Brandi Carlile Quotes

It was in the darkest of my days when you took my sorrow and you took my pain

There is nothing more real or more practical in this universe than mysticism. Remember that…and it’s usually sitting right smack in the middle of grief.

I had two broken horses…and they were the most unbroken creatures I’ve met here on earth.

You’re like if Brandi Carlile and Adele had a love child,” Phoebe said.

I have apologized a lot and been apologized to…but I’ve never kept my mouth shut and then wished I hadn’t.

You don't have to be famous to be a hero, anyone can do that. I'll never be my heroes, but I'll always have 'em.

People in this country who are in positions of privilege must learn to find ways of fighting for the just treatment of others, not by centering and platforming themselves, but by holding up the ones who are suffering.

Write your life. No matter how young or old, even if you feel like you're not interesting enough, do it. Believe me, you are. Your life is in fact twisted, and beautiful. And you'll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to beknown, even if it's just by you.

I understand who I am as an artist because I understand that I don’t understand who I am as an artist.

I should address the word “forgiveness.” It’s got a bad rap. It’s become patronizing, whitewashed, upper-middle-class, a suburban kind of word in our culture that is used more often to vilify than to redeem. It’s #blessed for the twenty-first century. I hate this because to the divine, it’s radical. This word sticks in my craw the way the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” does. When someone says, “I’ll pray for you,” I feel like they’re saying, “From my platform of purity, I’ll pray for your iniquity.” When they say, “I forgive you,” they’re saying, “From my position of righteousness, I will accept you even though you’re wrong and inadequate.

With these words I have healed deep wounds and feelings of inadequacy within myself. If you get this far... if you're still reading this: Write your life. No matter how young or old. Even if you feel like you're not interesting enough. Do it. Believe me you are. Your life is in fact twisted and beautiful and you'll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to be know. Even if it's just by you.

If you find me in my work, I haven’t done my job. If you find yourself, then I’m an artist.

All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to It's true, I was made for you I climbed across the mountaintops Travel across the ocean blue I cross over lines and I broke all the rules And baby I broke them all for you Oh because even when I was flat broke You made me feel like a million bucks You do, I was made for you You see the smile that's on my mouth It's hiding the words that don't come out All of the friends who think that I'm blessed They don't know my head's a mess No they don't know who I really am And they don't know what I've been through Like you do, and I was made for you All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am Oh but these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to It's true, I was made for you Oh yeah, and it's true that I was made for you

When someone believes in you while you’re a work in progress, never forget them.

I personally feel more convicted than ever that the plight of the refugees is the defining crisis of our generation….It’s all I care about for the moment as the mother of a child not in need.

I of course was told for most of my childhood by multiple sources that to be gay was a one-way ticket to hell. Homosexuality and suicide were the “unforgivables,” and I believed this wholeheartedly. Thank God for books and libraries…and school.

One afternoon in the fall of 2015, while I was writing this book, I was driving in my car and listening to SiriusXM Radio. On the folk music station the Coffee House, a song came on with a verse that directly spoke to me—so much so that I pulled off the road as soon as I could and wrote down the lyrics and the singer’s name. The song was called “The Eye,” and it’s written by the country-folk singer Brandi Carlile and her bandmate Tim Hanseroth and sung by Carlile. I wish it could play every time you open these pages, like a Hallmark birthday card, because it’s become the theme song of this book. The main refrain is: I wrapped your love around me like a chain But I never was afraid that it would die You can dance in a hurricane But only if you’re standing in the eye. I hope that it is clear by now that every day going forward we’re going to be asked to dance in a hurricane, set off by the accelerations in the Market, Mother Nature, and Moore’s law. Some politicians propose to build a wall against this hurricane. That is a fool’s errand. There is only one way to thrive now, and it’s by finding and creating your own eye. The eye of a hurricane moves, along with the storm. It draws energy from it, while creating a sanctuary of stability inside it. It is both dynamic and stable—and so must we be. We can’t escape these accelerations. We have to dive into them, take advantage of their energy and flows where possible, move with them, use them to learn faster, design smarter, and collaborate deeper—all so we can build our own eyes to anchor and propel ourselves and our families confidently forward.

Most people live in their childhood homes for a while. It softens the edges on the memories and gives them a comforting wash, a kind of afterglow, set against routine and consistency. For kids like me for whom every experience is set against a different visual and intense circumstance, it’s really easy to remember details of an early life. I see this now as a priceless gift…but it isn’t one I’d give to my kids.

It can be hard to understand the difference between what you remember and the things other people tell you about your childhood, but I have a theory that people who are beyond consciousness or in a coma enter an astral plane of perception—what they hear in that state is clear and stored forever.

Write your life. No matter how young or old, even if you feel like you're not interesting enough, do it. Believe me, you are. Your life is in fact twisted, and beautiful. And you'll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to be known, even if it's just by you.

When Dolly Parton prayed over me, I believed in God again. Every part of my soul came crashing to the earth like it was riding on lightning. I became connected to it again. I remembered that I was just a tiny part of that day and that little moment in time. Most important, that I was in fact responsible for none of it. Good, bad, or indifferent. The prayer is just between me and Dolly. But it was life-affirming and I like to think Dolly prays for all of us like that.

There’s no telling when the ride’s gonna stop and you’ll have to go get back in line. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. Ebbs and flows; sometimes you’re first and sometimes you’re last. You meet the exact same people on the way up that you do on the way down, so be prepared for anyone to be your future boss. All these things are true.

Love isn't a feeling. It's something we do, and a promise that we keep.

A persons self-worth is dictated by what inalienable rights are allowed to them.

A person’s self-worth is dictated by what inalienable rights are allowed to them.

It was the country out there…now it’s just the country for people who can afford it.

My mind’s distracted and diffused My thoughts are many miles away They lie with you when you’re asleep And kiss you when you start your day

narcissism is such an embarrassing but necessary part of an artist’s development.

Songs are like tattoos You know I’ve been to sea before Crown and anchor me Or let me sail away Hey Blue And there is a song for you Ink on a pin Underneath the skin An empty space to fill in

This experience and a few others have also given me a faith that is as impervious to political extremism as it is to the whims of culture. That tape was my comfort blanket or that one tattered stuffed animal that a child is fundamentally attached to. I must have lost it in one of our moves. I think things disappear when we don’t need them anymore. I listened to that music every night. It was my proof that God is real.

I believe the Judds were one of the first important influences on my connection with my mother. I knew subconsciously that I wasn’t feminine or lighthearted enough for her…but I could sing, and I loved music as much as she did. That was our language.

I think we enter this state many times in our lives. Sometimes when we dream, sometimes when we disassociate, most extremely if we cross over through a near-death experience. This state informs who we are in between two worlds…which is probably who we really are.

But in this analogy you and your family love country music NOW. Turn on the radio and listen to what is being said to your daughter right this minute: That she’s an ass in a pair of blue jeans. That she belongs in the passenger seat of a pickup truck with a koozie. That she’s only into “backroad” guys. Show me even a right-wing mother or father who wants their daughter to believe this about herself and I’ll show you a liar.

People in this country who are in positions of privilege must learn to find ways of fighting for the just treatment of others not by centering and platforming themselves but by holding up the ones who are suffering. It’s not about shame or repentance, it’s about understanding that Dr. King still gets the bullhorn while many of us must organize, galvanize voters, peacefully protest, teach our children, plead with our parents, pray, resist, and amplify.

The people and events that had come along and healed me never went unnoticed. My dad pointed out recently that after my botched baptism, I started to gather people--congregants, squads, cheerleaders. I knew in some way that if I was ever going to see this or any dream come true, I needed people. I now realized where this instinct had come from. It was an early childhood tactic that I had been given by being the first child born on both sides of my family. I was adored by my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles. Showered with affection. that religious rejection was enough to send me back to one of my earliest and most primitive instincts: to simply surround myself with love and acceptance. It saved my life many times.

I recommend hanging a photo of yourself being honest up in your living room.

She told me to stop writing this book. She told me to imagine a glass vase filled with blue marbles and to put all my sickness and fear into a single green marble. Then she told me to push that green marble all the way down into the middle of that vase and asked me if I could still see it. I couldn’t.

asleep

Brandi Carlile album.

We were in Washington, DC, pin-dropping the Barns at Wolf Trap when the Supreme Court officially did away with DOMA. It was a staggering victory for my family and so many like us. The relief was like a warm wave and it washed over our whole family. I fought tears from the moment we played our first note to the last.

STAND BY ME” When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we’ll see No I won’t be afraid, oh I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me? Oh, stand by me Whoa, just stand now Oh, stand, stand by me When all of your friends have gone

SKYLINE PIGEON” Turn me loose from your hands Let me fly to distant lands Over green fields, trees and mountains Flowers and forest fountains Home along the lanes of the skyway

Fly away, skyline pigeon fly Towards the dreams You’ve left so very So very far behind —ELTON JOHN AND BERNIE TAUPIN

I understand who I am as an artist because I understand that I don’t understand who I am as an artist. It can all change at any time.

All these years have taught me that fishing is really just an attempt to connect to something that you know is there, but that you can’t see.

I’m beginning to feel the years, but I’m going to be okay As long as you’re beside me along the way I’m gonna to make it through the night And into the morning light

And from the shelter of my mind, Through the window of my eyes, I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets, To England where my heart lies. —Paul Simon

And so you see I have come to doubt All that I once held as true I stand alone without beliefs The only truth I know is you

And as I watch the drops of rain Weave their weary paths and die I know that I am like the rain There but for the grace of you go I —SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

Call her green and the winters cannot fade her Call her green for the children who have made her little, green Be a gypsy dancer

There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes And sometimes there’ll be sorrow —JONI MITCHELL

Although it was sad and it hurt really bad There’s nothing I’d change from before I love you my friend my dear means to an end But you’re not in my dreams anymore. —BRANDI CARLILE

There’s a dark and a troubled side of life There’s a bright and a sunnyside, too ’though we meet with the darkness and strife The sunnyside we also may view Keep on the sunnyside Always on the sunnyside Keep on the sunnyside of life It will help us everyday It will brighten all the way If we’ll keep on the sunnyside of life

I DON’T KNOW who I am as an artist after this album and after Joni, but I know I’m not Joni Mitchell.

It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside I’m not one of those who can easily hide I don’t have much money, but boy, if I did I’d buy a big house where we both could live If I was a sculptor, but then again, no Or a man who makes potions in a travelin’ show Oh, I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do My gift is my song and this one’s for you And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it’s done I hope you don’t mind I hope you don’t mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you’re in the world I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss Well, a few of the verses, well, they’ve got me quite cross But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song It’s for people like you that keep it turned on So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do You see, I’ve forgotten if they’re green or they’re blue Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it’s done

hope you don’t mind I hope you don’t mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you’re in the world —ELTON JOHN AND BERNIE TAUPIN

Musicians are rarely as “buttoned-up” or as glamorous as our industry would like you to believe.

Joni. I’ll never know where to start. In your quiet wisdom you made me loud enough to drown out all other voices and pointed me toward the artist inside me. It’s never just music.

Sometimes I think that I know What love’s all about And when I see the light I know I’ll be all right. —NEIL YOUNG

It’s not a a cry that you hear at night It’s not somebody who’s seen the light It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

There was a time when you let me know What’s really going on below But now you never show that to me, do ya But remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving, too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah Hallelujah

Maybe we hurt who we love the most Maybe it’s all we can stand Maybe we walk through the world as ghosts Break my own heart before you can Maybe we know how the story ends Maybe it’s not even about us We both retreat to opposing stands and the love lives on without us One thing I know for sure is love will find a way

My mother had a more comfortable childhood. She’s one of three girls and like her mother has always been very charming and mischievous. She can read a room like no one else. She’s vain. She loves music and art. If she’s sunny and happy, then everyone she meets is too. Her enthusiasm can’t be resisted. If she’s not in a good space though, you’re not going to be either.

Most people live in their childhood homes for a while. It softens the edges on the memories and gives them a comforting wash, a kind of afterglow, set against routine and consistency.