Franti Quotes & Sayings

Bonnaroo has kind of become the granddaddy of all American festivals. The thing I love about it most is that it wasn't born out of picking the top ten bands off the Billboard chart and creating a festival around it. — Michael Franti

Those who start wars never fight them, and those who fight wars never like them. — Michael Franti

It was hard for me, as a father, to imagine going through what my birth mom went through, to raise a child inside of her for nine months, and then have to say goodbye. And so it's hard for me to understand that pain and that process. — Michael Franti

Don't let mistakes be so monumental, don't let your love be so confidential, don't let your mind be so darn judgemental, and please let your heart be more influential. Be thankful for all that the spirit provides and be thankful for all that you see without eyes. — Michael Franti

I've been in those relationships. You go through years of your life and at a certain point you wake up and you go, god, what am I doing here? What have I spent the last three years doing? Part of it is learning, this process you've gotta go through. You have to recognize the point at which you're not learning anymore, and be able to let it go. — Michael Franti

Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. — Michael Franti

I try to use the attention that I get to help and to serve, and that's really what I'd see as my work - to serve my community, serve the planet, serve my family. And I think a celebrity is someone who draws the attention on themselves, and then it kind of stops there. — Michael Franti

It's also hard for me to understand growing up not knowing where I came from. I searched for my parents - I started when I was twenty; I found both my mother and my father when I was twenty-two. Trying to catch up on twenty-two years that we can never get back, trying to reconcile that - that's a hard thing for me. — Michael Franti

I've always wanted to be a communicator of ideas through music. Today, I wanna be the most effective musical communicator of social change I could be, so I try to find different ways to do it and I'm always challenging myself to find new things, learn new instruments. But I always try to find in my heart, what it is I really want to say with words. — Michael Franti

I believe that through positive thoughts, speech, action and attitudes, we change things for the better. — Michael Franti

I think right now is when we need to hear different voices coming out of all parts of the world. You can't just hear the politicians and the military leaders. You have to hear from the taxi drivers. You have to hear from the painters. You have to hear from the poets. You have to hear from the school teachers and the filmmakers and musicians. — Michael Franti

Everybody's opinion is equally valid, and I feel like everybody should have an opportunity to speak out, and everyone should have the courage to speak out. — Michael Franti

My parents said sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you. But I always felt a sense of exhilaration after a fight; it was the names that really hurt me. — Michael Franti

People underestimate the hip-hop audience and the capacity to understand politics when it's part of music. — Michael Franti

Johnny Cash was a rebel, not only just in the musical sense, but he was somebody who was for the people, and an advocate for labor, for workers, for prisoners, people who have been trapped by the criminal justice system. — Michael Franti

The corporate media is there to push the agenda of the sponsors, and many of those sponsors are weapons manufacturers. So it stands to reason that you won't get a diversity of opinions on television. — Michael Franti

You learn a lot when you're barefoot. The first thing is every step you take is different. — Michael Franti

In Jamaica, the music is recorded for the sound system, not the iPod. It's about experiencing music together, with other people. — Michael Franti

We have a saying in my house, my kids and my girlfriend. We say, 'Be your best for the greater good, and rock out wherever you are.' — Michael Franti

I drive a hybrid. It's a Ford Escape. That's my only car. — Michael Franti

Love is the action of soul satisfaction. — Michael Franti

I went to the University of San Francisco on an athletic scholarship. I didn't study in high school. I was just there to get by and to play basketball. But a funny thing happened to me when I got to college. I got challenged by the work and the professors. — Michael Franti

I think that the transformative nature of love is why we are so drawn to it. — Michael Franti

We don't have to be good, you know? No one's telling us that we have to do good things, but we do them because we know it makes other people feel good and it makes us feel good. — Michael Franti

My mother birthed three children and she adopted myself and another African-American son. My adoptive parents were Finnish. I grew up in a white picket neighborhood. — Michael Franti

I'm a news junkie who's constantly reading newspapers and magazines. I look around and see what's happening in the world. — Michael Franti

Not all artists have a responsibility to be socially or politically aware, but they do have a responsibility to make great art. They have to find some truth and put that in their music. — Michael Franti

I could be really sad and I start to cry; I feel alive then. I could be at a concert and I throw my hands up in the air and I feel elation; I feel alive then. — Michael Franti

I have moments all the time when I play. — Michael Franti

To sit back and say, 'Oh, we're going to let the government do whatever they want, right or wrong,' is giving up. — Michael Franti

My greatest sense of accomplishment has come from having two amazing sons, but it's also a paradox in that the times when I felt like the biggest failure have been times when I felt like, as a parent, I wasn't making the right decisions or succeeding in the way that I should. — Michael Franti

If the first casualty of war is innocence, then perhaps with each bullet fired, bomb detonated, leader overthrown, wall built, economy destroyed and family member killed, we are not creating goodwill and harmony, but rather another child who believes violence is the only means to bring about change in the world. — Michael Franti

You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace. Power to the peaceful. — Michael Franti

Through music I either tame my demons or unleash them and allow them to be what they are. I don't want the music to be about provocation, I want the music to bring you to a place where you feel at home. — Michael Franti

It's never too late to start the day over. — Michael Franti

Can't keep Love like money in the bank — Michael Franti

It doesn't matter if you're black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language ... every single person is significant and is meaningful. — Michael Franti

My music is part of the quest I have to find new ways of telling stories, and also, I want to inspire people. — Michael Franti

It ain't about who ya love, it's all about do ya love. — Michael Franti

Every single soul is a poem, written on the back of God's hand — Michael Franti

I don't know if music can change the world overnight but I know that music can help someone make it through a difficult night. — Michael Franti

I really believe that, as an artist, my opportunity to help to bring about awakening is one that should come from a personal process that someone has, and not from me telling somebody that this is the way it is. — Michael Franti

I really encourage people to travel so we can see how the rest of the world views our country. That's really important. Secondly, as artists, activists, and citizens who vote, we have to begin to vote from our heart. — Michael Franti

Today we are in a war against war - music is our power. — Michael Franti

After a show, I'll get the 16-year-old white kid whose lip is pierced, his head is shaved and his parents hate him, and the young gangster from the screwed-up 'hood, and they say that now they realize there's someone out there who thinks like they do. — Michael Franti

The human interest, and the natural interest, and the spiritual interest of this planet need to begin to take a priority over the corporate interest, the military interest, and the materialistic interests. — Michael Franti

I've never really been into flags of any kind, cause flags can bring people together, but they always bring people together against other people, and I don't really consider myself to be a patriot in the sense that I say, 'okay, this is my nation,' I consider myself to be a child of this whole planet. — Michael Franti

I think the main thing I would say is, don't settle. Don't settle for something that's not great. — Michael Franti

All my songs are different, but from the overall experience, I want people to sense that they can overcome and move through difficult times and find strength in my music. Maybe it's a song that makes them cry and move through something else. — Michael Franti

Every single soul is a poem. — Michael Franti

Don't settle for something that's not great. Don't feel like having a relationship that is not serving your needs is more important than having a relationship with yourself. — Michael Franti

San Francisco has always been a haven for misfits and weirdos. I'm both of those, which is why I came here. — Michael Franti

History shows that Americans believe in doing the right thing. — Michael Franti

Playing on the streets of Iraq, or in Israel or the Gaza strip, I'd sing angry protest songs against war. People would say, 'Make us clap, make us dance, and laugh and sing.' It really made me think about the importance of happy music. — Michael Franti

The main thing is to be myself. What I mean by that is, to be honest when called upon to express your feelings. The other thing is - maybe this should come first - to be a good listener. To close your mouth and to listen, and to be able to echo back what your partner says to you. — Michael Franti

Having personal things in balance is more important than the other. — Michael Franti

Whenever people go out of their way to help other people - there's power and beauty in our diversity. — Michael Franti

It really is a strange time we're living in, when saying 'Don't kill people' is considered a radical point of view. — Michael Franti

No life's worth more than any other, no sister worth less than any brother. — Michael Franti

My favorite band of all time is The Clash. The thing I love about The Clash is they started out as guys who could barely play three chords. They dabbled in reggae, punk, rap, jazz. They came to a sound that could only be defined as The Clash. It was impossible to say what it was. I admire them for that. — Michael Franti

I think that fear comes about when there's things in the world that we want to change, things we're scared or angry about, and we can't change them, and so we become fearful; we develop anxiety. — Michael Franti

My goal has not ever been to change minds, my goal is to open minds. — Michael Franti

A lot of times we look at the whole world and think, 'it's so daunting, how can we change the whole world?' and you don't need to do that, what you need to do is change your world a little bit, and see if you can, through example, inspire others to do the same thing. — Michael Franti

I don't know if it's so grand that I can change the entire world, but I know that I can help one person. So that's the goal. — Michael Franti

It's that transformative nature of love and music and yoga that really inspires me. — Michael Franti

People worry that gas prices are high and how they are affecting their pocket book. But they want to know about renewable energy. People are really starting to question things, and that's made people look to the future in a positive way. — Michael Franti

All the freaky people make the beauty of the world. — Michael Franti

I want to promote positivity. — Michael Franti

Every bit of land is a Holy land, and every drop of water is Holy water, and every single child is a son or a daughter of the one Earth mama, and the one Earth papa. — Michael Franti

You say you're a Christian, cause God made you, you say you're a Muslim cause God made you, you say you're a Hindu and the next man a Jew, but then we all kill each other cause God told us to? Naw! — Michael Franti

Music is also one of the great heart openers. Sometimes, you hear the lyrics of a song and you dance, laugh, smile, or perhaps even cry. — Michael Franti

I was adopted when I was a baby. My mother carried me for nine months and she held me for one hour, and didn't see me again. — Michael Franti

During my travels in Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Europe and all over the United States, I have seen and heard the voices of people who want change. They want the stabilization of the economy, education and healthcare for all, renewable energy and an environmental vision with an eye on generations to come. — Michael Franti

Music is sunshine. Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose. — Michael Franti

Music was a central part of my childhood because my mother played organ and piano in the church, and that meant all us kids had to be in the church choir. — Michael Franti

Music and yoga have a great synergy. — Michael Franti

I'm not an idealist. I know we're not going to be living in a world that's peace and love all the time. But we can live in a world where we kill each other a lot less. — Michael Franti

You get everything you could have ever wished for if you're willing to give that eternal bliss away to somebody else, to give it back. — Michael Franti

I went to Iraq because I wanted to see what one year of occupation had done to Iraqi society, and I went to the West Bank and Gaza Strip because I wanted to see what three generations of occupation had done to Palestinian society. I found a lot more hopelessness and despair in Palestine. — Michael Franti

When many little people in many little places do many little things, then the whole world changes. — Michael Franti

When you're in Jamaica, unless you're in a tourist spot, you don't hear Bob Marley; you mostly hear dance hall music. — Michael Franti

We would play songs live on stage, and then we'd watch their reaction we were receiving immediately, if people were dancing and singing along. If they weren't, then we'd go into the dressing rooms of the different NBA teams that we were playing in their arenas, and we'd change the songs right there. — Michael Franti

When I first started out, I thought it was enough to make an angry song that pointed out the problems of the world. — Michael Franti

The times when I feel not alive is when I feel stifled, when I feel like the emotion that's in me is not coming out. I'm too busy, too hectic. I'm serving my iPhone more than my spirit. Those are the times I feel bad. — Michael Franti

Recording in Jamaica is like nothing else. The studios are always closed in America. But in Jamaica, the studio doors are wide open, and there's music blasting out in the street. You can see the reaction of people immediately. — Michael Franti

I've always found that the poorer the places that I go, the more smiles I see, and the more happiness I see. — Michael Franti

Music gets us in touch with our emotions in a way that's more intimate than any other art form. — Michael Franti

Be as radiant as the sun, as healing as the rain, as generous as a tree. — Michael Franti

I think of love as an action. Finding something that's outside of yourself, to serve someone else's soul, helping to ignite someone else's spirit, to bring about ease of heart and joy, serenity in somebody else. — Michael Franti

Television, the drug of the nation, breeding ignorance and feeding radiation ... — Michael Franti

I always identified with that feeling of being an underdog. So I always was looking to connect with and meet people from other cultures, to experience people living a different life that I am. — Michael Franti

The more places I go to, the more I realize I understand so little about the world. — Michael Franti

I took a trip in 2004, a year after the war started in Iraq. I played music on the streets of Baghdad for Iraqi civilians. I'd also play for U.S. soldiers at night when they were off duty in the bars. Then I would talk to people, and I would film them and ask them about their life and the conflict. — Michael Franti

It's a really personal thing for me to write a song. — Michael Franti

I have a passion to make a difference in the world. And that difference can be just making the fans at my show leave with a smile on their faces and feeling uplifted. — Michael Franti

The world can't have a global solution to climate change with U.S. action alone; and the world can't have a global solution without U.S. action. — Michael Franti

If you love the planet or the neighborhood - you're finding ways to satisfy the soul of the planet or satisfy the soul of the neighborhood. — Michael Franti

The hardest part about what I do, the most vulnerable place is my relationship with my family and Sara, my amazing partner, because I'm leaving a lot. And as a touring artist, I'm constantly coming and going, but also when I'm at home, my studio's at home. I'm leaving to go into a music world in my head. — Michael Franti

Traveling to the Middle East and playing music for people on the street, for soldiers, for people in hospitals, and for people who lost their homes, and seeing people open up through the experience of music really restored my faith in music, in art, and in culture to change things. — Michael Franti

When we all see justice, then we'll all see peace! — Michael Franti