A biography for Ric Ocasekhasn’t been written yet.
“I often write songs, and when I do, I usually write quite a few of them. I really have to be in the mood.”
“Once they're on paper, they're gone. I like to do as much with the words, as far as image goes.”
“I've always been a fan of poetry. I grew up with Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Beat poets. I really followed that stuff for a while. I just love the way people threw words around like they were painting.”
“As a songwriter, oddly enough, my influences were people like Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Buddy Holly. Some psychedelic stuff, too.”
“I don't think I'm an entertainer. I never think, 'Wow, I can't wait to get the crowd moving.' Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch.”
“Your high points and your low points. High points don't last that long, it's a high and it happens. It's great at the moment but you really can't live on it.”
“I've been in a band, so I understand the politics. Sometimes the bass player doesn't like what the guitar player is doing, and you have to sort of even that out.”
“I've never been on a water slide in my life.”
“The creative part for me is making songs, and that's what I really love the most, and that's what I've always done for every band I've ever had.”
“I love walking down the street and seeing faces and drama and happiness and sadness and dirt and cleanliness.”
“There's more to light than the opposite of dark.”
“They're caught where there's no way out or where you can't see out. What are you going to do about it? I don't have the answer. If I did there would be no insane asylums.”
“I could never be a country person, sitting around trees trying to write a song. I would rather be in the middle of society, whether it's growing or crumbling.”
“People tell me all the time that I look forbidding or aloof. That doesn't bother me much - I am fairly private, withdrawn, and... distant, I guess. But, um, I think that's okay.”
“I'm not proud of the lyrics to 'Shake It Up.'”
“Secrecy is the enemy of efficiency, but don't let anyone know it.”
“Never mind a world that can't see past brutality.”
“Sometimes you want to run away, sometimes you think you do, but you never had a dream like this before and you don't want to ask for more, sometimes you leave a mark before you know the score.”
“The most important thing to a lot of people, is to belong to something that's hip or whatever. To be a part of something that's not society, just a clique.”
“Refusing to ask for help when you need it is refusing someone the chance to be helpful.”