Perhaps the most pernicious strain of contemporary criticism says one thing before it says anything else, says it to whatever historical event… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
As I write, Johnny Rotten's first moments in "Anarchy in the U.K." - a rolling earthquake of a laugh, a buried shout, then hoary… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
Elvis' early music has drama because as he sang he was escaping limits. — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
You're going to react to a painting in a way that the painting demands you react. — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
No failure in America, whether of love or money, is ever simple; it is always a kind of betrayal, of a mass of shadowy,… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
“[Listening to a song] one could experience a freedom from one's physical body, and from one's social body - the mask you wore to… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
Records that were the sound of somebody - more often than not, a she - speaking with a voice that had never been heard… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
I never could understand - it was impossible for me to get my head around - what the furor was, what the sense of… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
There is no pop category, let alone any infinitely gene-sliced genre name, to contain the lead in Rihanna's voice in 'Needed Me.' — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
I'm a fan of Oliver Stone. I like his movies, I like his excess, and I think he has a great capacity for empathy… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
Bob Dylan continues to release odd and unsettling records, and to do odd and unsettling things on stage. So the term 'still' seems meaningless… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
When you're writing criticism or thinking critically, to draw a very limited minor conclusion from solid evidence is really not thinking. — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
My ideal reader is somebody who trips over a copy of my book on the sidewalk; then they pick it up and read as… — Greil Marcus Copy Share Image
