Will Oldham

I write a song to be recorded. And to some extent to be performed, but definitely more to be recorded than performed, because the recording will last longer than a performance.

When I was a kid, I always thought that acting was going to be the way to go.

I think that what trips up a lot of great musicians is that they become involved with too many things that aren't where their strengths lie.

I figure it's okay to make certain rules, whether or not people despise you for it at the time.

Whenever I see something that looks like it could be good - whether it's on vinyl, CD or cassette - if it's not too expensive, I'll take a chance.

Cities are made for enemies to destroy.

I don't like the idea of being surrounded by hidden things; people you can't see in buildings and cars.

I think records and music are more appropriate and more respectful of the human soul than the churches are. And more respectful of the needs of humans to communicate with the aspects of themselves that are neglected by language.

What is normally called religion is what I would tend to call music - participating in music, listening to music, making records and singing.

As it turns out, as an adult I can have a very unpleasant, fierce and unforgiving temper at times. But I don't think I had that when I was a kid.

Writing songs is a profession; so it's not an attempt to take things from my interactions with other people and for some reason give them to a total stranger to listen to. I find it offensive to hear other people do that.

I make the songs and part of making them is singing them. But what you hear is not me. It's the song. It's through me.

People are looking for fame or a focus, and I can't provide that.

Too much emphasis is put on American roots music when people try and place me. You know, I grew up listening to punk.

I do not want a personal relationship with my fans. Or to do anything that encourages them to think they have one with me. They can have a personal relationship with my songs. That's fine, but they don't know me.

I'd like my records to reach as many people as possible, but I'm also thinking in terms of how I can keep from getting jaded or unhappy with the process.

I think everybody works from a defensive position, for the most part, in the film industry.

I don't like going to cities. I don't mind maybe being in a city sometimes for a few hours, but I pretty much don't like cities. I don't even like passing through them.

I like rural areas.

Sometimes we need to tell ourselves that we're not going to do certain things, just in order to stay sane.

It's O.K. to accept good fortune.

I really hate press.

It is more rewarding to be complicit with scarcity than excess.

I think that America in general is piratical. Every time we accept a paycheck for doing almost nothing, allowing us to live above the poverty line, we're engaging in piracy.

I have more respect for somebody who points at his ideal - in this case, the ideal of the pirate - and then becomes something that's more radical, more exciting, more subversive than a pirate could ever be.