Quotes by Jason Isbell - Page 3 | QuoteForever

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The more you read, the better you are at writing, no matter what you're writing. A lot of songwriters miss that and don't see the connection there, and I've always felt like you're more able to communicate if you have a bigger toolbox to work with.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Communicate
Songwriters
Work Better Always
Copy Quote
A lot of people in Nashville think that the best song is the catchiest or the one that sells the most copies. They're editing songs in a way that make them seem more consumable, I guess. I'm trying to edit them in a way that makes them more honest.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Copies
Nashville
Sells
Edit
Copy Quote
I think a lot of people are scared, and I know I was scared to get sober, at least using this as an excuse; 'I don't want to be one of those sober people.' And I don't think you have to be. I think you can be one of those people who happens to be sober.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Excuse
Scared
Sober
Copy Quote
The idea of growing up in the South and being a man is an interesting thing; there's a lot masculinity involved, with hunting, fishing, and playing sports that rural people take pride in, but at the same time, I grew up really not wanting to hate anybody.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Fishing
Hunting
Masculinity
Pride
Being A Man
Interesting Thing
Rural
Copy Quote
I think sometimes I write to impress my influences. Whether they're actually acquaintances of mine, people that I think will hear the record or not, I still write - not to imitate my influences - but to write something that would live up to their standards.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Impress
Standards
People Will Live
Acquaintances
Imitate
Influences
Copy Quote
I try to make statements that aren't broad because that doesn't make for good writing. I don't get commentary as my job, because I'm not very good at that. The way I do it is by writing songs, and I have to be small; I have to make the stories a bit personal.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Commentary
Good Writing
Statements
Broad
Copy Quote
I know it's financially lucrative to go out on my own, but I don't like it. It's really hard work, just the performance aspect. I like people who look like they've been together for too long and sound like they've been together too long. I like rock n' roll bands.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Aspect
Hard Work
Work Together Look
Work Hard Work Together
Financially
Lucrative
Copy Quote
I don't start a song with an idea of what ingredients are going to go into a song. It's not like a recipe. I will normally either talk from personal experience or I'll make a character and then try to allow that character to behave the way he or she naturally would.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Behave
Ingredients
Naturally
He Or She
Normally
Personal Experience
Recipe
Copy Quote
If you're the person whose problems were solved when you were born, your job is to try and help the people who aren't in that situation. It's very easy to say you're tired of political discussion when all of your problems are solved. I keep trying to think of it that way.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Discussion
Solved
Copy Quote
My wife may be the role model for our daughter in some ways, but I think I represent what she'll put up with. You know, I think one day she'll say, 'OK my dad behaved this way, so if whoever I happen to fall in love with behaves this way it's got to be OK because I love my dad.'
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Behaved
Role Model
Whoever
Copy Quote
I didn't know what to expect when we first started touring behind 'Southeastern' because you don't want to lull anybody to sleep or lose their attention. But it's really been incredible how the crowds seem to be just as excited for the slow, sad songs as they are for the old rockers.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Sad
Attention
Crowds
Rockers
Sleep
Touring
Expect
Lull
Slow
Sad Songs
Seem
Copy Quote
When I was writing 'Southeastern,' I'd just recently gotten sober. For me, that was a major turning point in my life. It changed things I did on a day-to-day basis. My whole routine was upended. It took me some time to get used to that and figure out how do I keep myself entertained.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Day To Day
Routine
Sober
Life Time Myself
Turning
Entertained
Turning Point
Copy Quote
When I wrote those first songs for the Truckers, songs like 'Outfit' and 'Decoration Day,' those were strong songs, very strong songs. But had I been in the position of writing an entire album at that point in time, I don't think the whole album would have been of that kind of quality.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Decoration
Outfit
Copy Quote
For a lot of folks who get sober, the process of getting and staying sober becomes their higher power, and it becomes a religion that sort of consumes a whole lot of them. I just don't think that that's necessary. I think that that can be a side note rather than the story of your life.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Religion
Folks
Higher
Higher Power
Process
Sober
Staying
Whole
Life Power Your
Life Power Religion
Becomes
Side
Consumes
Getting
Necessary
Note
Rather
Copy Quote
I'll take a certain concern of my own or a situation and try to frame it around a fictional story, but sometimes just straight-up autobiographical songs work well, and sometimes a story is better. I like stories. I like to hear them. I don't think there are enough of them in songs anymore.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Concern
Work Enough Better
Autobiographical
Work Better Enough
Fictional
Frame
Copy Quote
At the end of the day, I'm just trying to write a song that I like, that I'm not afraid to turn loose on the world. I do read a lot. I know a lot of people who read more, but I do try to keep a book in my hand most of the time, and I think that informs any kind of output that I'm going to have.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Output
Time World Day
End Of The Day
Informs
Loose
Copy Quote
Any narrative, whether it's fiction or not, you have to approach it as though it really happened to you. I think that's the only way to get inside the characters and make the narrative work. It's a storytelling tradition, and I think to come off as genuine then you have to really approach it that way.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Genuine
Narrative
Copy Quote
If you're somebody who writes songs or writes fiction, a writer that people pay for your opinion in any way, you shouldn't be the least bit uncomfortable giving it to them. People want songwriters to tell them how they think and how they feel. That's what a song is. That's what I want to hear in a song.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Songwriters
Uncomfortable
Song People Way
Copy Quote
I have modes, mental modes that I get in, and when I'm on the road, I focus very much on doing the work. On playing the show, on being good every night. And part of me just gets switched off. The part that's very private and very personal and very intimate. That especially, that part of me gets shut off.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Every Night
Intimate
Work Good Focus
Mental
Modes
Private
Shut
Switched
Copy Quote
I don't write a whole lot about one person that exists in reality; it's usually characteristics of different people that I combine into a character. I tend to think through and try and make characters behave in a natural way. I follow the character and think about what they would do, what decisions they would make.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Behave
Characteristics
Combine
Different People
Exists
Natural Way
Copy Quote
Whatever needed to be done, I need to know how to do it just as well as my wife. You know, for us to be able to really balance the parenting. It was very humbling, and it was also, um - terrifying. Because, you know, giving a baby a bath for the first time is one of the scariest things you can do on this whole earth.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Parenting
Balance
First Time
Giving
Humbling
Needed
Bath
Terrifying
Scariest
Um
Copy Quote
Early on, I had to structure my ideas of success around things like, 'Can I go back and listen to the record months or years after I made it and still get some enjoyment out of it?' Or 'Have I said what I wanted to say on this album? Did it connect with people on a personal level, even if it's a small number of people?'
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Enjoyment
Structure
Connect
Personal Level
Copy Quote
My wife and I both grew up with parents who were very young. Her mom was, I think, 17 or 18 when she was born; my mom was 15 when I was born. So, as we got older, we started thinking a lot about that - about the time that those people missed because we came along when we did and because they devoted so much of their lives to taking care of us.
Jason Isbell / Singer-Songwriter
Devoted
Missed
Copy Quote

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