Ric Ocasek Quotes

I could never be a country person, sitting around trees trying to write a song. I would rather be in the middle of society, whether it’s growing or crumbling.

Sometimes you want to run away Sometimes you think you do But you never had a dream like this before And you don’t want to ask for more Sometimes you leave a mark Before you know the score

You almost have to force yourself to stay in a vacuum to become different – if you really want to be different.

I love walking down the street and seeing faces and drama and happiness and sadness and dirt and cleanliness.

Once they’re on paper, they’re gone. I like to do as much with the words, as far as image goes.

There’s more to light than the opposite of dark.

Your high points and your low points. High points don’t last that long, it’s a high and it happens. It’s great at the moment but you really can’t live on it.

The creative part for me is making songs, and that’s what I really love the most, and that’s what I’ve always done for every band I’ve ever had.

They’re caught where there’s no way out or where you can’t see out. What are you going to do about it? I don’t have the answer. If I did there would be no insane asylums. But I see a lot of people, a lot of my friends in the same predicament. Many times in my life, I was there myself.

People tell me all the time that I look forbidding or aloof. That doesn’t bother me much – I am fairly private, withdrawn, and… distant, I guess. But, um, I think that’s okay.

I didn’t feel like gymnastics were part of The Cars. I certainly philosophically didn’t want to prod the audience to react to anything. To me, it was more like negative theater. We didn’t really talk to the audience. I didn’t see that being a part of this band.

I’ve never been on a water slide in my life.

They’re caught where there’s no way out or where you can’t see out. What are you going to do about it? I don’t have the answer. If I did there would be no insane asylums.

I’ve been in a band, so I understand the politics. Sometimes the bass player doesn’t like what the guitar player is doing, and you have to sort of even that out.

Never mind a world That can’t see past brutality Answers are getting the gas Live gestures Have constantly been used As weapons

If you want to talk about it, I got the time When you’re looking so enchanted, you cover my mind If you think I’ll wait forever, maybe you’re right There’s no such thing as now or never, there’s only twilight

As a songwriter, oddly enough, my influences were people like Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Buddy Holly. Some psychedelic stuff, too.

When you become tired of fitting in, is when you truly become yourself

Secrecy is the enemy of efficiency, but don’t let anyone know it.

I don’t think I’m an entertainer. I never think, ‘Wow, I can’t wait to get the crowd moving.’ Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch.

People sometimes say that bands sound like The Cars, but when I hear it I don’t know if they do or not.

There are a lot of bands that have a huge appeal, but I don’t understand why. Guns n’ Roses. U2. But you know, that’s just my thing. Music is pretty personal.

The most important thing to a lot of people, is to belong to something that’s hip or whatever. To be a part of something that’s not society, just a clique.

Oh oh it’s magic, when I’m with you, oh oh it’s magic, you know it’s true, got a hold on you.

When I produce other people, that’s the thing I can do well because I’ve been in a band, and I can play the political game and make everybody feel happy, and I can check their performances, and I can work on the sound while they’re being a band.

Never mind a world that can’t see past brutality.

Sometimes you want to run away, sometimes you think you do, but you never had a dream like this before and you don’t want to ask for more, sometimes you leave a mark before you know the score.

I think bands, when they’re on the road, they keep their sanity by developing an internal sense of humor.

I’m not proud of the lyrics to ‘Shake It Up.’

If I would have been in a different world Like I frequently am when I see you Oh I might have missed All the ways you try to give If only you knew what you do to me Sometimes I think about eternity If it would have been another time I wonder what you would of had in mind