David Byrne

David Byrne

40 quotes

An American musician active since the 1950s, David Byrne has long been a source of memorable observations. Whether reflecting on Music or Car, David Byrne brought uncommon clarity to every subject. Our collection holds 47 quotes from David Byrne, each offering a different angle on Music, Car, Home, Business, and Trust. Start here and see if you agree: "It seems almost backwards to me that my music seems the more emotional outlet, and the art stuff seems more about ideas."

“My favorite time of day is to get up and eat leftovers from dinner, especially spicy food.”

— David Byrne

Food

All Quotes by David Byrne

“I don't listen to the radio very much, but that could be because I don't have a car.”

— David Byrne

Car

“The making of music is profoundly affected by the market.”

— David Byrne

Music

“I found music to be the therapy of choice.”

— David Byrne

Music

“My favorite time of day is to get up and eat leftovers from dinner, especially spicy food.”

— David Byrne

Food

“Why not invest in the future of music, instead of building fortresses to preserve its past?”

— David Byrne

Future

“I read the NY Times but I don't trust all of it.”

— David Byrne

Trust

“I like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.”

— David Byrne

Business

“Architecture theory is very interesting.”

— David Byrne

Architecture

“Ninety percent of all music is always crap, and when too many people decide they're going to have guitar bands, then ninety percent of them are going to be crap. It's just a given law.”

— David Byrne

Music

“To some extent I happily don't know what I'm doing. I feel that it's an artist's responsibility to trust that.”

— David Byrne

Trust

“We don't make music - it makes us.”

— David Byrne

Music

“There's something about music that encourages people to want to know more about the person that made it, and where it was recorded, what year it was done, what they were listening to, and all this kind of stuff. There's something that invites all this obsessive behavior.”

— David Byrne

Music

“It seems almost backwards to me that my music seems the more emotional outlet, and the art stuff seems more about ideas.”

— David Byrne

Art

“The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror - not the glamour and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray.”

— David Byrne

Death

“There's a certain amount of freedom involved in cycling: you're self-propelled and decide exactly where to go. If you see something that catches your eye to the left, you can veer off there, which isn't so easy in a car, and you can't cover as much ground walking.”

— David Byrne

Car

“I'm not suggesting people abandon musical instruments and start playing their cars and apartments, but I do think the reign of music as a commodity made only by professionals might be winding down.”

— David Byrne

Music

“So there's no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn't necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.”

— David Byrne

Music

“I never listen to the radio unless I rent a car.”

— David Byrne

Car

“The imminent demise of the large record companies as gatekeepers of the world's popular music is a good thing, for the most part.”

— David Byrne

Music

“It's not always been a happy marriage. I guess I wanted a quick fix.”

— David Byrne

Marriage