Song Quotes by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Playing jazz in restaurants is too stereotypical.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

The piano is the instrument I can play the most.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

Piano symbolizes interiority.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

The key concept is to open your ears. Music can be here and there, anywhere surrounding you.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

Time is the main subject for any musicians, music writers, composers.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I always think about music horizontally and vertically at the same time.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I want to capture the mood I have now, post-cancer, in my music.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

As soon as I choose the timbre of an instrument, that dominates how I compose.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I've realised that if it is to remain relevant, contemporary music needs to change.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

The world is full of sounds. We just don't usually hear them as music.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I think there's a genuine difference between the real and the virtual in music.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ever since I was 18 or 19, I've wanted to question the sound, tones, and scale associated with the piano as an…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

All the kids at the kindergarten had to play, or at least touch, the piano. It was a good start. Then, after…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I don't get so much inspiration from other musicians. Especially alive musicians. Late musicians are good - Bach, Beethoven - yes, good.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I'm really bad writing the chase scenes or fighting scenes. I'm much better for writing, like, a more melancholic or tragic music.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I went to see one of those pianos drowned in tsunami water near Fukushima and recorded it. Of course, it was totally…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

In Japan, there has always been a small number of musicians who have been outspoken on social issues, but they tend to…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

People don't buy CDs so much anymore because it's easy to download everything. So, while the record industry is declining, the music…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

My interests are moving toward both 'sound and music,' not just 'music.' I have been doing lots of field recordings and also…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

In the old days, people shared music; they didn't care who made it. A song would be owned by a village, and…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

The piano is the closest instrument to me in my life, so it's just natural to play my pieces on the piano.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

For making music for myself, I just need to be happy. I'm the producer, the director, and the listener.

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

I was really into the music of Cream after I finished composing the music for 'BTTB.'

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

Playing in London in 1979 was exciting: it was at the start of new wave, the transition period after punk, and there…

— Ryuichi Sakamoto