Lou Reed

Music should come crashing out of your speakers and grab you, and the lyrics should challenge whatever preconceived notions that listener has.

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I'll tell ya, I'm a genuinely nice guy. I really am. A real nice guy. But I think I'm temperamental.

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One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.

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I wouldn't want to hear Beethoven without beautiful bass, the cellos, the tuba. It's very important. Hip-hop has thunderous bass. And so does Beethoven. If you don't have the bass, it's like being amputated. It's like you have no legs.

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I don't mind a repetitive chorus; I mind repetitive verse. I mean, it's the same amount of space. Why would you have only three diamonds if you can have six?

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I was a product of Andy Warhol's Factory. All I did was sit there and observe these incredibly talented and creative people who were continually making art, and it was impossible not to be affected by that.

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The music is all. People should die for it. People are dying for everything else, so why not the music?

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When I was in college, I had a jazz radio show. I called it 'Excursion on a Wobbly Rail,' after a Cecil Taylor song. I used to run around the Village following Ornette Coleman wherever he played.

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Quotes by Lou Reed