John Darnielle

I know it's a cliché to say I write for myself, but I write for myself.

— John Darnielle

It's good to be young, but let's not kid ourselves/ It's better to pass on through those years and come out the…

— John Darnielle

“Who knows the secrets of anybody’s heart.”

— John Darnielle

If my songs are being listened to between any other songs, that is awesome, and I'm glad people are getting something out…

— John Darnielle

“You don't think about how you really have your whole life planed out until a part of it goes missing suddenly one…

— John Darnielle

I did a lot of music criticism. I don't think much of it was any good. I think I wanted to show…

— John Darnielle

I am a person of high energy. That, and I sit down and I write when I get an idea - I…

— John Darnielle

I consider myself a lyricist first and foremost, but if you get something else out of what I do, that's fine too.…

— John Darnielle

Back in the 90s, if you did mail order in music, you could make a good living doing it if you could…

— John Darnielle

You can get really good reads on your dreams if you think of every character in them as actually being you.

— John Darnielle

There's this idea that there was a point in our childhood when we were in some way better than we are now…

— John Darnielle

“The wind comes across the plains not howling but singing. It's the difference between this wind and its big-city cousins: the full-throated…

— John Darnielle

A bands first albums usually not great. When you made the first album, you had a day job and you were still…

— John Darnielle

As important as politics are to me, the life and the spirit of people's emotions are much more important. People live real…

— John Darnielle

It's hard to stay positive when there's a lot of evil in the world.

— John Darnielle

“My love is like a powder keg My love is like a powder keg in the corner of an empty warehouse Somewhere…

— John Darnielle

The only people who are afraid of file sharing are the people whose albums are so dull presentation-wise that nobody cares about…

— John Darnielle

I enjoy hearing people who are good at their instruments and who've found a distinctive voice.

— John Darnielle

Diagnoses exist to help get people services they need - but there's no such thing as mental illness. We're all mentally ill.

— John Darnielle

Anything that is within you is a gift. To be able to take possession of that and say, "Whatever it is, I…

— John Darnielle

I just started going to shows. I don't know how submerged I am: I feel guilty that I don't get out more,…

— John Darnielle

When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you.

— John Darnielle

“I wish they'd conduct a national poll to find out who feels out of place and who doesn't. Just to get the…

— John Darnielle

I suspect by the time the Beatles were writing the White Album, they didn't go, "'I Wanna Hold Your Hand!' I wanna…

— John Darnielle

Good things never last, bad things never die.

— John Darnielle