Ray Lamontagne Quotes & Sayings

#1. I was really lost for a while in my teens. I was angry. But when I found music - Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell - it was a new discovery. It was a door to this other world where I wanted to be.

Ray Lamontagne

#2. I'm very uncomfortable in my own skin.

Ray Lamontagne

#3. There's nothing in the world so sad as talking to a man who never knew his life was his for making.

Ray Lamontagne

#4. Every song asks to be sung in a different way.

Ray Lamontagne

#5. Writing songs is not something I wanted to share with people for a long time. It was precious to me. I didn't want someone to crush it. I waited until I felt strong enough to take the criticism.

Ray Lamontagne

#6. Well, I looked my demons in the eyes
laid bare my chest, said 'Do your best, destroy me.
You see, I've been to hell and back so many times,
I must admit you kind of bore me.

Ray Lamontagne

#7. I probably wouldn't be a songwriter if I didn't grow up the way I did. It was difficult and it was at times very scary to grow up in a household so unsettled and at times very violent. But, it also, I guess it earned me a sort of wisdom at a young age that's served me well.

Ray Lamontagne

#8. When I pick up the guitar, it's a melody, and that's what drives the lyrics. It's bits and pieces of truth, but it is storytelling.

Ray Lamontagne

#9. I'm a private person.

Ray Lamontagne

#10. When I think of folk music, I think of topical songs. And I don't write topical songs.

Ray Lamontagne

#11. And baby, the way you move me it's crazy

Ray Lamontagne

#12. Well ... you know, I love motorcycles. They're just beautiful, and there's a certain craftsmanship in older bikes, older Triumphs or BSAs or Norton. I'm just very attracted to it.

Ray Lamontagne

#13. In order to get a note out, I have to dig deep, and I mean that on an emotional level. To physically sing, I have to get somewhere deep before I can do it.

Ray Lamontagne

#14. Now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turnin' gold
And like the sky my soul is also turnin'
Turnin' from the past, at last and all I've left behind

Ray Lamontagne

#15. I want to be in control of my own destiny.

Ray Lamontagne

#16. There's a real sense of desperation when you grow up in poverty.

Ray Lamontagne

#17. I'm a very emotional person.

Ray Lamontagne

#18. We all have that inner voice that is wise, even if we don't always follow it. It's that voice I'm trying to listen to.

Ray Lamontagne

#19. The label doesn't do anything but put your record in the store, that's all they do. And tell you, you don't have a single ... and tell you, it's not gonna sell ... that's what the label does.

Ray Lamontagne

#20. It's so easy to get caught up in your own experiences. They can seem so important. But there are billions and billions of other experiences going on.

Ray Lamontagne

#21. I feel calm when I'm on my own.

Ray Lamontagne

#22. I need space between me and the audience - and the more space the better.

Ray Lamontagne

#23. I always felt, as a listener at a show, that when there was too much banter between the artist and the audience that it detracted from the show. I more enjoyed shows where the guys came out and they just played.

Ray Lamontagne