Quotes from Sharon Van Etten

If I make assumptions about the audience and start overthinking things, I can drive myself crazy about how the audience perceives me. I try not to do that anymore.

I don't know how to get a crowd singing along. That's not what my music does.

I overthink everything. I'm just like, 'Wait, why do they want to hear me?' I start doubting myself. Other times, I'll just get so emotional during a song. Sometimes I'll cry while I'm singing. It's so weird. I'm such a baby.

In 2015, I told my band that I was taking a break so I could focus on my home life, go back to school, and try to remember what it was like to feel like a human being again.

The dilemma I have is that everything I do at work is all about me, and at what point is that selfish? I'm just talking and singing about myself, or I'm standing on a stage and hoping that everybody likes me. Obviously, it's also about the music and feeling and connecting; I know it's deeper than that.

I'm nervous performing because it's such a weird thing to do, standing on stage demanding people's attention.

I only write when I'm in a dark place. I hit 'record' and get it out, writing and playing my guitar at the same time.

I get things out of my system through my songs, but, because they can be about so many different things, it takes me a while to get through them emotionally.

Music is still my main thing, but I will explore anything that's interesting and challenging.

In my teenage years, there was a lot of angst going on.

I always had a hard time communicating my emotions. I'd retreat into my bedroom and listen to music. And when you're a teenager, you're dealing with all these hormones. It's like, 'What are these?'

Brit Marling is very positive, very professional, very encouraging.

I realized that there's this fine line between being personal and being general and being alienating.

Life is too short to surround yourself with people who aren't looking out for you.

I used to work at a label. I used to be a publicist. I used to be at a management company.

I was in musicals. and I was in the choir when I was younger. Before I started writing my own songs, I thought I wanted to be on Broadway, but it was nothing I ever really pursued.

I'm pursuing a degree in mental health counseling. It'll be a long journey, and I still want to do music and other creative projects.

I feel like, as a female, I am maybe hyper-sensitive to feeling pushed into a corner or somebody taking a song a different way.

The only thing that's helped me get through some really hard times was just being able to write and express - it's very cathartic for me. I'm hoping that, by writing and performing for other people, it affects them the same way.

I feel like I'm getting better at being a writer.

I think, in general, I find writing to be very therapeutic and singing in itself to be really therapeutic.

My goal is to become a therapist by the time I'm 50.

I am my therapist, and I analyze what's happening and if I'm being hurt in the process. The result is songs that are very emotional, very deep, although I try to write them generally so they won't alienate the listener.

Writing songs helped me figure out how to communicate with other people. I finally figured out that if I could express something in a song, I could probably express it in my real life, too.