Sixto Rodriguez

“About love, don't be a silent partner. And be gentle with your anger.”

“Musicians want to be heard. So I'm not hiding. But I do like to leave it there onstage and be myself, in that sense. Because some people carry it with them.”

“The social realism of ' Establishment Blues' or 'Like Janis,' are what I chose to use to express what was happening in the U.S. and what was happening to me personally.”

“In the '60s and '70s, a protest song was a genre in music.”

“The film, 'Searching For Sugar Man,' has excited my music career.”

“I wasn't very successful at running for office.”

“I chose music and that's what I do.”

“Musicians do music for the girls. We do music for the money. We do music for the recognition, for the rock and roll history. But we also do it because it's fun.”

“I stopped chasing the music dream back in '74.”

“I don't necessarily want a higher education, I want a wider education. I want to know everything and experience everything.”

“I play by ear - I'm self-taught. And so everything I do is through that technique.”

“That's the way I always listened to music. I'd listen and copy it. I play by ear so that's easier than reading.”

“My career, it's been a mess.”

“It's an honor and a pleasure to be heard.”

“Voice is the first instrument.”

“Many of us come into the world with a clenched fist, but we all leave with an open hand.”

“I have a sloppy style of playing guitar. A percussive style. Unique in fact.”

“I like Detroit.”

“I think that many of the issues they were facing in South Africa were the same as those I was singing about. Conscription, resisting the draft, government repression - I mentioned all those things in my songs.”

“I'm a fortunate man, quite fortunate.”