- [on being a fan of Britney Spears] I'm not really interested in a ton of female musicians but there is something about Britney that compelled me - the way she sings and just the way she looks.
- I'm a writer first and a singer second.
- Fashion is inspired by youth and nostalgia and draws inspiration from the best of the past.
- I'm not a natural performer or exhibitionist. When I was younger, I hated the focus, and it made me feel strange.
- I used to wonder if it was God's plan that I should be alone for so much of my life. But I found peace. I found happiness within people and the world.
- When I was very young I was sort of floored by the fact that my mother and my father and everyone I knew was going to die one day, and myself too. I had a sort of a philosophical crisis. I couldn't believe that we were mortal.
- A lot of the time when I write about the person that I love, I feel like I'm writing about New York.
- I have a personal ambition to live my life honestly and honor the true love that I've had and also the people I've had around me.
- Having a simple career as a musician who liked music was good enough for me.
- I have taken taking my music to labels for years, and everyone just thought it was creepy. They thought the images with the music were weird and verging on psychotic.
- I love to sing and I really love to write, but in terms of being onstage, I'm not that comfortable, which I think is sort of clear.
- I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic.
- I've been writing since I was really young, so I considered myself a writer for a really long time.
- I'm personally more struck by visual things more than musical.
- When I was young I felt really overwhelmed and confused by the desire not to end up in an office, doing something I didn't believe in.
- In New York I pretty much live in diners - I order French Fries, Diet Coke floats and lots of coffee.
- I don't know that much about who directs what movies, but I'm definitely inspired by the look of old movies; I find them to be really beautiful.
- I'm always just surprised when someone writes something about me.
- When I walk outside, people have something to say about it.
- I don't really have any gimmicks. I don't actually do anything that's strange. I don't even wear weird things.
- I knew I wanted to do something creative. I didn't think I'd have the luxury of doing something like that, because I didn't know anyone who had pursued anything they really adored, but I had dreams for singing or writing.
- When I feel like I'm being overwhelmed it's hard to remain a guiding force. That's one reason to keep things small, play small venues, that sort of thing, which is what I always wanted to do.
- When you're an introvert like me and you've been lonely for a while, and then you find someone who understands you, you become really attached to them. It's a real release.
- [on being a fan of Amy Winehouse] Amy would be my number one whether she was here today or not.
- What I like about Marilyn [Monroe] was how nice she was to other women, how warm she was. Jackie [Kennedy Onassis] had an air of legend about her and she holds a special place in my heart. When Kurt [Cobain] died in '94, there were people in the fourth grade who knew everything about him. I didn't until I was 18, but in terms of what I like about him - just everything, anything, all of it.
- He [Eminem] really changed my life because I didn't know music could be intelligent. He was talking about his own life and he wasn't just rhyming over music for rhyme's sake... That made me think I could talk about the way things were instead of just making stupid music.
- I remember exactly when I decided that I wanted to be a singer. I was in college, [and] we went to the Indian reservation. That day I realized that I had only two options: either making music or volunteering for a good cause. I chose the first option. If it [had] not [worked], I would [have] probably [done] social work in any small town.
- I was social [as a teenager], just in a different way. I loved my teachers. I feel like kids can be hard to get along with sometimes and I don't know anyone from my school I've been to. I'm sure they were nice.
- I've been reading tabloids since I was nine. I love a good story. Some of the talking points took on a tone that really had nothing to do with me.
- I'd say no [I didn't make some choices that were different]. It's what you do when it's time for your second record. I'd written everything I wanted to write. I'd liked what I'd done, I'd liked my first record, it was autobiographical and beautiful. "Video Games" is a five-minute ballad with no instruments, it was a downscale from what I'd been doing with a fucking live orchestra. It was synthetic harps and no drums. It was a perfect melody for me, I thought it matched me. When people liked it, it was my least commercial song, it wasn't even a song anyone wanted on the Internet. It was a baby.
- My parents were lovely. They've always been supportive. When you love your child, you don't know what to do with someone who wants to do what no one else does successfully. If I had someone younger I loved, I'd be worried for them too if I didn't have guidance to give them. I was never successful in a noteworthy way, no one wrote about me, and I didn't have recognition. I've met a lot of musicians along the way who thought I was good, and they knew that was important to me. Having a simple career as a musician who liked music was good enough for me. They slowly came to understand that was going to be my future. It's changed in the last three months. I don't know what it means. It's definitely different, though.
- If I had known as many people were going to see the video [for "Video Games"] as they have, I would have made different choices. Seeing myself on the screen makes me cringe. I understand that I am that way, pouty. [Lana purses her lips] I think if that many people were going to see it, I would have made different choices. Do I regret it? I believe nothing happens by mistake. You know, the universe has a divine plan. That sounds dramatic. So I guess I don't regret it, but I can't say I'm happy with it. I'm happy with other things in my life. The video wasn't my finest moment. That's fine. [laughs]
- [January 2012] I wanted to be part of a high-class scene of musicians. It was half-inspired because I didn't have many friends, and I was hoping that I would meet people and fall in love and start a community around me, the way they used to do in the '60s. I wanted to be seen as a good singer, and not much more than that. I did find it hard to make friends, but it wasn't because of the people, but because I was sort of a cerebral person, an over-thinker. I was trying to figure out a vision for my future that would make me happy. People would be surprised to know that I live a really quiet life. I do a lot of the same things every day when I'm home. I still have the same babysitting job. I babysit twice a week. When I'm here that's what I do, because it's something I've been doing for a while. But I've been travelling a lot.
- [on her album Ultraviolence] It's a little more stripped down but still cinematic and dark. I've been working on it really slowly but I love everything I've done. I've been writing in Santa Monica and I know what the record sounds like. Now I just have to finish it. Musically I've worked with the same three guys.
- Well, smoking is one of them [guilty pleasures]. Sugar, coffee. I must have 13 cups a day. It's a shame about the health consequences because a lot of great things happen over coffee and a cigarette. A lot of great songs were written... Yeah. I'm a chain-smoker. Dude, I have to [smoke while performing live on stage]. I can't get through it... I'm a chain-smoker. If people come and see you at a show for 80 minutes they literally know everything about you. With 5,000 people coming, they film you so the people in the back can see you on the screens. There isn't a moment when you can turn around and gather yourself. Everything you feel, everything you're emoting, is just there. I have toured so much more than I thought I would; I thought I would be more of a studio singer. But I toured Europe for two years.
- I'm not gonna lie - I had complex feelings about spending the weekend dancing whilst watching tensions w[ith] North Korea mount. I find It's a tightrope between being vigilantly observant of everything going on in the world and also having enough space and time to appreciate God's good earth the way it was intended to be appreciated. On my way home I found myself compelled to visit an old favorite place of mine at the rim of the world highway where I took a moment to sit down by the sequoia grove and write a little song. I just wanted to share this in hopes that one individual's hope and prayer for peace might contribute to the possibility of it in the long run. Hope everyone has a nice day, with love from California.
- God knows I live / God knows I died / God knows I begged / Begged, borrowed and cried / God knows I loved / God know I lied / God knows I lost / God gave me life / And God knows I tried
- I'm actually a Cancer, I was born at 4:47 PM.
- [2012] My publicists, in their long career, say they have never seen someone be more fictionalised. I know what people say about me and I'm not really that concerned, because those kind of problems I'm not really interested in. I'm concerned about the potential collapse of the euro, the state of the global economy. We have serious problems. Of course I hope the record does really well but, regardless of how things end up turning out, I'm not concerned about my future. I'll be OK.
- [2014] I sort of have an affinity for really good, strong, self-assured people. I would say I haven't met them as much in people who are in their 20s. So for me, I have nothing in common necessarily with somebody who's in their 20s - yet. That I know of, thus far. I'm really looking for an equal.
- [2014, on having stage fright from early on] That's why I really liked Cat Power, because I felt like I really understood her. She was a person who really meant a lot to me, just knowing that it was okay to start your performance with your back to the audience, at first, if you really couldn't face it. I mean, a lot of the time I just really felt like, 'I'm not really sure if I can do it.' But I mean, I've gotten better.
- Everyone in Town thinks that you're so cool!/ Come on everyone to the Boarding School!
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content