As long as I'm still able to have a hit on the radio and sell a few albums and some tickets, I don't see that it would be worth retiring.
Alan JacksonYou have to be tough-skinned and willing to accept criticism, and at the same time, just try to do music that you like and you are proud of and not just whatever you think it's going to take to get you on the radio.
Alan JacksonWhat I enjoy doing more than anything is, I have my little antique car collection, and when the weather is pretty I like to get out one of my old cars. I have a little route I run down in the country, down Nachez Trace Parkway. The loop down through there is just really relaxing, not much traffic.
Alan JacksonI didn't realize until I was older what a huge music fan my daddy really was, and actually that my grandma played banjo at one time, and I didn't even know that until a year or two ago.
Alan JacksonThe older you are, I think you realize what you enjoy and what you don't need, what wears you out and what's important.
Alan JacksonI've had to live with women all my life. I grew up with four older sisters, and I was the baby and the only boy.
Alan JacksonI like to write sad songs. They're much easier to write and you get a lot more emotion into them. But people don't want to hear them as much. And radio definitely doesn't; they want that positive, uptempo thing.
Alan JacksonDid you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke risin' against that blue sky? Did you shout out in anger, in fear of your neighbor or did you just sit down and cry?..
Alan JacksonPour me something tall and strong, make it a Hurricane before I go insane. It's only half past twelve but I don't care, it's 5 O'clock somewhere.
Alan JacksonYou think about people like Hank Williams, who stood on that spot of wood, and Mr. Acuff, and, of course, George Jones. And just about anybody you can think of who has made country music has been on that stage. That's what makes you so nervous - to think about the historical part of the Opry and how it's played such a part in country music.
Alan JacksonDid you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones and pray for the ones who don't know? Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble, and sob for the ones left below?
Alan JacksonI think every album you have, especially if it's done well, you feel like you're competing with yourself.
Alan JacksonGrowing up in Georgia, I used to think people up north or out west were so different. They're really not. They're just regular people who live in small towns. They grow up and try to raise families and have a job and go to church and play softball. It's that way everywhere.
Alan JacksonYou think a lot of people get to be big stars and get a little crazy, but most of the ones I've ever met have always been surprisingly normal, and I've enjoyed that.
Alan JacksonThe music business doesn't take up that much of my time. I probably should put a little more energy into it.
Alan JacksonI mean, my voice has gotten a little deeper sounding as I've gotten older, I think. I noticed that.
Alan JacksonLove is stolen in the shadows of the night. Though it's wrong all along, it keeps going on as long as they keep it out of sight.
Alan JacksonHee Haw was probably my biggest exposure to live music at a young age, because there wasn't any live music around my town and no one in my family played instruments.
Alan JacksonThe fan base that I've had all these years has come along. Some of them are not as plugged into the digital world, so they want to go out and buy the CD at Walmart or something.
Alan JacksonI've been a lot of places, and my wife, Denise, she likes a lot of the fancy restaurants. I'm more of a basic eater. I still go into Cracker Barrel. Those are the kind of people who like the kind of music I'm making.
Alan JacksonHe's written some great songs. I thought that "Blues Man" was a perfect song for me to do as a tribute.
Alan JacksonI've always said that if you have songs on the radio and get played, you've got to have a tour to support that.
Alan JacksonProbably some of the songs I never even really listened to the lyrics. Half of them I'd hear off the radio and was probably singing the wrong words and didn't even know it.
Alan JacksonIf you can last until you're 40 years old, hopefully you'll be mature enough to figure out the rest of the years.
Alan JacksonIf anything good came out of 9/11, to me, was that people were so cynical about the world - all you hear about on the news is all the bad stuff everyday, but what was refreshing to me was after that, you saw how many good people there are out there. For every one bad one, there's a thousand good ones.
Alan JacksonTo me, songwriting is the backbone of Nashville. Looks can go, fads can go, but a good song lasts forever.
Alan JacksonI think I've always approached making albums pretty much the same way. I'm just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren't the same thing over and over.
Alan JacksonI grew up with nothing, so whenever I got to where I could have something I felt like I needed to have everything I couldn't have when I was young.
Alan JacksonI could have done a hundred songs, really. It was hard to narrow them down, because I tried to pick songs for the most part that actually did have some effect on me or influenced me in the past.
Alan Jackson