Paul Anka Quotations

Once you realize that you're in something that you've always wanted and you don't want to lose it, you behave differently. And that means the integrity, the professionalism, and knowing what's right from wrong and still making choices that you probably wouldn't have made.

I've always believed that if you don't stay moving, they will throw dirt on you.

If you're in pop music, you've got to deal with the changing of the guard every few years. By the time the '70s arrived, I was well aware of the cyclical nature of the game. Pop music is a creature of the moment; it thrives on the mood of its time. Either you hook into that or you're not going to be part of it.

I wrote 'She's a Lady' on the back of a TWA menu, flying back from London after doing Tom Jones's TV show. Jones's manager wanted me to write him a song. If I have an idea and I don't have a pad of paper, I'll write on whatever is available. What's the difference? Paper is paper.

The thing is to be able to outlast the trends.

The technology is good and it's bad. You know what you're dealing with out there musically, but my head stops at this electronic stuff. I don't quite know what I'm dealing with out there yet.

I had this talent for these stupid little teenage songs.

Canada is a good country to be from. It has a gentler slower pace - it lends perspective.

I just couldn't get anyone to sing my songs, so I had to sing my own tunes.

My family was a good family, I had a great Canadian education and I came up in a great, little town like Ottawa.

For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels.

My demographic of people have been very supportive.

I learned a lot about what I do with my craft, how I present my music. A lot of things about him were very much an influence on me and everybody else. Once you get in that fold and you're around it, you get to experience something that I don't think we'll ever see again. There will never be anybody like Frank Sinatra. Ever.

Things began to pick up for me record-wise when in 1971 I wrote 'She's a Lady' for Tom Jones.

As long as you're growing in your profession and you're respected, you're going to stay as clean as you can, because you've got something that you love that you don't want to lose.

My father, my mother, and then my father was always on top of me - 'Keep your nose clean. Do you love what you're doing?' 'Yes.' 'Then be aware, or you're going to lose it.'

When I'm writing, I generally toy with an idea until it manifests itself - meaning a phrase or a tune comes into my head and eventually begins to jell. When something hits me, I write it down immediately. I don't wait, or it's gone.

I don't know that there's a lot of longevity with a lot of attractions. Maybe a little more time should be put into it to allow that to grow.

I had a sense I had to do something different.

Those guys, I won't mention names, they needed Vegas because they didn't have a career on the outside. Michael is doing well everywhere, and the longer you hold off coming into Vegas with success on the exterior, the better off it is. He will stick, without question.

They are actually manufactured entertainment groups. They are a product of technology. What you are listening to is technology.

I never thought Howard Stern would say 'Paul Anka is cool.' But he did,

You know, my grandmother used to say, 'While I'm down here planning, God's up there laughing.' I guess the thing with most things that are worthwhile is that you can't give up easily. You've got to hang in.

I don't think you can get an idea of what Israel is like until you get here. People don't realize what a great place it is.

I believe in criticism.

I respect Jay-Z. I like him.

There were times, I'm sure you knew, when I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out.

And now the end is near And so I face the final curtain, My friends, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case of which I'm certain. I've lived a life that's full, I've travelled each and evr'y highway And more, much more than this, I did it my way.

I had this talent for these stupid little teenage songs. I just couldn't get anyone to sing my songs, so I had to sing my own tunes. ... The thing is to be able to outlast the trends. ... They are actually manufactured entertainment groups. They are a product of technology. What you are listening to is technology.

I've lived a life that's full, I traveled each and ev'ry highway, And more, much more than this, I did it my way.

The main thing with Paul, because I've played with him for 14 years ... is that the energy that he puts into his show is intense. He doesn't take anything off the stage when he's done. He's left it all on that stage. Paul is the real thing.