Quotes from Cass McCombs

I don't need to control anything. Even with romantic partnerships, I don't need to control anyone.

I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's no paycheck at the end; it's more of a 'whatever is left over' kind of situation.

Musicians wake up and create a more loving community by creating heavier music.

People expect not just songwriters but all personalities to pontificate about their egos - they just wanna see someone talking about themselves constantly. I'm not interested in that.

Dead men always have the last laugh. They win. They're dead. You can't hurt their feelings anymore.

I project love, music and love, and I pray for peace. A good song cuts straight to the heart; sometimes it doesn't need to be too many lines - of course, I do love a good story.

Folk art has never been much about politics; it's about action and utility.

I don't care much about politics. That kind of witchcraft I stay away from because people end up dead. I'd rather die for music.

A lot of religious texts make for good reading. That's why they hold up.

Even if I'm writing music, it's with a lyric in mind, to communicate some kind of feeling.

Opinions only carry weight in the second or third person.

I was just a folk singer. I cut my teeth on the streets, you know.

Sometimes I feel like I finish a song, and there's another song that I have to write in response to that song. Each is like its own separate feeling, its own separate universe.

Thank God we don't know a lot about Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautreamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious.

Lyrics are my racket; music is play - the fluff stuff.

A baseball team is like a band. Because, conceptually, there are no heroes in baseball - there's just the team.

When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes. It comes down to people's personalities and individual energies.

I grew up in the suburbs and was raised on rap radio, so it took me a long time to stumble upon the acoustic guitar as a resource for anything.

It's the stupidest thing of all time, going on tour. It deteriorates the soul, but it's fun.

I don't think anyone knows anything and I don't trust people who say that they do. Don't give me a plan, give me action.

It's hard to make out the difference between insults and bad advice.

I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people; we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life, and I don't have a problem with that. This is a transitory world; we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it and holding on.

Elvis Presley wore a Star of David and a cross around his neck and, when someone asked him about it, he said, "It makes me think." I love that quote. It's simple. It's beautiful. It's true.

Everyone wants to be well-loved and appreciated but, at the same time, there are some people that just don't want to be your friend, and there's nothing you can do or say to change that.