Quotes from Sharon Van Etten

I'm not the sad sack that people might think I am. But I think that if I didn't write and perform, I probably would be.

I wasn't a very good salesman.

I'm a lot more secure than I used to be.

All the records I keep are like friends I visit.

I was without my own place for nearly two years. It's such a cliche to be a homeless musician in New York, but luckily, I had amazing friends who let me stay with them. I visited my parents a lot. It's not like I was sleeping in my car, though I might have done that once... But it was by choice!

I didn't have my first band until I was, like, 30.

Sadness isn't an emotion that most cool bands want to talk about.

As a kid, you put musicians on a pedestal - well, I did. The more you meet bands, and the more you hang around them, you can have normal conversations.

Moving to New York City and doing what I do, social anxiety is a really ridiculous kind of curse to have. But I met people along the way who deal with it - performers as well - and they are learning to deal with it daily and deal with it in different ways.

Honestly, live is my favorite way of performing. Every show is a completely different energy.

You write these vulnerable songs as a sort of therapy, but if you don't confront people on a daily basis, it's not reality. There's still a bit of separation there.

I was so broken when I did the first record. I was living in my parents' basement, I didn't know anyone. I was broken-hearted and writing this really dark record. I was at the bottom of a well.

I'm a sucker for a love song!

In some ways, being on the road is like summer camp. There's a camaraderie, but I'm also learning how to be more of a leader.

I wanna grow and develop as an artist, and I feel like different kinds of collaborations can only help me in that way.

Just getting older, you stop caring what other people think, but also, you know who you are, and you know what you want.

I have a hard time not wearing my heart on my sleeve and answering people honestly. You know, my friends warn me that I should be more guarded 'cause sometimes I am too honest and open, but it's also just who I am.

My mom used to ask me when I was gonna write a happy song. I still tell her that it's when I start to write really happy-sounding songs that everyone needs to start worrying.

I grew up going to musicals with my mom here in New York, going to Broadway. I used to be in musicals in high school.

I don't want to bury anything in poetry.

I really hope that when someone puts my record on that they hear me.

I love being domestic: making coffee, just putting on a record, and just sitting, not doing anything. It's so great.

I have this red cardigan that my friend Coco gave me that has holes for thumbs. It's my cozy sweater. I wear it a lot.

I'm trying to learn how to cook.