Leon Redbone's Quotes

Lonesome. Lonesome. I know what it means. Here all by my lonesome, dreaming empty dreams. Weary. Weary at the close of day, wondering if tomorrow brings me joy or sorrow.

I'm sad and blue, about nobody but you. I told you that I loved you right from the start, you told me the same and now you try to break my little heart.

I've got a very behind-the-scenes personality. I don't know how I became a performer. I like to stay discreet, out of the public eye, very low-key.

It can even be a single note which defines the entire song.

The only thing that interests me is history - reviewing the past and making something out of it.

What I do and what I record only work for the moment.

Who told you I was a musician?

I extract what I consider the best material from different sources. But often the material I perform comes from a very strange location in history, which are minstrel shows.

I think of these things as obstacles rather than opportunities, because if they were opportunities it means I actually took the business of doing them seriously. To take myself too seriously is the gentle kiss of death.