Paul Westerberg Quotes

A rock'n'roll band needs to be able to get under people's skin. You should be able to clear the room at the drop of a hat.

I forever felt that I've fallen right between the crack of way too young for the first generation of classic rock 'n' roll and too old to be brand-new. It's hard.

The ones that love us least, are the ones we'll die to please.

The soul of rock 'n' roll is mistakes, and making mistakes work for you. The people who shy away from mistakes and play it safe have no business playing rock 'n' roll.

Stick with your heart and you'll be fine.

Reading music is like listening to flowers. I don't understand the concept.

Nobody can miss you unless you go away.

It's fun, but the fun is where it always was. I mean, it's still fun to strap on my Les Paul in the basement and turn up the Marshall amp. I'm still 15. I still enjoy that as much as I ever did.

The hack songwriter will write the absolute truth every single word, whether it makes a great song or not.

I'm beyond caring what anyone expects of me anymore.

The best I can say is that it's better for me to write about despair and darkness than to be incapable of getting off the sofa. It's better to write about suicide than to contemplate it too heavily.

I'm not dissatisfied with my place in it rock 'n' roll.

I'd been through crappy day jobs and stupid garage bands. I was determined to make it as a musician.

The sheer volumes of songs have come from the hours of cold and darkness that one spends inside with the lights on.

Any musician who can stop may be a musician, but they're no artist. If it's in your blood, it can't stop flowing.

I used to write things that might have sounded better coming out of an older person's voice or vision. Hence, "grandpa-boy." I'm an old man, but I'm a boy. A really old boy!

People like to see human error when it’s honest. When people see you swing and miss, they start to root for you.

The truth is overrated.

Having a diverse sense of taste - or lack of taste - I loved so many different things. I was drawn to the stupidity and excitement of glam, I had a thorough upbringing in rhythm and blues.

Nobody gets married to a clever song, let alone falls in love to one.

I think it should be evident by now, but I'm as lost as anyone.

There is that unpredictability of the seasons that I enjoy. I like the threat of a tornado. I like the threat of four feet of snow.

Some records are timeless, and some absolutely sound of their day.

We [The Replacements] formed as a rock and roll band, and that was the path we chose to take. Whenever we deviated from it we felt, unless everybody was into it, there was tension.

I'm hard-pressed to think of a lot of great rock movies.

It's like, it's up to the people to fall in love with the song. The record company can only do so much.

Then again, I think about high school every day and I think about being a little kid every day too.

I've had more people in my life take their lives than... I think it's out of proportion with most people. I think a lot of them gravitate towards me because of the music.

I think of the Replacements only when they're brought up to me. For two years, I'm at home, they don't really cross my mind. I still hear them on the radio. I'm not ashamed of anything we did.

I didn't wake up one morning and not be in the Replacements. We're all that forever, and I've just grown older. I mean, I haven't lost anything. I've gained a few things.