Quotes from Joe Strummer

When I started, they told me I only needed 3 chords and the truth... It turned out I could manage with 2 and some vague ideas.

Yeah, all those things, responsibility, pressure. It's a bit stressful. I try and come to terms with it by not thinking about it.

I just want to go back to rockin', but I'm uncertain as to what to actually do. The truth is, I never stopped thinking about rock'n'roll for a second that I'm on holiday.

We sing in English, not mimicking some American rock singer's accent. That's just pretending to be something you ain't.

Everyone has got to realise you can't hold onto the past if you want any future. Each second should lead to the next one.

When you blame yourself, you learn from it. If you blame someone else, you don't learn nothing, cause hey, it's not your fault, it's his fault, over there.

We didn't have any solution to the world's problems. I mean, we were trying to grow up in a socialist way to some future where the world might be less of a miserable place than it is.

There is nothing more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

If you ain't thinkin about man and God and law, then you ain't thinkin about nothin'.

The hippy movement was a failure.

We did eight gigs in super-stadiums, all the biggest joints - L.A. Coliseum, Oakland Coliseum, Shea Stadium.

Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control. And it didn't have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realized that you either became a power or you were crushed.

For me the music is a vehicle for my lyrics. It's a chance to get some really good words across.

The future is unwritten.