Song Quotes by Stephen Malkmus

I don't even think my voice is really good.

— Stephen Malkmus

I never decided to start singing, to be a singer.

— Stephen Malkmus

I listen to things that are popular and try to think about it in a mathematical way.

— Stephen Malkmus

Obviously songs and musicians mean a lot to people.

— Stephen Malkmus

The word "down," is very musical. It just always comes.

— Stephen Malkmus

When a band means a lot to you, you build the fantasy more than the reality. Always.

— Stephen Malkmus

Well, yeah, I sang to some songs on the radio or in the shower.

— Stephen Malkmus

I'll cover just about anything - except for a Kid Rock song.

— Stephen Malkmus

But, then again, I wouldn't call myself an indie-rock supporter even if there are some really good bands out there and there…

— Stephen Malkmus

Basically, no one else gives me any opinions on lyrics. I don't ask for them. If they did, I would listen.

— Stephen Malkmus

If a voice is just too nice, without an edge, it kinda all flows by. You forget it. You don't listen to…

— Stephen Malkmus

Despite my own doubts of being marketable or crushworthy, my goal was to write a record of peppy pop songs, hopefully without…

— Stephen Malkmus

I just imagine that every song in and of itself is great, but when you add them all up, it's too much…

— Stephen Malkmus

With some songs, I have written narratives or I've tried to carry it through, but generally the things that were more genius,…

— Stephen Malkmus

I'm thinking, I'm singing like Ozzy Osbourne, but I don't sound like him enough, ever.

— Stephen Malkmus

Besides, going on tour and playing songs and arranging things, going to practice, it's all I know to be productive.

— Stephen Malkmus

Well, you know, it's a younger person, and it was maybe an effort to be a little more sincere and adult about…

— Stephen Malkmus

I know the world doesn't need maybe another of [a particular type of song] - the same thing again - but you…

— Stephen Malkmus

The earlier stuff is more like "this is happening to me," but now there are more songs that are accusatory or something,…

— Stephen Malkmus

Everyone wants to be loved, generally. If you released a record and nobody said anything, if you didn't get any feedback from…

— Stephen Malkmus

When I see four young kids in a band, I think, That looks really fun, no matter how shitty they are. You…

— Stephen Malkmus

In the early '90s, it felt like there was space - there was like an empty feel. There was nobody really doing…

— Stephen Malkmus

The narrative songs were well-written, like an article in The New Yorker. They're nice and pat. They're more like I'm just showing…

— Stephen Malkmus

When I was a kid I really liked the guitarist of The Doors [Robby Krieger]. He plays blues, but he plays a…

— Stephen Malkmus

I hated it so much as a child. I just didn't like it when punk bands went metal, it really bothered me.…

— Stephen Malkmus

With lyrics for me, it's usually musically-based. It's not really poetry- or writer-based. It's rock-based. It doesn't mean that I'm aping rock…

— Stephen Malkmus

We care if people like what we did. If you're just making records for yourself, why put them out and do all…

— Stephen Malkmus

It's hard to think back. I didn't even know I was going to do it, make actual records. But I was always…

— Stephen Malkmus

'Summer Babe' is the start of Pavement front-loading their albums with the catchiest song first.

— Stephen Malkmus

Almost every band has somebody who's the main songwriter and who has a vision, a very clear idea of how a song…

— Stephen Malkmus

The lyrics are different from Nick Cave songs and lyrics. His songs are very narrative.

— Stephen Malkmus

Оur music, it's an acquired taste. It's almost cult, even at our level. It can mean nothing to somebody and it can…

— Stephen Malkmus

Usually [the lyrics] go from one word to the next word - there's no finish line. The music was that way, too.

— Stephen Malkmus

I don't really know where the songs are coming from often. Many of the best things I made up were just off…

— Stephen Malkmus

Lyrics are back, maybe. It seems like there was a bit of an attitude that lyrics are not important.

— Stephen Malkmus

I just don't think people listen. I mean, they can't listen to a whole album closely without checking their iPhone or wanting…

— Stephen Malkmus

I want to do some different kind of songs, but say I want to do riffs, but I don't come up with…

— Stephen Malkmus

You know, the songs that are self-conscious or jerky, they are that way, but the other ones aren't, so that's a good…

— Stephen Malkmus

It's just a compulsion to create something new and stay busy. I don't know how to do anything else. It was never…

— Stephen Malkmus

But we're still rehearsing and planning to make a new album next year. We have some really good new songs that we've…

— Stephen Malkmus