mean, keep it minimalist. — John Cale

Growing up in Wales was a pretty Draconian experience with religion. — John Cale

The avant-garde makes more sense to me. — John Cale

Even if you're improvising, the fact that beforehand you know certain things will work helps you make those improvisations successful. It really helps to have a certain amount of knowledge about musical structure. — John Cale

The value of having a computer, to me, is that it'll remember everything you do. It's a databank. — John Cale

Everyone should be encouraged ... in spiration and artistic freedom is the cornerstone of rock and roll. — John Cale

It would be a stronger world, a stronger, loving world, to die in. — John Cale

I'm writing a movie about Mozart going to New York in the '60s. I've been reading so many novels. — John Cale

I like what the future holds. I don't like thinking about the past. — John Cale

We'd hold a chord for three hours if we could. — John Cale

Time plays a role in almost every decision. And some decisions define your attitude about time. — John Cale

All of the sudden the audiences started getting younger and the spread of the attendance was really wide. I think it's as a result of the records selling more that they started following our careers. — John Cale

I am a ham. I've no business being rock 'n' roll. I've said it over and over again that I'm a classical composer, dishevelling my personality by dabbling in rock 'n' roll. — John Cale

That's what my life is, writing songs. — John Cale

When somebody grabs a movement, you're kind of locked into it. It's all par for the course. — John Cale

I like it here in New York. I like the idea of having to keep eyes in the back of your head all the time. — John Cale

We gave up on the idea of trying to make the record a good representation of the live performance. — John Cale

The only reason we wore sunglasses onstage was because we couldn't stand the sight of the audience. — John Cale

People sort of know me for that solo piano music I did. — John Cale

If I'm interested in what I'm doing, other people will be interested in it. — John Cale