Ry Cooder Quotes

All the money in the world is spent on feeling good.

These musicians, such as these Cubans in Havana, are a part of a scene that did produce great music and great musicians. They came from this tradition, so it's a good place to look. It's like prospecting: You gotta know where to look.

Bad music can make you weak.

No second chances in the land of a thousand dances, the valley of ten million insanities.

Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. For a record to be memorable and great, it has to have something of this quality. Exactly what that is, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with an atmosphere, an environment that is appealing and attractive. And the people that inhabit this environment have... almost a message for the rest of the world.

You have to be around people you trust; otherwise you can't do anything - you're afraid, you're paranoid, and you can't do any work.

Some things I like to do better than other things, but I've got to say that in the end, the thing that makes it the most interesting for me is who you're with, you know? It's people that make the difference in just about any field, right?

Los Angeles is not Mexico City, but we have many fine nightclubs and restaurants here. It is enough. One must not aim too high.

You're not born with certain skills; you have to acquire them.

Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking.

Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough.

The environment is rarely put on tape, or if it is, it's so abstract that most people never realize it. They just don't know what it means. But if you can show it to them, then that's what becomes the main instrument.

In oddball places, the electric guitar has been taken as an almost alien object - this weird, six-stringed instrument that fell down to earth and was then played loud but with traditional grace and intelligence

I always think you should push your envelope every chance you get.

Musicians communicate in other ways. That's just something you rely on.

I just feel that music is a great life, because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and you also do this for other people.

If you think you fit into a situation, it's worth trying.

If you can't get yourself understood, you may have trouble, so you need some interpretation every now and again wherever you might be.

Needless to say, you've got to have someone who can speak for you.

Once you feel that you've learned some skills and you know how to make records, the next thing is, "Do we ever get to make one that people will really like?" Because then we'll have something to do.

You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done.

Everything you do is challenging, hopefully, because if it's not, it's boring.

You should try to do something if you think you can see your way clear.

Something has to happen between you and the public, some interface that lets the public in on what you're doing.

Musicians are not so concerned with language.

There are those who make music and movies in a linear way: They plan them, they have a script. Of course, you have to have a script sometimes, but that alone isn't enough.

You can make records from now 'til doomsday, and there are something like 50,000 records released every year, but the public gets to hear very few of these. They just won't know. They might be great records, but how in the world is the public supposed to find out about them?

I have to think that somewhere on some little island in the Pacific, there's someone's who's great, but I'm probably never going to hear him.