Quotes from Michael Stipe

My feeling is that labels are for canned food... I am what I am - and I know what I am.

Sometimes before we make a record I go back and listen to a few. It's equally humbling and uplifting.

So, we just kind of created our own thing and that's part of the beauty of Athens: is that it's so off the map and there's no way you could ever be the East Village or an L.A. scene or a San Francisco scene, that it just became its own thing.

I'm not homosexual, I'm not heterosexual, I'm just sexual.

Death is pretty final./I'm collecting vinyl./I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world/'cause if heaven does exists/with a kickin' playlist/I don't wanna miss it at the end of the world

I've always felt that sexuality is a really slippery thing. In this day and age, it tends to get categorized and labeled, and I think labels are for food. Canned food.

Here's a truck stop instead of St. Peter's.

If the storm doesn't kill me, the government will./Gotta get that outta my head./It's a new day today and the coffee is strong, I finally got some rest./So a man's put to task and challenges./I was taught to hold my head high.

who will tend the farm museums who will dust the day belongings?

Take what you see on TV, mix in a guy who's turned 30 and still doesn't have a job, throw in some Uncle Remus stories and add a few flies in amber and you have America.

Man, you guys sound great. If I wasn't in the band, I'd be a big fan. I'd go see us live. I would be irritated by me every now and then, but I would like us a lot.

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (time I had some time alone).

They shifted the statues for harboring ghosts Reddened their necks, collared their clothes Then we danced the dance 'til the menace got out She gathered the corners and called it her gown She said Oh, please, find my harborcoat Can't go outside without it Find my harborcoat Can't go outside without it

Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion Not everyone can carry the weight of the world Not everyone can carry the weight of the world Talk about the passion Talk about the passion Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion Combien, combien, combien de temps?

If I slept with everyone I was supposed to have, I wouldn't have the energy to eat.