Graham Nash Quotations

If every human being disappeared off the face of the earth in an instant, the earth would still keep spinning and the planet would develop new life forms.

I'm not so sure that people consider homelessness to be as important as, say, the Vietnam War. One should never even try to equate them because, of course, they're tragedies on both sides of the coin.

I mean, there's times to rock and roll, and I love that too. But I think my first love is acoustic music.

When I was born in 1942, World War II was still going. And I began to realize when I became a young adult that if we don't teach our kids a better way of relating to their fellow human beings, the very future of humanity on the planet is in jeopardy.

I've been a photographer all these years... I haven't been in my own darkroom for 10 years.

We can't forget what happened on May 4th, 1970, when four students gave up their lives because they had the American constitutional right of peaceful protest. They gave up their lives. And to sing that song in that spot on that anniversary was very emotional for us.

One can't deny what has happened to us in the past. The secret is to enjoy and be proud of the music we've created and the people with whom we have been linked. It's all a long chain of involvement in the world, and we are proud to be yet another link in this chain.

There is a great correlation between music and images.

I've been listening to a lot of Hollies stuff lately, and it's beginning to sound pretty good to me.

If you don't want to be there, it shows in the energy that you put out and in your actions.

I'm trying to communicate here. I'm a communicator, I like to communicate, and if a million people buy it then we've touched a million people, if only 10 people buy it, then we've only touched 10, and that's important, because I'm satisfied with only 10. But, I love a million.

We only had enough money really to cut 10 things and be in there for a month because it's expensive, you know. And, singer/songwriters, today are lucky if they can get a deal, you know. So, we actually worked so fast that we really cut 20 things.

Generally, my writing is influenced by living, by absorbing everything that happens to me and my actions.

I don't have to ask anyone's permission to do anything. It's nice not have to get decisions out of three, sometimes four people, which can be like pulling teeth. So the amount of control that I have over what I'm doing is better for me as a solo artist.

After six or seven performances of any song, you begin to perform it rather than feel it.

This digital world is completely fascinating to me.

I wasnt thinking of the longevity of any of my songs, but I am extremely pleased with the lasting effect.

We are excited about the music, past and present and future, and are really looking forward to playing.

You know, every year has been fantastic for me, I'm still here, I'm still alive and it's been fantastic.

All the signs were right. And when I mean all the sings were right, the only signs that we care about when we start a project of making a record is, do we have the songs - it's that simple.

Neil's effect on the band was immediate and very fulfilling. He adds a certain edge to the sound and, of course, he is an incredible musician. We became a better band because of the inclusion of Neil Young.

There are always new things to experience, internalize then write about. This process is ongoing with me. It never stops. The opportunity to reach new audiences with all of the music that we have made is thrilling.

We want to get this good music to as many people as possible because I think it heals, it soothes, I think music is incredibly important, especially in today's chaos.

With Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young... we're very strong individuals, and we want our lives to be led the way we want them to.

I fail to see the issue that will shock the people of this great country of ours into some decisive action.

The Hollies, after I left in 1968, had the audacity, the gall, to have three number one records after I left. Thanks a lot, guys.

I worked very hard on me and David's record and I'm extremely proud of the record, as most people are who were involved with it. And, it's been wonderfully received by people who like our kind of music, they think it's something special, and so do I.

I brought my lamps from the house, you know, so - we tried to make it as comfortable as possible. So, we ended up in an incredibly comfortable place. Crosby was very comfortable because he could just fly on down, you know, he'd land in Burbank and he'd take - you know, it was 10 minutes from the airport.

It is a little off-putting to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and then be charged to go there.

I think Stills has been playing better than ever. I know a lot of it sounds self-serving, but he truly has.

People like us probably didn't have any real answers. But at least we brought up the questions.

Stephen is playing better lead guitar and he's singing better, and I think this is the best we've sounded in years.

That was one of the things that James Taylor said about us when he inducted us into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; that this was a real working band. It's very obvious when people come down to see the show tonight, they'll understand that this band has been getting along better personally and musically for the past couple of years and we're flying.

We just about finished mixing the record at my house in Hawaii, Crosby was there and Russell and Nathaniel, and when we figured out that we would be going out with CSN this year and that we had all this new music. I knew that it would be a burden for Stephen to try and learn 20 new songs, because they - they're not easy.

We have been through our changes as individuals and as bands. Sometimes it's been really rough, and sometimes it's been really wonderful, but it's always been worth it. And no matter what we've been going through, the three of us, or the four of us, or any of us individually, we still feel that we've been lucky that we're able to be making music.

We've kind of tended toward staying in the - what's called the secondary markets, where you know, where people don't necessarily go, and it's worked out fantastic because the people have been very appreciative, you know, and they've been going wild, you've been there to some of the shows, its been fantastic.

We knew that if we called ourselves by our real names, we'd have the freedom to play with anybody we wanted to and still have recognition... we decided that was the best way the names fell off the tongue... Crosby, Stills, Nash-that's the best combination, we thought it rhythmically made sense.

We seem to somewhat be behind an eight ball, and what I mean by that is we're constantly waiting for a call from Neil as to whether he wants to do CSNY.

We were one of the very first people way back in '69 to do fully acoustic and electric sets within the same show.

We truly love CSNY music, and so we're always waiting, and what happens is that we have lives to lead, too, so, you know, at some point we have to say, well, you know, I can't wait any longer we have to book a tour because, you know, they take three, four months of preparation before we actually step out on the stage.

We will take it one album at a time. We have other tracks in the can, but we'll see.

We went in the studio ... to make music. And I think Neil liked that. When he came down to play on one song, he stayed roughly for about three months.

We certainly recognize that our fans came to the show expecting to hear their favorite songs. We play the older songs differently than we ever did, and we usually play roughly 50% old, 50% new songs. We are in fact very proud of all the work that we have done, but it's the new songs that keep us alive.

Especially when other stuff is not in the way. We've already done it the other way. We've already booked a million tours and 20,000 records for the record company; it all adds too much pressure. One piece of music at a time, one show at a time. We can handle that and we're doing well at it.

There's never really been any serious discussion amongst me David and Stephen about what we do with our harmonies. It just seems to be a very natural thing to do, and I think it's also an unspoken thing, too. It's not like we actually sit down and plan what we're going to do. We just do each song the best way we know how.

I sense a groundswell happening of popular opinion against this war and against this administration. It's been a long time coming, and I'm glad to see it's happening.

It was very important in the beginning, because we'd all come out of bands that were the Buffalo Springfield, the Hollies.

As artists, we reacted to our environment and wanted to speak about it. When Crosby handed me the Time magazine with the picture on the cover with the girl crouching over the body of the slain student, I watched him write Ohio.

The US presents a new initiative for our team

You don't get on your feet if you don't have to, you know. And these people were on their feet rockin', and that was thrilling for David and I, absolutely.

The relationship with Atlantic Records was always a personal one. Our friend and mentor, Ahmet Ertegun, was our main contact at Atlantic and our relationship was based on mutual respect. He is a fine musician, singer and producer.

It's not hard to remain optimistic, because I just have to remember and look in the faces of my children, and I realize I have to fight and I have to speak out and do the best I can to make this a better place for them.

It's impossible to know why some people don't get the recognition that they deserve.

No kind of music is CSN or CSNY; it's just what we do as a band. There is no accepted CSNY sound. It's just what sounds good to us coming out of the speakers.

After the lukewarm promotion of our last couple of records, we felt nobody at the company really understood us and cared about us. In days past, record companies were committed to working a band over several singles not just giving up if the first single did not set the charts on fire.

I'm not a joiner of clubs... But this is a pretty cool club to be in. The past inductees are brilliant, brilliant musicians that have touched my life in many ways, and to be worthy of such company is flattering to me and I appreciate it.

I plowed myself into listening to about 98% of everything that was ever recorded in the past 20-odd years-I began to fall back in love with why I love David and Steven in the first place. It put us back in touch with what our strengths were, and it was a thrilling process.

I realized at one point that David and I had not made a record together in almost 26 years and I thought that that was absurd because, first of all it had gone so fast, I didn't really realize, neither did David, that it had been that long.

I began to realize that photographs, these still images, have a tremendous power to move your soul. They can change your life by what you choose to get out of them, and I started to collect photographs.

I only do solo albums when songs are screaming at me to be let out of my mind.

Rules and regulations, who needs them. Open up the door, we can change the world.

Looking at the world through the sunset in your eyes, traveling the train through clear Moroccan skies. Ducks and pigs and chickens call, animal carpet wall to wall, American ladies five-foot tall in blue. Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mind, had to get away to see what we could find. Hope the days that lie ahead, bring us back to where they've led, listen not to what's been said to you. Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express? Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express, they're taking me to Marrakesh. All aboard the train, all aboard the train…

Let me in, immigration man, can I cross the line and pray, I can stay another day? Won't you let me in, immigration man? I won't toe your line today, I can't see it anyway.

People like Beck and Shawn Colvin are some of the people I listen to lately.

I don't understand why anyone would collect my work. Please understand... it's like writing Our House. It took me an hour, it was 30 years ago, get over it! But people say, No, no, it changed my life, and I don't understand that. I can't take that seriously as a producer of what I consider to be art. If they want to collect it, fantastic. If you see what I saw when I took it and it means something to you, then by all means collect it. If I make some money, um, fine.

There really is a kind of insane beauty around us all the time. It's just a question of learning to slow down, take a deep breath and meet the moment.

I don't shoot kittens with balls of wool. I don't shoot sunsets. What draws me? Ironic, surreal, unexplained, timely moments.

One of the great things about rap music... it leaves a lot to be desired, as far as I'm concerned, musically, but I do recognize the very important place that it has in music and in creating role models for younger kids to emulate, giving them the dream that they can make it out of whatever situation they're in.

I'm curious about life, period.

Teach your children well, so they don't live in off-campus group houses and throw loud parties while I'm trying to sleep.

My parents recognized something in me that they encouraged instead of deflated, and I'll always be grateful to them for that.

I find it somewhat difficult to write with other people, although it has happened occasionally.

If I read or listened to critics of our music. I'd have been discouraged a long time ago.

With Crosby, Stills and Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young...we're very strong individuals, and we want our lives to be led the way we want them to.

Do you know anybody under 25 that gives a damn whether you marry a man if you're a man or if you marry a woman if you're a woman? No.

Martin guitars have now brought out, you know, on a more traditional level, the Stephen Stills' model of Martin guitars. It's beautiful. I just went inside. I bought one immediately.

Wealth and fame can only be so important in the face of musical magic

Being in a different band always brings great musical experiences to be able to draw on.

Just with the basic one guitar, one piano and one vocal and an audience, I think that the intimacy comes through more. People feel much more connected to the song because there's nothing in the way, and I actually enjoy doing that.

I still have an insane drive to create and express myself, and it'll never stop because I don't know how to stop it.

Teach your children well...and feed them on your dreams...Don't ever ask them why. If they told you you would cry. So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

Life is not perfect. It never will be. You just have to make the very best of it, and you have to open your heart to what the world can show you; and sometimes it's terrifying, and sometimes it's incredibly beautiful, and I'll take both. Thanks.