Being with the presidentโs daughter, no matter who the president is, you are connected to the most powerful political force on earth, and thatโs scary. And when you mix crystal meth and alcohol with that, itโsโฆkind of exciting. A little too exciting.
Rufus WainwrightThe song is about knowing the end result of every situation you're in, and being able to play it out in your mind and see it before it happens. It's about addiction, really, about knowing how it's all going to end up. In that sense, you're watching a movie of yourself all the time - and then you want out of that movie.
Rufus WainwrightI may not lead the most dramatic life, but in my brain it's 'War and Peace' everyday.
Rufus WainwrightThe mind has so many pictures Why can't I sleep with my eyes open? The mind has so many memories Can you remember what it looks like when I cry? I'm trying, trying to tell you All that I can in a sweet and velvet tongue But no words ever could sell you Sell you on me after all that I have done.
Rufus WainwrightMy love of maple syrup. I've been known to knock back a can over a couple days: A swig here, a swig there, and next thing you know it's gone. It's a habit I have to stave off. I don't want to lose all my teeth.
Rufus WainwrightI'm very fit on tour. I try to eat well, try to sleep. But it's still rock n' roll.
Rufus WainwrightI'll always be a boulevardier. I have an extreme reverence and romantic longing for all that is decrepit and fatalistic.
Rufus WainwrightAll humans realize they are loved when witnessing the dawn; early morning is the triumph of good over evil. Absolved by light we decide to go on.
Rufus WainwrightI don't want to hold you and feel so helpless I don't want to smell you and lose my senses And smile in slow motion With eyes in love.
Rufus WainwrightFor better or worse, I've always been curious musically. Whether it's opera or Judy Garland or pop, I've deliberately sought those things out. I've never wanted to do the same things over and over. Some think I've accomplished what I set out to do, and others consider me a dilettante.
Rufus WainwrightAnd I am left behind Corrupted crushed and blind All for a dream That in truth was never really mine.
Rufus WainwrightI'm not born again, I'm not Kabbalah, God forbid, but I did have an experience hitting 30 that I needed to lean on something that assured me that everything is going to be okay. I had to regain a lot of my belief in fairy tales, in happy endings.
Rufus WainwrightI have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I'm not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.
Rufus WainwrightThe artist who gave me the most inspiration and direction, especially as a singer - and I absolutely consider myself a singer, 100 percent - is Nina Simone. She's my ultimate pianist-singer-type person.
Rufus WainwrightI've been thinking of trying my hand at rap. I've been recording snippets on my BlackBerry.
Rufus WainwrightI've always gravitated towards opera, and the Royal Opera House is quite possibly the greatest opera house on earth.
Rufus WainwrightI believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I've been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.
Rufus WainwrightThe pop world is popular, and it's about what the people want and connecting to the masses, whereas opera, although it was once popular - and I still believe it can be - it has become very elitist and intellectual, but that certainly doesn't sell tickets. It's a struggle, but I've always embraced struggle and thrived off of it, so it's the way my life needs to go.
Rufus WainwrightMy mother's songs are really turning out to be masterpieces. I have inherited this incredible legacy and am so fortunate to bathe in her sensibilities. It is tinged with tragedy. I'd much rather she was here in person, but there is still a positive force to come out of her death and that is having the gift of music that she gave.
Rufus WainwrightI have a lot of advantages: I'm not addicted to horrifying pills. I also have surrounded myself with far more caring and upright individuals. And I wasn't abused as a child, so I'm doing okay!
Rufus WainwrightI find so many songwriters today are missing an element ... either the production is amazing but the songs aren't, or it's the other way around.
Rufus WainwrightWhen I wrote the opera, I made a deal with myself that for at least an hour a day I would work on it, even if it meant just sitting on my piano bench, staring into space and thinking about it. It's about keeping it regular, like your bowel movements - let's get real: it's your bodily artistic movements! It comes from the same place.
Rufus WainwrightWhat I love about my daughter is that she is going to definitely allow me and force me to change my life and slow down and make it more about the real things in the world.
Rufus WainwrightI definitely try to broaden the scope of music. I don't know if it's pop or classical or what, but I'm religiously challenging myself all the time, for better or for worse.
Rufus WainwrightPremiering a new opera is probably one of the hardest things in the world to do, and opening nights of any opera are always pretty stressful.
Rufus WainwrightI wish I could just relax sometimes and make some money, but I always feel like I have to prove some kind of big, profound point.
Rufus WainwrightAll these poses of classical torture ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard. I did go from wanting to be someone, now I'm drunk and wearing flip-flops on Fifth Avenue.
Rufus WainwrightI've paid the price; I definitely have a reputation that precedes me, and there is a camp that plots my demise. But then again... it's funner that way.
Rufus WainwrightEvery video I do is over budget by the time I walk on set. I am massively extravagant in my personal habits.
Rufus WainwrightSome people go to Berlin to get more cutting edge; I went and started wearing lederhosen and going to visit baroque palaces.
Rufus WainwrightI'm very blessed, mainly because even though my family is mostly in show business, it's really centered around music. My parents were very successful in many ways, but they weren't necessarily top of the charts. We were never wealthy because of music. We always had to work and we always had to struggle a little bit, and I think at the end of the day that's been very good for me, because I have a sense of it being very ephemeral.
Rufus WainwrightYou get to a certain age, and you feel the need to reward yourself just for existing.
Rufus WainwrightI donโt really have a relationship with the guitar; itโs like my slutty lover, whereas Iโm married to the piano
Rufus WainwrightOpera needs to be a total escape from real life. To relate to what we're going through today is fine and dandy, but it's really about being transported and completely swept away by a romantic notion.
Rufus WainwrightClimate change has always been sort of my main focus. I think also with [what happened in Fukushima, Japan] there's still a lot to think about in terms of what's coming down the pike into the world's oceans, too.
Rufus WainwrightWhen I was signed, at the age of 23...the fact that I presented myself as an out gay man was very, very unusual.
Rufus WainwrightNew York is not the centre for American culture and art that it once was because of the forces of conservatism. Giuliani, capitalism - and then there was 9/11. I really believe that if I leave, it will suffer! Maybe that's why I love it here, because I feel wanted.
Rufus WainwrightLooking back, one of the things I love most about my mom was that she never, ever relented. She stuck to her guns right up until the end. She wasn't abusive, but she was never that thrilled that I was gay.
Rufus Wainwright