Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPunk Singer
Date of Birth30 December 1946
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
creative difficult greatest impulse love song suffering work
I think we have a creative impulse where suffering can magnify our work, but so can joy. You can be in love and write the greatest love song ever. Sometimes I think too much suffering makes it difficult to do one's work.
believe cover djs job label lose music sing songs
I don't believe any artist who says, 'I had to do that because DJs will tell me I can't play that music. I will lose my job.' Well, lose the job and create a new job. If your label won't let you have the cover you want or sing the songs you want, then leave!
drew early hear people songs suffer work
I like revisiting my early work, and people like to hear it. I don't make people suffer through any experimentation or new material. When I go see an artist, I want to hear the songs that drew me to them, so I do the same.
song teenager holiday
When I was a teenager, I dreamed of being an opera singer like Maria Callas or a jazz singer like June Christy or Chris Connor, or approaching songs with the kind of mystical lethargy of Billie Holiday, or championing the downtrodden like Lotte Lenya. But I never dreamed of singing in a rock-and-roll band.
song writing hardest
Often the simplest song is the hardest to write.
song communication writing
Poetry is a solitary process. One does not write poetry for the masses. Poetry is a self-involved, lofty pursuit. Songs are for the people. When I'm writing a song, I imagine performing it. I imagine giving it. It's a different aspect of communication. It's for the people.
song want labels
If your label won't let you have the cover you want or sing the songs you want, then leave!
song transgender enjoyed
I always enjoyed doing transgender songs.
belong died jesus mine sins
Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine - My sins are my own, they belong to me.
blake christ holy lullaby music orchestra played sang vatican william wrote
I sang 'O Holy Night' with the Vatican orchestra, but also a Blake - a lullaby that William Blake wrote for the Christ child, and I set it to music, and the Vatican orchestra played the music.
came dip threw
I remember when the Bic pen was controversial. They came from France. They were cheap, and when one was out of ink, you threw it away; you didn't dip it into more ink.
benefit determine employees obviously union
We don't see how a union would benefit our employees and customers. But obviously it is up to our employees to determine what is right for them.
younger
My siblings were a bit younger than me, and I was always entertaining them and making up stories.
lost present quite son
My son and daughter lost their father quite young, so we keep him present with us. It's just a daily practice.