Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Julien Baker

I think there's seasons of life. It oscillates.

Everybody wants to have an empirical analysis of a relationship ending, but sometimes there's not that much clarity, and that's OK.

Connecting with people who are able to maintain a sense of humility is really useful.

Music is everything. Evidence of the divine. The possibility of man to be good. The possibility of improving our surroundings and expressing ourselves. All of these things are collapsed together in my mind.

With my own music, I'm much more reluctant to say, you know, 'This record slaps!'

Spotify stresses me the hell out.

Many of my songs just come together in quatrains because that's how a hymn goes.

It's not like a choice to have an identity politics discussion when you're living it all the time. And if it's uncomfortable, well then maybe the way that we need to deal with that is by letting things be uncomfortable.

Cameron Esposito is a musician and podcaster from the States and she's hilarious.

I love 'Exit West' by Mohsin Hamid. It's a magical realism retelling of the refugee experience, where people find these magical doors that transport them to another country.

I'm not going to force your participation in a conversation, I'm going to say I can be an example that these things can exist and don't have to be mutually exclusive. Like being a queer artist and being a Christian. Those things don't have to be mutually exclusive and I'm just going to be honest about them so that you know.

My parents were always playing records: My mom was really into the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac, and my dad was more Billy Squire, Whitesnake, '80s hair metal. But I think there's that crucial point where you become an adolescent and you don't want to listen to your parents' music.

There are people I haven't seen for a year and we will do a show or something and when we hang out it'll be this instant endearment. I'm like, 'Our lives, the cosmos, are intersecting, and this will bring us closer together again. I have no doubt.'

I'm always nervous.

We always have a great time touring Germany, but one of my favourite museums in the world is Museum Ludwig, an incredible contemporary art museum in Cologne. I could spend all day in it.

The midterms are a chance for people to vote out those they believe are failing to address the concerns of citizens.

Especially with women in music there is this unnecessary competitive element. And, like, why? Why do people do things where they try to put peers up against each other?

If I have the choice of saying one of two things to people, I'd like it to be the more honest and hopeful thing.

I don't think that you can just walk through life without all of your experiences informing your perspective on the world.

I had a hot-pink mohawk in high school, and when I came out everyone was like, 'We don't care.'

I feel like I've had bad nights or destructive nights or nights where I don't remember anything or nights where I was seriously injured or seriously in danger. And I remained nihilistic and unconcerned because it felt like there was no alternative.

I'm not losing the wonder in playing music.

There is something familial about punk. There is something positive. Even though some punk is destructive, nihilistic, explosive.

We think empathy is innate, but it's not. It's a muscle you're working.

When I talk about what I'm feeling, I can get outside of it and analyze it. I think that process, especially on 'Sprained Ankle,' happened after it was recorded. All of those songs are just documentations of how I felt at that time. I was writing them because I needed to.

Passivity is a tacit endorsement of evil we are too afraid to oppose actively.

When you have an addictive personality, you fixate upon things easily. Routines and behaviors, and ritual, becomes very important.

I am voting in the midterm elections because I believe that when people engage with their local government, it reminds those placed in power that they are public servants who will be held accountable for their decisions.

Sometimes you want to complain and be like, 'Why? Life is so horrible.' But it doesn't change that there are redeeming qualities and a universal capacity for redemption and grace. There are still things that make it worth it and bearable.

I do not want to make art and then try to dictate how people use it, or how people interact with it.

I think it's possible for Tennessee to be flipped to a Democratic majority, which would be beneficial to enacting policies that I would like to see, but beyond party allegiance, we have an opportunity to involve ourselves in change that will empower us not just now but in the future.

Writing songs has always been a process where I divulge a lot, just because music is a tool for me to sift through and process intense emotions. But having music be my primary occupation has changed how I interact with art.

It's just nice to have people around and see people actively trying to construct a community of mutual support around music.

I didn't grow up on country and blues, I was just a kid listening to VH1 and then I realized I needed to expand my musical horizons. Now I have a deep appreciation for southern heritage music.

My music is not always about getting my ideas heard, it's about letting other people feel empowered to have their ideas heard by example.

I was a very emotional teenager. But I wish that I could tell myself that I matter more than I think. Things are a bigger deal than I think they are, but they're also not as big a deal as I think they are. My mistakes are not the end of the world.

There are people who are explicit and people who are implicit, right? Like I say, 'I think there is a God,' but I've seen Christian metalcore bands do altar calls at their shows and be like, 'Come get saved right now.' I think there's a subtler way, which is to say I'm being honest with my beliefs.

It's super cool to me when my manager screencapped Sharon Van Etten saying my album is great on Twitter and I about cried 'cause she's a hero. And that led to... I got to have lunch with her! I got to meet a hero!

The goal of embodying Christian ethics - if you want to call yourself a Christian - is being patient and loving with your neighbor.

I think what kids who like heavy music are really looking for is the honesty and candour of it.

It's like a cosmic joke that people dream to perform in front of a huge crowd. But it is a welcomed challenge. I hope I always have that positive apprehension.

I make sure I'm appreciative and can an encounter the world in a humble way.

I played with a band, and the lead singer would always introduce me as 'the 13-year-old lead guitarist.' I didn't want to be a novelty, like 'Oh, she has three arms! Check her out.' But I've learned to accept it as more of a compliment.

I hate those articles - this is a pet peeve of mine - like move over X, here's the new Y. And it's just like, X didn't become obsolete because there's a person doing a similar thing. You also don't have to be like the new old-thing, you're just the current you-thing.

All of my favorite hymns are admissions of faults, and finding redemption even in those.

I feel really privileged to have gracious and merciless people with a lot of perspective and patience in my life.

I love Hank Williams, he's the original emo kid. Some of his lyrics remind me of, like, Promise Ring lyrics.

Those parts of myself that are too ugly or dangerous are precisely the things I feel convicted to share.

The more blessings or resources you have at your disposal, the more I become aware of... how should I steward this? It's supposed to be an investment that I can turn around and create art that gives something to other people. Ugh, that sounds like the most Miss America answer of all time.

My harmonies on 'Me & My Dog' are a little extra.

The more we can personalise, the more the market can fragment, because of all the availability that streaming presents. Things become old sooner. That's terrifying.

The thing that is comforting about being a touring musician is whenever I say bye to my friends, I'm like, 'I don't know when I'll see you again but it'll be sooner than I think and if it's not soon then it won't matter.'

Some songs just fall out of you. And some you have to wrestle out like an abscess.

I hope we can dismantle the idea that the entire south is sitting on our porches spitting tobacco and hating gay people.

It used to be you would need a couple grand to make a record at a studio. Now, you can do it on freaking GarageBand.

Often, small things give me hope when big things feel so oppressively bleak.

I do have a little bit of trouble with candor around the things that I used to do. I think it's probably just resultant of shame and embarrassment and not wanting to be defined by the life that I used to live.

There are a bunch of talented bands out there... So yeah, I often think, 'Why aren't these people onstage and why do I have a microphone?'

Writing from life is how I feel most comfortable.

I like it when I go to a city and it puts its personality out there to be readily experienced.