My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.

Drunken talk isn’t meant to be printed in the paper.

I'd like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I've gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying a word about it.

Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy.

All my life I've always been so blue, born to lose, and now I'm losing you.

There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.

I'm not into the money thing. You can only sleep in one bed at a time. You can only eat one meal at a time, or be in one car at a time. So I don't have to have millions of dollars to be happy. All I need are clothes on my back, a decent meal, and a little loving when I feel like it. That's the bottom line.