I've always been in this sort of perpetual state of existential longing. I feel like something's missing.
— Juliana Hatfield
People in L.A. don't have to brace themselves against the cold; they slack off permanently, and their brains turn to mush.
Music is so hard. It's a struggle to get people to care. It's hard to make an impact in today's world because people aren't buying records anymore.
Playing a show is a monumental hassle. You've got to schlep all your heavy equipment into the van, then you've got to drive for five hours, then you have to schlep all the heavy equipment out of the van, onto the stage, set it up, do the sound check, hang around for three hours, then play the show, which is incredibly draining.
I wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl - long before I was a musician and a songwriter.
I can't believe I got a major-label record deal. My music was quirky, and my voice was so odd and high and girlish, it was like a weird novelty act.
Harmonies come really naturally to me. I don't have to labor too hard over them. I'll sing a lead vocal, and then I will immediately have all of these other ideas for vocal harmonies. I think that some of the most fun parts of recording, for me, are the vocal harmonies.
I'm pretty good with languages. I know a bit of French and actually want to live in France some day so that I can get fluent. I think it'd be tragic to go through life only knowing one language.
I've seen quite a bit of the world, but I really like Sweden and feel like I could live there some day.
People don't analyze Britney Spears' lyrics 'cause they're so obvious, you know? And her image is so kind of blah and mainstream that who really wants to read between the lines, because it's all so out there in front of you and boring and white bread.
It may seem strange, but the most grateful I've ever felt was when I was held up at gunpoint. After I handed over my wallet and the mugger ran off into the woods, I thought, 'Thank you for not shooting me.' I was overwhelmingly glad to be alive and unharmed.
Everything's been a struggle for me.
Keanu Reeves is, like, the worst actor I've ever seen. I can't believe he's a movie star.
I think everyone's pretty much the same underneath. The collective unconscious is a real thing. There's only a few emotions, and we all have them. There's, like, seven emotions. So personal is universal. Everyone experiences confusion, joy and pain, just in different forms.
I get a little sick of myself as a solo artist. I get a little bit bored.
At heart I am a librarian, a bird-watcher, a transcendentalist, a gardener, a spinster, a monk.
I feel some kind of duty to be really, really honest as a writer. The same is true of my songwriting.
I've always been a loner, and I've spent most of my life as a single person.
Puerto Ricans who find they can no longer afford to keep their pets often choose to drop their dogs, sometimes even whole litters of puppies, at a beach - sometimes under cover of night, in secret - rather than surrender the animal to a city or state-run shelter where the animals will face grim conditions and almost certain death by euthanasia.
A lot of my past is gone from my mind.
If I have to work in McDonalds, fine - I had a really great run and made a living at music for 20 years, and how many other people can say that?
I listen to NPR and baseball games when I'm in my car. I mean, exclusively NPR and baseball games, and that's it, as far as the radio.
I'm definitely a cult artist.
I don't make money on the road, and so there's less and less incentive for me to do it when I don't have that adolescent desire for whatever it is, glory or fame.
I don't buy a lot when I travel, but when I do, I like to send gifts from wherever I am. It's fun to find the local post office.
I don't think I'm romantic at all. I have a lot of faith in the right thing happening. I don't really hope for a lot of particulars, I just have faith that the right thing will happen most of the time.
Every song brings back memories, like I remember where I wrote all these songs. 'Universal Heartbeat' was my apartment in New York City. 'My Sister' was at my apartment in Boston. I remember places and I remember what I was thinking when I wrote it.
I'm just trying to get rid of all the mystery surrounding me and let people see what I'm thinking. So they can understand me and stop assuming things about me.
My growth as an artist and a person has been so slow and gradual, it's hard to make a story out of it.
Doing interviews can sometimes mess up my head. It makes me feel dirty. It's frustrating how the press recycles a quote to death.
What does it mean to a person whose identity is very wrapped up in the music she makes, if her worth is measured by how many records she sells?
I don't believe songs that try to say everything in a simple slogan.
When I first started making music, I didn't really know what I was doing. I just wanted to write songs. I didn't have a concept. I didn't think it through. I was just flailing around doing what comes naturally. It took me a really long time to step back and deal with what I was doing with any kind of perspective or self-awareness.
I'm kind of an emotional exhibitionist.
I don't feel bad or scared about getting older in terms of my looks or anything like that. I'm not afraid of my face changing. I enjoy seeing my face change. I think it's really interesting. I wouldn't want to have same face for my whole life. It would be boring to look at the same face in the mirror for 80 years.
Puerto Rico has a stray dog problem. Tens of thousands of homeless canines - hundreds of thousands, by some estimates - live and die on the streets and beaches all over this Caribbean island of almost four million people.
My dad claims that he was able to trace us back to the West Virginia Hatfields. When I look at the old pictures, the patriarchs have kind of a physical likeness to some of the men on the father's side of my family. I want it to be true.
It costs a lot of money to make an album in a studio in New York with a producer and musicians. I have to pay a publicist every month. I have to pay for mastering, production, the manufacturing of the discs. Then, to promote an album properly, you have to spend a lot of money.
Popular culture is filled with girls.
I always believe that a person can learn so much by just jumping into something and trying to do it rather than having someone else teach you everything.
I think the reason I've been able to keep making music is because I'm not married, I don't have kids.
I used to be an over-packer! It took me a while to be smart about what I brought with me. I used to tour with a huge bag full of clothes and another one full of shoes because I wanted to have choices. And I ended up wearing the same pair of shoes all the time!
My guitar playing has not developed as much as I think it could because I never practice. I only play when I'm writing or recording or when I'm playing on tour. When I'm sitting around at home, I never play.
I'm really conflicted about my role as a front-person. I hate the attention.
I was just dying to get out of my twenties.
If you do things when you're burned out, it'll make you bitter.
I could make a whole album with no one else involved at all. It would be a total, unadulterated expression of myself. Because whenever you have others playing on a project, their influence becomes a part of it.
Songwriting is like going to church. I'm connecting to something, and it's rewarding in really important ways. I don't need to share it with anyone to feel good about it.
I make music and I can't stop. It's a compulsion and an obsession and a curse.
You think you know who you are, and then other people have these other ideas.
