Courtney Barnett Quotes

When I was on the road with Billy Bragg, it was cool because I was doing the whole thing solo and travel a lot by myself, which I quite like. I mean, I love being with friends, but it's kind of nice having that alone time.

I just get bored really quickly and want to push myself to the next level.

Sometimes I have something stuck in my head and that directs the rhyme that I'm writing with.

The first song I wrote was called 'You,' and it was a love song about somebody who didn't even exist.

I've never really had a certain style of music in mind that I make, or am really adamant on how something should sound, but I like the process of not knowing, of just seeing what happens and what comes out.

Artists thrive off each other, and when you see other people doing cool stuff, it inspires you to do cool stuff.

It's easier to be angry. It's harder to be positive and happy, I reckon.

I don't know anything except being female, so I don't know the opposite of it.

I'm self-deprecating - I spend a lot of time telling myself that things are OK, as opposed to having to tell myself to get over things.

Leaving the house is a big enough occasion for me, so getting on a plane and flying across the world and playing to a room full of people is just out of this world.

History Eraser

I got drunk and fell asleep atop the sheets but luckily i left the heater on.
And in my dreams i wrote the best song that i've ever written...can't remember how it goes.
I stayed drunk and fell awake and i was cycling on a plane and far away i heard you say you liked me.
We drifted to a party -- cool. The people went to arty school. They made their paints by mixing acid wash and lemonade

In my brain I re-arrange the letters on the page to spell your name

I found an ezra pound and made a bet that if i found a cigarette i'd drop it all and marry you.
Just then a song comes on: "you can't always get what you want" -- the rolling stones, oh woe is we, the irony!
The stones became the moss and once all inhibitions lost, the hipsters made a mission to the farm.
We drove by tractor there, the yellow straw replaced our hair, we laced the dairy river with the cream of sweet vermouth.

In my brain I re-arrange the letters on the page to spell your name

You said "we only live once" so we touched a little tongue, and instantly i wanted to...
I lost my train of thought and jumped aboard the Epping as the doors were slowly closing on the world.
I touched on and off and rubbed my arm up against yours and still the inspector inspected me.
The lady in the roof was living proof that nothing really ever is exactly as it seems.

In my brain I re-arrange the letters on the p

I liked the idea of being a photographer, just that you take this one picture of this one thing that'll never happen again - it's a bit weird when you think about it.

I reckon that growing up, listening to so much different music, I think over time I just kind of sucked it all in and it probably comes back out through my music.

I have a normal life; I don't do anything crazy.

I started writing songs when I started learning guitar.

If I make a wrong decision, I worry what might have been. I stress out over very insignificant things.

I grew up listening to Nirvana and then went through some bad '90s pop stuff - a lot of Australian one-hit wonders.

When I was a teen, or like 18 to early 20s, I used to go to festivals all the time. I'd save all my money.

I just want to be self-sustainable so that I can continue to just do what I like to do and not make a million dollars. Nobody needs a million dollars.

What's funny about the slacker thing, people project an image of what they think a musician is: young, slack, unemployed - like a really romantic idea of a poet, writer or musician - which isn't really true a lot of the time. I don't reckon you would know anything about me if I wasn't moderately hard-working.

You can't read when you're traveling with other people; it always feels a bit rude.

An album is a thing you take time out and go work on.

I think that a good song is catchy, and a great song is not catchy - but it has a deeper meaning.

Obviously, the more you tour, the more comfortable you get.

I never planned to be a professional artist - I just want to be a sustainable artist. I guess they're the same thing if you look at them from a different angle.

If I write something down, it's normally just a sharp one-liner.

Festivals are always fun. I went to a lot when I was younger and had money to go to them. I like playing at festivals. They're always kind of like a big, crazy circus.

When I started Milk! Records, it was a pretty non-profit making venture.

Everyone writes in whatever way feels comfortable to them. People write songs because maybe they don't feel so comfortable talking about whatever matters.

I played in school jazz bands and tried to start rock bands, but nobody was interested.

Dad sometimes sends me texts saying, 'Just heard you on the radio, thumbs up', or whatever. So that's pretty cute.

I keep a journal and just kind of take notes. I don't really so much sit down and write songs - I just take a lot of notes, and sometimes I sit down and put them all together.

The music, I think, is just as important as the lyrics; it portrays the emotion of the song. I play the kind of music that I want to listen to.

It was cool at the rock camp - girls could just be themselves and they could be silly, they could roll around on the floor playing guitar.

I try to take notes of things that happen that I think are important or interesting or just little tidbits here and there that happen in life. And some of it's even just one line or like a saying and I just go off that.