Ray Charles Quotes & Sayings

I'd like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I've gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying a word about it. — Ray Charles

Other arms reach out to me, Other eyes smile tenderly, Still in peaceful dreams I see, The road leads back to you. — Ray Charles

I was born with music inside me — Ray Charles

I sing what I sing true. Each night I sing it the way I feel that night. — Ray Charles

Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate — Ray Charles

Music is about the only thing left that people don't fight over. — Ray Charles

You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit - just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can. — Ray Charles

My version of 'Georgia' became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching. — Ray Charles

Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming. — Ray Charles

There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities. — Ray Charles

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory. — Ray Charles

Don't go backwards - you've already been there. — Ray Charles

I am very into lyrics. I start with what the words are saying, what the storyline is saying, like a good script. It should really capture me, do something for me. If I don't get it, it's not going to move people, and if it's not going to move people, it's not going to happen. — Ray Charles

It's like Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good. — Ray Charles

I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day. — Ray Charles

Women anchor me. They're there when I need them. They're sensitive to me, and I'm sensitive to them. I'm not saying I've loved that many women. — Ray Charles

I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of — Ray Charles

There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment. — Ray Charles

Mama was a country woman with a whole lot of common sense. She understood what most of our neighbors didn't - that I shouldn't grow dependent on anyone except myself. 'One of these days, I ain't gonna be here,' she kept hammering inside my head. — Ray Charles

I don't know about other writers, but for myself, to write I must be relatively quiet - it's very difficult to write with the telephone and the doorbell ringing and conversation going on; I'm not that good a writer to write through all that! — Ray Charles

Before I begin, let me say right here and now that I'm a country boy. And, man, I mean the real backwoods! That's at the start of the start of the thing, and that's at the heart of the thing. — Ray Charles

Learning to read music in Braille & play by ear helped me develop a [very] good memory. — Ray Charles

People couldn't understand why my mama would have this blind kid out doing things like cutting wood for the fire. But her thing was: He may be blind, but he ain't stupid. — Ray Charles

I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am. — Ray Charles

Music to me is like breathing. I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tired of music. — Ray Charles

I've always been the kind of person who, if there's anything that can kill me, I want to know something about it. — Ray Charles

I set my own rhythm and it was usually a little faster than other people's. — Ray Charles

Now Listen You know I work so hard, all day long Everything I try to do, Seem to always turn out wrong That's why I wanna stop by on my way home and say Let's go get stoned — Ray Charles

My mom taught me a lot. A lot about minding your own business and leaving other people's business alone. And let them think what they want. — Ray Charles

I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style requires pure heart singing. — Ray Charles

I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. — Ray Charles

Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes. — Ray Charles

I know it sounds strange - a blind teenager buzzin' round on a motorcycle - but I liked that; that was me. I had always been nervy, and I always had a lot of faith in my ability not to break my neck. — Ray Charles

I suppose I've always done my share of crying, especially when there's no other way to contain my feelings. I know that men ain't supposed to cry, but I think that's wrong. Crying's always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling, and feeling is being human. Oh yes, I cry. — Ray Charles

Even though I'm not Jewish ... Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting. — Ray Charles

Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me. — Ray Charles

To me, music is entertainment - what else can it be? In fact, it's the only language I know of that's universal. — Ray Charles

When I'm having a rehearsal and there are new guys who come in to try out for the job, I always let my conductor rehearse them. Because I don't want the guy to get bent out of shape, because I walk in. — Ray Charles

I'm not a jazz singer, blues singer or country singer. I'm a singer that can sing rhythm & blues, that can sing jazz, that can sing country. There's a big difference. In other words, I'm not a specialist. — Ray Charles

Nowadays they say you need a special chip to put in the TV so kids can't watch this and that. In my day, we didn't need a chip. My mom was the chip. End of story. — Ray Charles

I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear. — Ray Charles

The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done. — Ray Charles

I don't think any of us really knows why we're here. But I think we're supposed to believe we're here for a purpose. — Ray Charles

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man. — Ray Charles

If somebody don't like something that I do, that's his or her prerogative. Just like it's mine. — Ray Charles

Goodbye don't mean gone. — Ray Charles

Any artist, when he goes in to record, should have the feeling that any song he records can be a hit. This may sound egotistical, but it makes sense. — Ray Charles

The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it. — Ray Charles

Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy. — Ray Charles

Do it right or don't do it at all. That comes from my mom. If there's something I want to do, I'm one of those people that won't be satisfied until I get it done. If I'm trying to sing something and I can't get it, I'm going to keep at it until I get where I want it. — Ray Charles

My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil. — Ray Charles

I think that most great artists who are extremely known, as I am, would intimidate a lot of people. I don't want to do that to people, but I know I do. — Ray Charles

Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn't carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn't play the piano. — Ray Charles

Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice. — Ray Charles

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water. — Ray Charles

Rhythm and blues used to be called race music ... This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to it. — Ray Charles

If you can play the blues, you can do anything. — Ray Charles

I always stay out of the rehearsal room you know when they first come in. Then once they had chance to play a little bit, then I walk in. Because I've seen guys fall apart. — Ray Charles

Music is nothing separate from me. It is me ... You'd have to remove the music surgically. — Ray Charles

The role of the designer is basically that of a good host, anticipating the needs of the guest. — Ray Charles

I never wanted to be famous; I only wanted to be great. — Ray Charles

What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room. — Ray Charles

I really feel that if you're gonna be good, you gotta practice ... Practice whatever the hell you do. — Ray Charles

You ask me what I'd like to do that I haven't done and I say 'Nothin'!' I haven't any mountains to climb or oceans to swim. I've been an extremely blessed individual ... I'm not clamorin' for more trinkets. If I were to die tomorrow, I could say I've had a good life. — Ray Charles

I had to pawn my clothes just to pay my rent. — Ray Charles

I used to sing like Nat King Cole. I mean he was the guy when I was comin' up, and you know, man, people used to say of me, "Damn, he sure do sound like Nat King Cole." But there was a day, and luckily for me it was early, when I woke up and asked myself, "Well, when are the ask me to sing because I sound like me?" So my advice is, never do anything that you don't like. — Ray Charles

I never said I was a genius. I never said I was a cornerstone. I've never said I'm a legend in my own time. You never heard me say nothing like that. — Ray Charles

Affluence separates people. Poverty knits 'em together. You got some sugar and I don't; I borrow some of yours. Next month you might not have any flour; well, I'll give you some of mine. — Ray Charles

Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap. — Ray Charles

Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal. — Ray Charles

When I was going blind, I didn't turn to God. It didn't seem to me then - and it doesn't seem to me now - that those items were His concern. Early on, I figured I better begin to learn how to count on myself, instead of counting on supernatural forces. — Ray Charles

There's nothing written in the Bible, Old or New testament, that says, 'If you believe in Me, you ain't going to have no troubles.' — Ray Charles

Drunken talk isn't meant to be printed in the paper. — Ray Charles

I don't sing a song unless I feel it. The song don't tug at my heart, I pass on it. I have to believe in what I'm doing. — Ray Charles

All my life I've always been so blue, born to lose, and now I'm losing you. — Ray Charles

Crying's always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling, and feeling is being human. — Ray Charles

Sighted people, you gotta deal with them. — Ray Charles

I cant retire from music any more than I can retire from my liver. Youd have to remove the music from me surgically - like you were taking out my appendix. — Ray Charles

I heard someone say that all black people got rhythm. Bullshit. — Ray Charles

I did it to myself. It wasn't society ... it wasn't a pusher, it wasn't being blind or being black or being poor. It was all my doing. — Ray Charles

Music is powerful. As people listen to it, they can be affected. They respond. — Ray Charles

Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor. — Ray Charles

I'm a firm believer in God himself, but that's as far as I can go. I'm not any denomination. I'm not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I'm none of those things. And I'm sure that's just fine with God. — Ray Charles

Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more. — Ray Charles

With singing, the name of the game is to make yourself believable. When somebody hears you sing a song, and they say, 'Oh, that must have happened to him,' that's when you know you're transmitting. It's like being a good actor. You make people feel things, emotions and what not. — Ray Charles

When I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it. — Ray Charles

I met Quincy Jones in Seattle. We were kids together ... liked each other when we met and have been close ever since. He wasn't writing when we met - in fact, I more or less started him off to write; voicing, harmony, and stuff like that. — Ray Charles

Live each day like it's your last, 'cause one day you gonna be right — Ray Charles

The words to country songs are very earthy like the blues. They're not as dressed up and the people are very honest and say, 'Look, I miss you darlin', so I went out and got drunk in this bar.' That's the way you say it. Where in Tin Pan Alley they would say, 'Oh I missed you darling, so I went to this restaurant and I sat down and had a dinner for one.' That's cleaned up now, you see? But country and blues tells it like it is. — Ray Charles

Art Tatum
he was a genius. And Einstein, not me. — Ray Charles

I'm not into the money thing. You can only sleep in one bed at a time. You can only eat one meal at a time, or be in one car at a time. So I don't have to have millions of dollars to be happy. All I need are clothes on my back, a decent meal, and a little loving when I feel like it. That's the bottom line. — Ray Charles