Songwriting's a weird game. I never intended to become one - I fell into this by mistake, and I can't get out of it. It fascinates me. I like to point out the rawer points of life. Keith Richards More Quotes by Keith Richards More Quotes From Keith Richards I've always been suspicious of TV, I've always found music and video to be an unhappy marriage. Keith Richards atheism marriage unhappy There's just certain styles of playing that you do play in your own way. Maybe it's in the way your fingers bend, for all I know. And so whenever you pick up the guitar it's not so much the sound of the instrument itself, it's like the ting that you add onto it-the attitude. Keith Richards guitar play attitude If you're gonna get wasted, get wasted elegantly. Keith Richards ifs In fact, I take the view that God, in his infinite wisdom, didn't bother to spring for two joints - heaven and hell. They're the same place, but heaven is when you get everything you want and you meet Mummy and Daddy and your best friends and you all have a hug and a kiss and play your harps. Hell is the same place - no fire and brimstone - but they just all pass by and don't see you. There's nothing, no recognition. You're waving, “It's me, your father,” but you're invisible. You're on a cloud, you've got your harp, but you can't play with nobody because they don't see you. That's hell. Keith Richards kissing spring father Whatever side I take, I know well that I will be Keith Richards wells sad sides I don't encourage anybody to do what I do, you know? Why should you? More for me! Keith Richards do-you-know should knows One minute I'm standing at Ronnie Scott's getting a standing ovation and the next minute, I'm on a marble slab Keith Richards ovation next minutes There's no substitute for live work to keep a band together. Keith Richards substitutes band together I have no idea what the audience makes of me. Keith Richards no-idea audience ideas To me, it's important to prove that this isn't just teenage kids' s**t and you should feel embarrassed when you're over forty and still doing it. Keith Richards teenage important kids And it was a very, very fruitful and great relationship between the Stones and The Beatles. It was very, very friendly. Keith Richards great-relationship stones friendly No broken hearts, no broken necks. Keith Richards necks broken heart What's the big deal about still working? Retirement age is sixty-five, and that's at a normal job - and I ain't there yet. Keith Richards age retirement jobs I personally believe that most people that play an instrument would be able to write a few songs here and there. But they say, "I tried, I can't do it" and give up and don't try it again; they get too discouraged. Keith Richards giving-up song believe The only new technology that interests me is when it sort of throws me back soundwise. And I can think, "Wow, that means I can go onstage and sound like Scotty Moore now and again!" Keith Richards technology mean thinking I've never had my hair cut by anybody, I do it all myself. Keith Richards hair-cut cutting hair What interested me about Chuck Berry was the way he could step out of the rhythm part with such ease, throwing in a nice, simple riff, and then drop straight into the feel of it again. We used to play a lot more rhythm stuff. We'd do away with the differences between lead and rhythm guitar. You can't go into a shop and ask for a "lead guitar". You're a guitar player, and you play a guitar. Keith Richards nice player simple Art is the last thing I'm worried about when I'm writing a song. As far as I'm concerned, art is just short for 'Arthur.' Keith Richards writing song art One guy can ruin an instrument. Jimi Hendrix, bless his heart - how I wish he was still around - almost inadvertently ruined guitar. Because he was the only cat who could do it like that. Everybody else just screwed it up, and thought wailing away (on the guitar) is the answer. But it ain't; you've got to be a Jimi to do that, you've got to be one of the special cats. Keith Richards guitar cat heart You know, the BBC had not been particularly generous in its deliverance of blues and esoteric kinds of music. Keith Richards esoteric deliverance kind
