It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ I thought, this is it.
No matter how accomplished or how many awards you get, you’re always still thinking there’s somebody out there who’s better than you.
A lot of the Beatles albums were very various, and we did it on purpose: We didn’t want the next track to sound like the last one.
I do have a spongelike ear or mentality or whatever you call it, but it’s probably a bit subconscious.
Having a beard is natural. When you think about it, shaving it off is quite weird.
It’s nice to have a little bit of art to fall back on.
A lot of artists use memories. A lot of prose writers, a lot of poets, a lot of songwriters, refer back to something. Generally it’s all you’ve got, unless you’re brilliant and can write totally in the now.
You’re always looking at last year, or 10 years ago, or your school days, or your teenage years, your formative years. Because that’s exactly what they are, they’re your formative years.
In some ways we live in a world where things appear to be very logical, very rational, and mechanical aspects of our world are rather scientific and rather straightforward.
I play to all people, and I play to people not governments, and I believe strongly that all people are peaceful and would want peace.
My stepmother sold my birth certificate and someone asked why I didn’t buy it back. I don’t know, really. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was mine. It cost me nothing and suddenly I had to buy it back.
I’ve got a few guitars that I like. The trouble with fame and riches is that you have more than one guitar.
Sometimes you write a song in a certain era and it’s got a certain kind of significance.
It’s a powerful thing hearing your friend on a very beautiful song.
I’m not a great practiser at all. We were never great practisers. The Beatles would come together for about a day before we had a tour, to make sure the amp worked.
As far as art’s concerned, I probably like modern art more than traditional art.
It’s not unusual for writers to look backward. Because that’s your pool of resources. If you were to write something now, I bet there’s a pretty good chance you’d call on your teenage years, your experiences then, stuff you learned then.
I realized marvelling at nature was a deep pleasure of mine.
That’s not really important what religion people are attached to, because by the same argument I have a lot of Christian friends and Moslem friends. It’s just happened that I do have a lot of relatives and friends who are Jewish.
I don’t think of myself as a legend. I just love what I do. I love playing with my band, I love going to beautiful places and give people good music. I love what I do, I’m very lucky man.
If you’re using your imagination, you tend to look into the past for ideas.