298 Quotes by Elvis Costello

We’re all just animals. That’s all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That’s where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels.

Don’t tell me you don’t know what love is When you’re old enough to know better.

Was it a millionaire who said, “Imagine no possessions”?

It’s what’s on the record not what labels on it. You know, that’s like getting a box of cornflakes and eating the cardboard.

They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio.

There are five things to write songs about: I’m leaving you. You’re leaving me. I want you. You don’t want me. I believe in something. Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we musicians do pretty well.

My grandfather and my father disagreed about music, not least of all because my dad wanted to improvise. It wasn’t just that he wanted to play different music; it was just that he came off the dots.

It’s the stupid details that my heart is breaking for.

I’m drawing from two generations back how to think about music, how to think about why you travel to make music, what the possible pitfalls of that are for the way your life is structured. The good and bad of all of it get into the mix of what’s created, what you’re creating.