There's timing. And then there's also certain people at the record company who worked incredibly hard and were incredibly enthusiastic about what I was doing. Mary Chapin Carpenter More Quotes by Mary Chapin Carpenter More Quotes From Mary Chapin Carpenter It's a marvelous feeling when someone says I want to do this song of yours because they've connected to it. That's what I'm after. Mary Chapin Carpenter music song appreciation We all have two lives. The one we are given and the one we create. Mary Chapin Carpenter given inspirational two Life is never a straight line - it's peaks and valleys. Why would you want to be the same person every day of your life? Mary Chapin Carpenter valleys lines life Carry with you maps and string, flashlights, friends who make you sing, and stars to help you find your place, music, hope, and amazing grace. Mary Chapin Carpenter best-laid-plans stars grace And I can tell by the way you're searching Mary Chapin Carpenter light sea night Gather up your telegrams Mary Chapin Carpenter music stars book In this world, you've a soul for a compass and a heart for a pair of wings. Mary Chapin Carpenter soul heart wings Some people say that you should not tempt fate and for them I cannot disagree, but I never learned anything from playing it safe. I say fate should not tempt me. Mary Chapin Carpenter fate education people God forgives somehow we have yet to learn the same. Mary Chapin Carpenter god-forgives forgiveness forgiving I like to feel that every day or most days, I do a little bit of writing. I am a creature of habit in terms of the way I live. Mary Chapin Carpenter writing littles way My sisters and I were fortunate to travel through Asia and Europe at very young ages. We confronted extraordinary beauty in Athens and unspeakable poverty in India. Mary Chapin Carpenter extraordinary-beauty europe travel Was it a light only she could see? A gypsy's spell? A mystery? Mary Chapin Carpenter gypsy mystery light I think on a stage in front of thousands of people is a wildly invigorating and amazing experience, and it requires a certain skill set; then being in the studio, and being curled up in the fetal position under the piano, that requires another skill set. Mary Chapin Carpenter piano skills thinking The bedrock thing of country music is, it's about storytelling. I feel like I was able to find a niche because I connected to that in some way. Mary Chapin Carpenter able country way I feel like they're different creatures, live and in the studio, but that's what makes it so interesting to me. If they didn't have any different shadings or colors, you might as well be a hologram or something. Mary Chapin Carpenter color different interesting I think topical songwriting is a real gift, and it's hard not to be pedantic and show up with the sledgehammer message. Mary Chapin Carpenter real messages thinking I grew up listening to everything, and when I got signed to a record deal out of Nashville, that was my introduction to what was happening in country music. Mary Chapin Carpenter nashville listening country I've never... when I was having songs on the airwaves, and that sort of thing, I never felt a sense of pressure anywhere except from myself, to do things the way I wanted to do them; to feel authentic; to feel like I was presenting my true self to the world. Mary Chapin Carpenter self song world Every sleepy boy and girl in every bed around the world- Can hear the stars up in the sky whispering a lullaby Mary Chapin Carpenter girl stars children As far as politically how country music goes, it's true that it's regarded from a distance as a genre of music that at different times, the more right elements of the political spectrum have claimed for their own. Mary Chapin Carpenter distance political country