--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A record is something that isn't real or…" description: "\"A record is something that isn't real or true. It's like cinema. It's a construction of something hyper-real and surreal and unreal all at the same tim..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/will-oldham-7702_bigs_a-record-is-something-that-isn-t-real-or_1613517.jpg" --- # A record is something that isn't real or true. It's like… ![“A record is something that isn't real or true. It's like cinema. It's a construction of something hyper-real and surreal and unreal all at the same time. You make a space that doesn't really exist. One of the big joys of being in this line of work is building the recorded versions of the songs.” quote by Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/will-oldham-7702_bigs_a-record-is-something-that-isn-t-real-or_1613517.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/will-oldham-7702_bigs_a-record-is-something-that-isn-t-real-or_1613517.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/will-oldham-7702_bigs_a-record-is-something-that-isn-t-real-or_1613517.jpg) > “A record is something that isn't real or true. It's like cinema. It's a construction of something hyper-real and surreal and unreal all at the same time. You make a space that doesn't really exist. One of the big joys of being in this line of work is building the recorded versions of the songs.” [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recording music creates a constructed reality that feels real yet is an artistic fabrication. **In simple terms:** Recorded songs are built worlds. Key Takeaway Embrace the art of creation. Themes art reality construction Mood contemplative creative Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - songwriting - film scoring - virtual reality design - storytelling Key Concepts music production philosophy of art Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing a work is constructed affect your experience? - What responsibilities do creators have for perceived reality? A Different Perspective Listeners may mistake construction for authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Building Recorded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-recorded-6154756/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Hyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hyper/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Record](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/record/) [Record Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/record-isn-561032/) [Recorded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recorded/) [Recorded Versions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recorded-versions-6154757/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Surreal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surreal/) [Unreal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreal/) [Versions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versions/) ## Related quotes > [You gotta stick your neck out and put out a record that isn't safe... that's the Green Day way!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tre-cool/you-gotta-stick-your-neck-out-and-put-out-a-record-that-isn-t-safe/) [Tre Cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tre-cool/) > [The 'Aldous Harding' record isn't easily placed because it wasn't trying to sound like anything. It was quite organic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-harding/the-aldous-harding-record-isn-t-easily-placed-because-it-wasn-t/) [Aldous Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-harding/) > [A record isn't like a movie - you can get it together pretty fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/a-record-isn-t-like-a-movie-you-can-get-it-together-pretty-fast/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The Guinness book is a very elitist organization. There's nothing scientific about what they do. They just have an office full of people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/the-guinness-book-is-a-very-elitist-organization-there-s-nothing/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [here's certain things that are similar to cats and dogs. 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No one reduces the presidency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bakari-kitwana/hip-hop-is-contributing-to-american-society-s-misogyny-and-racism/) [Bakari Kitwana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bakari-kitwana/) > [I've always had this hyper kinetic energy, so I don't really need much sleep at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leander-paes/i-ve-always-had-this-hyper-kinetic-energy-so-i-don-t-really-need-much/) [Leander Paes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leander-paes/) > [I think that it's important to try to keep reality. I think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez speaks a lot about reality in his magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-think-that-it-s-important-to-try-to-keep-reality-i-think-that/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [I always play these rodent type characters - skittish and hyper like a chipmunk. It's a complete act though. I'm a very normal person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-embry/i-always-play-these-rodent-type-characters-skittish-and-hyper-like-a/) [Ethan Embry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-embry/) > [The obsessive documentation is itself adjacent to hyper-consumption in our society. The desire to just have everything all the time and adjacent to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-leo/the-obsessive-documentation-is-itself-adjacent-to-hyper-consumption/) [Ted Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-leo/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I drink maple syrup. Then I'm hyper so I just run around like crazy and work it all off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-mcadams/i-drink-maple-syrup-then-i-m-hyper-so-i-just-run-around-like-crazy/) [Rachel McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-mcadams/) > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) ## More by Will Oldham > [As far as implying that we know what we're doing, that we have perspective enough - by diving fully into something it requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/as-far-as-implying-that-we-know-what-we-re-doing-that-we-have/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [It's O.K. to accept good fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/it-s-o-k-to-accept-good-fortune/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I like rural areas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-like-rural-areas/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [The songs are not meant to be real life. They're meant to have a psychic - rather than a factual - bearing on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/the-songs-are-not-meant-to-be-real-life-they-re-meant-to-have-a/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I do an opening in 'The Glory of the World' play at BAM, and then I go up to the high balcony in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-do-an-opening-in-the-glory-of-the-world-play-at-bam-and-then-i-go/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [One thing that the Internet has created is the sense that information is at your fingertips, when it's really only a very, very limited,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/one-thing-that-the-internet-has-created-is-the-sense-that-information/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [As a kid you learn that there are thinkers and there are philosophers and there are theologian, and I'd hear little bits of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/as-a-kid-you-learn-that-there-are-thinkers-and-there-are-philosophers/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I valued the experience of making the recordings, and I value the performances contained therein, and I value so much of what they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-valued-the-experience-of-making-the-recordings-and-i-value-the/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [Sometimes it will be for more money than I've ever been offered before. I mean, am I an idiot again for not doing that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/sometimes-it-will-be-for-more-money-than-i-ve-ever-been-offered/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I think most great actors have their own life trajectory, the character motion doesn't have anything to do with their life motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-think-most-great-actors-have-their-own-life-trajectory-the/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [To me, recordings are little fourth-dimension artifacts, because they already are representatives of past, present, and future, just inherently in their existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/to-me-recordings-are-little-fourth-dimension-artifacts-because-they/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [Venues are all the same, all feel the same, these generic blank spaces. I like artists like Lightning Bolt-bands that go in and kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/venues-are-all-the-same-all-feel-the-same-these-generic-blank-spaces/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [Too much emphasis is put on American roots music when people try and place me. You know, I grew up listening to punk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/too-much-emphasis-is-put-on-american-roots-music-when-people-try-and/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [My booking agent, of course, here and overseas, their tendency is to want to build on a certain kind of measurable success, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/my-booking-agent-of-course-here-and-overseas-their-tendency-is-to/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [I think that what trips up a lot of great musicians is that they become involved with too many things that aren't where their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-think-that-what-trips-up-a-lot-of-great-musicians-is-that-they/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) [Explore all 88 Will Oldham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) ## More Bigs quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [I'm a true believer in prayer, a big believer in prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-jackson/i-m-a-true-believer-in-prayer-a-big-believer-in-prayer/) [Janet Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-jackson/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. 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