I was obsessed with politics in the '80s. I've recovered and I'm feeling much better now, thank you. Steven Van Zandt More Quotes by Steven Van Zandt More Quotes From Steven Van Zandt My lifelong friend and mentor Frank Barsalona is gone. And the music business as we knew it went with him. Steven Van Zandt lifelong mentor gone Half of the modern world goes back as far as Pearl Jam. The real historians go back to U2. But they need to go back further. They have to go back to the '50s and '60s, where things started. That's how you get to be your own personality, by studying the masters. Rock and roll was white kids trying to make black music and failing, gloriously! Steven Van Zandt rocks real kids Anytime you spend six months on a song (Born to Run), there's something not exactly going right. A song should take about three hours. Steven Van Zandt three running song It's become uncool to play other people's songs, and that's absurd. It has got to change. It's the reason why everything's so mediocre. Steven Van Zandt play song people Band members have a special bond. A great band is more than just some people working together. It's like a highly specialized army unit, or a winning sports team. A unique combination of elements that becomes stronger together than apart. Steven Van Zandt army team sports I have lost a brother and a best friend. The world has lost one of the greatest actors of all time. Steven Van Zandt lost-ones actors brother Touch the earth, speak of love, walk on common ground. Steven Van Zandt speak earth common First of all, just because the Tea Party people appear to be generally uneducated, ignorant about the political process, ignorant about economics, confused about their own platform from the beginning, and indelicate when it comes to the craft of diplomacy, doesn't mean they're wrong. Steven Van Zandt confused party mean The simple fact is we do not live in a democracy. Certainly not the kind our Founding Fathers intended. We live in a corporate dictatorship represented by, and beholden to, no single human being you can reason with or hold responsible for anything. Steven Van Zandt democracy simple father I was in the back of the car with my girlfriend, the Rascals came on the radio and I realized their song was sexier than the sex I was trying to have. Steven Van Zandt girlfriend song sex As most of the population suffers through life, barely surviving, disappointed and confused day after day, hopeless, wondering what happened to their strong and beautiful country, it is in the medias power to restore, if not some of our quality of life, at least a bit of our peace of mind. Steven Van Zandt strong beautiful country Timing really is nearly everything. And what it isn't, circumstance makes up for. Steven Van Zandt timing circumstances You have to love what you're doing in order to find the energy. Steven Van Zandt energy order I have a bigger mission than any kind of specific politics, which is trying to restore the accessibility of rock 'n' roll. Steven Van Zandt rock-n-roll rocks trying I didn't make that much money... Once I joined Bruce (Springsteen), I took a huge pay cut. Steven Van Zandt springsteen cutting pay Within three hours of a disaster event there should be a recon damage assessment of the infrastructure and an educated guess as to the casualties and degree of imminent human peril. Then make the airdrops of supplies and personnel. Simultaneously, Seabees would be dropped in, with lights and generators, to begin rescue efforts. Steven Van Zandt assessment effort light From the age of 14, 13, I guess I wanted to be a rock 'n' roll star. And that was it. I wanted to make a living playing rock 'n' roll, and it was a ridiculously impossible dream at that time. But it was kind of all I ever wanted to do. It's nice to do it. Steven Van Zandt nice stars dream Rock'n'roll as a genre is different from pop and hip hop: it is about bands, and that for me suggests brotherhood, family, friendship and community. Steven Van Zandt genre-is rocks hip-hop Enuff Z'nuff is one of the most underrated bands in the world! Steven Van Zandt underrated band world The quality of our lives is diminished every time we lose a great artist. It's a different world without Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Curtis Mayfield, Brian Jones and the rest. Steven Van Zandt quality different artist