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-What is Rock / Essential Rock Quotes
Rock comes from blues, country and gospel, in the progress of its development gaining influences even from classical music (beyond the influences, it is amazing how many direct adaptations of classical pieces were made by rock musicians). Studying the decades of its history we discover rock as a complex enough way, giving to each generation a means to express all they wanted to express – sometimes angst, sometimes joy, sometimes social concerns, always their love experiences. Anyone who knows the work of modern groups and individual rock artists can tell that it’s no worse than past works. Rock is still alive and surprisingly creative, having its motivations in whatever may be of interest in our lives. Yet, as all the arts, Rock too can not but tend finally to conceive and express the most important, ultimate or metaphysical, things.
Here follow some quotes of main rock artists giving an idea of how themselves understand this kind of music:
“I want to entertain people. That’s my whole life. To my last breath.” – Elvis Presley
“Rock is so much fun. That’s what it’s all about — filling up the chest cavities and empty kneecaps and elbows.” – Jimi Hendrix
“Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.” – Jimi Hendrix
“Music is a safe type of high. It’s more the way it was supposed to be. That’s where highness came, I guess, from anyway. It’s nothing but rhythm and motion.” – Jimi Hendrix
“For us the most important thing is to be visual and for the cats watching us to have fun. This is all we want. We get very upset if people get bored when we’re only half way through smashing the second set.” – Roger Waters
“I wish I could write about really ultimate things. That’s where I think all of us want to go, really. All the groups seem to be heading towards a kind of pop music that deals with ultimate things.” – Eric Burdon
“You’ve got to create a dream. You’ve got to uphold the dream…” – Eric Burdon
“The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God. Both recognize the pivot, that God is at the center of the jaunt.” – Bono
“I love rock-n-roll. I think it’s an exciting art form. Still revolutionary and it changed people. It changed their hearts.” – Nick Cave