7 Quotes & Sayings By Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom is the acclaimed singer-songwriter of acclaimed albums like Frog and Peach, which was named one of the best albums of the decade by Rolling Stone. Born in San Francisco, Joanna studied trombone at the California Institute for the Arts. She moved to England to read English at Cambridge University, where she met her husband, d'arcy Wretzky. Wretzky played in a post-punk band called The Blue Jeans and appeared on a Peel Session with Newsom Read more

The two formed a duo called The Milk Carton Kids, which recorded one album and two EPs. In 2006 they won a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for "Best Duo". In 2008 they were nominated for a Mercury Prize.

In 2010, Newsom released her critically acclaimed third studio album, The Milk-Eyed Mender. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Grammy Award and has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

1
Maybe a good goal would be to just at least always try to create something good. Like something that is connected to love in some way. Like the [musical] equivalent of…you can make a decision to be kind. You can make a decision to greet people kindly and make jokes with people and connect. Joanna Newsom
2
The thing that I was experiencing and dwelling on the entire time is that there are so many things that are not OK and that will never be OK again. But there’s also so many things that are OK and good that sometimes it makes you crumple over with being alive. We are allowed such an insane depth of beauty and enjoyment in this lifetime. It’s what my dad talks about sometimes. He says the only way that he knows there’s a God is that there’s so much gratuitous joy in this life. And that’s his only proof. There’s so many joys that do not assist in the propagation of the race or self-preservation. There’s no point whatsoever. They are so excessively, mind-bogglingly joy-producing that they distract from the very functions that are supposed to promote human life. They can leave you stupefied, monastic, not productive in any way, shape or form. And those joys are there and they are unflagging and they are ever-growing. And still there are these things that you will never be able to feel OK about—unbearably awful, sad, ugly, unfair things. Joanna Newsom
3
I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight No I was all horns and thorns sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright. Joanna Newsom
4
In the sinking sand, where we’ve come to rest, have I had a hand in your loneliness? Joanna Newsom
5
Among the responsibilities of any writer is that, no matter what else, they know what they mean. So, even if no one else knows what you're talking about, you do. The listener can sense that, even if they don't get the literal meaning. The faith that they place in the clues and the connections and the secrets of the lyrics is of the utmost importance. Joanna Newsom
6
I wasn't interested in writing music that wasn't beautiful for me to listen to. Joanna Newsom