Well you sing about common people
And the mis-shapes and the misfits / So can you bring them to my party
And get them all to sniff this?
You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés.
Billy Bragg, The Clash, The Jam, The Ramones, The Ronettes, Simon and Garfunkel, The Shangri-Las, The Smiths, The Specials, Les Miserables 1987 Original Broadway Cast Recording
Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Wilie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face...
The Jewish Americans on PBS, Cosmos with Carl Sagan, Ancient Discoveries: Mega-Structures of the Deep, Making the Band 4
I remember these words for some reason as Blair and I are sitting at Spago after having just seen the concert and it's late and we're sitting by ourselves in the patio and Blair sighs and asks for a cigarette. We drink Champagne Kirs, but Blair has too many and when she orders her sixth, I tell her that maybe she's had enough and she looks at me and says, "I am hot and thirsty and I will order what I fucking want."
Whenever a friend succeeds a little something in me dies.