Top 169 Quotes & Sayings by Joan Jett - Page 2

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Joan Jett.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
I'm a good person.
It's easier to sit there and say you don't like feminists because they don't have a sense of humor.
Before I settled on music, I wanted to be an archaeologist, an astronaut, all sorts of really diverse things. — © Joan Jett
Before I settled on music, I wanted to be an archaeologist, an astronaut, all sorts of really diverse things.
I think I look better in darker clothes. And maybe the fact that I wear black so much makes me more aware of putting people at ease.
My job is intense. It's very physical.
I was in drama, wanted to be an actor.
We all make judgments on people, but some are much more brutal than others. It's easy to say, 'Ya know, I'm not crazy about what she's wearing,' but you don't have to be nasty about it, and you don't have to be public about it.
I've always got something to say.
A lot of the songs I've recorded are songs I write.
I remember times when I was at shows and the person onstage locked eyes with me. And in that moment, everything was right with the world. I think that's part of my job, to create these thousands of moments every night. And for the rest of their life, they can say, 'You guys looked at me,' or 'You sweated on me,' or 'I got your gum.'
One of the mistakes I made was believing that the rock n' roll genre as a genre was much more free than the whole pop or R&B scene.
I know music is subjective.
I don't know if I get recognized necessarily, though I do get looked at a lot - but I don't know if it's because of who I am, or if people just think I look weird. — © Joan Jett
I don't know if I get recognized necessarily, though I do get looked at a lot - but I don't know if it's because of who I am, or if people just think I look weird.
Things work in cycles.
I'm not a list person.
Beyond just writing about falling in love and out of love and wanting to do certain things and going out and partying and all the things that I grew up writing about, I want to write about deeper things.
A lot of people ask me why I don't expand and explore other musical areas, but I like the plain three- and four-chord rock-and-roll that I call the the semi-blues.
I don't like to say where I'll be in 10 years.
People are very sincere in their praise, and you can't take it lightly.
I like the way black looks. I think I look better in darker clothes. And maybe the fact that I wear black so much makes me more aware of putting people at ease. The black is sort of the bad-guy guise, so I work overtime to make people comfortable.
Disharmony is natural in any band.
I've done some acting and a lot of different things, but mostly it's the music.
When you're onstage and the audience is smiling and singing and bopping along and you're all on the same level, it's the best feeling in the world. It may sound dumb and corny to say it, but it's like pure love.
Cutting meat out of your diet is the best thing you can do for animals and your own health.
I'm not necessarily intimidated by really jocky guys. I can talk football with them, you know what I mean?
I have a tough time judging myself.
I do not knowingly kill any living thing - including insects or rodents - and I thank my food for sustaining me.
I leave for the show at least an hour ahead, and I do some vocal warm-ups, and that's pretty much it.
Performance-wise, you really need to be down in the trenches; you need to do the hard work, for a lot of reasons: To build yourself as a performer, to get a sense of the audience, to work hard and to wonder, 'Do I really want to do this?'
You know I don't care if the world thinks I'm smart or not.
Well, I'll tell you, I don't know how aware teenagers are of me. I think it really depends on the teenager and how well-versed in music they are and what kind of music they like.
Obviously, some people are thick, and they're not gonna see what they don't want to see.
The media says that equality for women has arrived, but if you look around, you still don't see girls playing guitars and having success with it.
Women are still second-class citizens.
You want to have butterflies in your stomach, because if you don't, if you walk out onstage complacent, that's not a good thing.
At this point, a lot of people have made their mind up about me one way or another. I'm sure there's a certain segment of writers who won't ever give me the time of day, hate me, don't get me, don't think I'm good, or whatever. I guess that's fine. It's only an opinion. There are other people who do get it, and can be objective. I could be wrong, but a lot of people, except for really young people, have made up their minds one way or the other.
You gotta not care about what people think in general about you. I'm not talking about bad stuff, if you're a nasty person, because I don't consider myself a mean person, I consider that I know what i want and I'm tough. But I'm very emotional and un-tough on a lot of levels, I cry very easily, I'm sensitive and I don't think that's a bad thing.
Being the first is kind of dirty, and it's great — © Joan Jett
Being the first is kind of dirty, and it's great
Just be yourself and everything will fall in line, the way it's supposed to be. If you're yourself, that's the best thing you can do, because you can never go "damn if I'd only been myself." Live an authentic life and you don't have to worry about your reputation.
In pop music, you say, 'You can do what you want to me.' Rock 'n' roll says, 'I'm gonna do what I want to you.'
I love rock and roll, so put another dime in the juke box, baby.
That was exactly why people didn't want to give us any kind of life, because we were threatening their status quo, and they just didn't want to have room for girls playing rock 'n' roll. It bothered them. First, people just tried to get around it by saying, "Oh, wow, isn't that cute? Girls playing rock 'n' roll!," and when we said, "Yeah, right, this isn't a phase; it's what we want to do with our lives," it became, "Oh! You must be a bunch of sluts. You dykes, you whores." That's what it became. Then it became a name-calling contest.
Happiness doesn't necessarily lie in material things. You just have to put yourself in a position to be happy. If you can do what you love for a living, that's a good start.
Women play cellos and violins in symphony orchestras. They're playing Beethoven and Bach. What do you mean they can't play rock and roll?
Rock and roll by its nature is sexual. So girls playing rock and roll is saying to the world, "We own our sexuality." I think that pop music is sort of about "you can do what you want to me" kind of energy, while rock and roll is "I'm going to do what I want to you" kind of energy.
I don't give a damn about my reputation. You're living in the past, it's a new generation.
Girls have got balls. They're just a little higher up, that's all.
I remember thinking that Janis Joplin sang like Mae West talked. When I first heard the primal scream in 'Piece Of My Heart,' I was hooked. 'Cheap Thrills,' Janis 'Live' with Big Brother And The Holding Company, was one of my all time faves. During the 'whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa's' in 'Combination Of Two,' I couldn't help but go to the mirror and pretend I was a wild woman like Janis, in a rock band.
If you are gonna live your life, just try to not be crazy, have fun but have some focus and some purpose and try to know what that is. If you don't know now, try to figure it out.
The only good thing you ever said was goodbye. — © Joan Jett
The only good thing you ever said was goodbye.
The thing I get out of it is the connection. I remember going to shows as a kid and meeting eyes with the people in the band, and knowing they are meeting eyes with you, and that moment, that smile, and that's your moment. I want to create millions of little moments for other people.
I started The Runaways with Sandy West. We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer. So underrated, she was the caliber of John Bonham. I am overcome from the loss of my friend. I always told her, we changed the world.
A girl can do what she wants to do / And that's what I'm gonna do.
I don't really care if you think I'm strange--I ain't gonna change!
Success isn't one straight line - it's a ladder, and there's always another rung above you to reach out for. Like anything else, there are ups and downs.
A girl playing rock and roll, it's saying I own my sexuality and I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. And I think people just find that threatening.
Something happens, you can't even put your finger on it, and then you don't quite feel the same way anymore. All of a sudden, there's fights or something and you are going "who is this person?" I've seen this happen to other people and it has happened to me.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Make your own victories. Make your own mistakes.
I don't wait till stage to use my sexuality. My zipper's down right now. I mean, I use it all the time.
I'm really happy doing what I'm doing. I'm not looking to do anything else. I love what I do. I love music. I love playing. I love touring.
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