Joe Elliott Quotes

I wanted to write a song that's known to the world as a classic, stadium-rock anthem. The best holiday I ever had was the first one I went on without my parents, when I was 17. In England, rock music very rarely infiltrates the charts, but country music even less so. Manhattan's always fascinating, too, just a big, stinky, smelly conglomeration of numbered avenues and streets, but it's just got a vibe that's hard to beat. I shouldn't like it, but I do. I can't put my finger on it. I don't really feel any different when I get up on stage. I've always liked traveling around Europe and seeing the architecture. The buildings in capital cities have been there for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. Some look better than the new ones. There were incredibly few rock songs making it out to the airwaves until the '80s came along. I saw the Stones three years ago at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. and that was mind blowing. The most frustrating thing for musicians who want to play stuff from the new album is when everyone goes out to buy a beer. Any idiot who knows five chords can bang a song together. But it's probably going to be rubbish. The Vatican takes your breath away. That's why 60,000 people go ape when the Stones play 'Satisfaction.' The songs are part of their legacy, and you fall back in love with them over the years. Writing a song is actually quite easy. Writing a good one is very, very difficult. Humor is an amazing way to talk people down off a ledge. You don't just go with a majority because it's the majority. You go with it because it's right. If it feels right, do it. As long as it's legal. Just follow your gut. If you seriously believe that something is the right thing to do, if you are so convinced that your stomach is knotting up every time someone suggests an alternative way of doing all this, take a deep breath and just say, 'You're wrong.' You see mock death in movies every day, but when it really happens, you're not used to it. Most things in life, you get better the more that you do them, but this is one of those things you don't really want to get any better at. As much as I am a huge soccer fan, music just kills it when it comes to importance. I could go to a desert island without a football and survive happily, but if I had to go without music, I think I'd end up killing myself. It fuels my soul. It always has. Music and soccer. They would be my two major passions. If you're driving, don't forget your car. When we try to write a pop song, we go for standard pop arrangements, even to the point where we will go to the key change at the end, which is really cheesy. With Los Angeles, it's kind of a love-hate thing. Sometimes I think it's marvelous, and sometimes I think it's a dump. It's so fake and I can't deal with how fake it is. We used to have our own plane with the band's name on the side. It was a dream come true. You drive to a local airport. There's none of this checking in stuff; you just get on the plane. To be honest, I'm a bit of a snob now; give me a Four Seasons anywhere in the world and I'm happy. Also, they've just opened a Ritz-Carlton in County Wicklow, Ireland, which is stunning and has great views. We just wanted to put a smile on people's faces. That's all we ever wanted to do. If you don't physically age gracefully, it's a bit sad. I think Steven Tyler can get away anything, because he still looks like he did in '73. Especially from row Z backwards in an arena. As long as the Stones keep their hair and don't get fat they'll get away with the wrinkles. I've always liked traveling around Europe and seeing the architecture. The buildings in capital cities have been there for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. Some look better than the new ones. I love the fact we're still on the road. I was born to be a factory worker really, so for me the chance to get on stage at Wembley 30 years after we started is amazing. When we try to write a pop song, we go for standard pop arrangements, even to the point where we will go to the key change at the end, which is really cheesy. We are just fans of music, we are not fans of a specific kind of music. We just happen to be a rock band. Until we explain ourselves, sometimes people don't understand why we limit ourselves to just being a rock band. It's because that is what we like doing.