Shirley Manson's Quotes

I wanted to put out a solo record because I was stuck on a major label and sick of it.

I was always embarrassed because my dad wore a suit and my mother wore flat pumps and a cozy jumper while my friends' parents were punks or hippies.

I've got a lot of stamina and I enjoy people, so having lots of people around doesn't freak me out.

I've got no timetable. I'm sort of sick of timetables, to be honest.

If you have any opinions at all or if you're even remotely verbal then they're going to call you fiery.

In terms of fitting in, you know, I don't have a lot of armor up. I'm a raw nerve and it's really uncomfortable for a lot of people.

It's definitely an intrinsic part of my makeup that makes me want to see black when everyone else is seeing white.

It's everywhere, constant criticism of women's appearance in magazines and online. It's not easy to navigate.

Mozart was a punk, which people seem to forget. He was a naughty, naughty boy.

My solo album is dead and buried. We had the funeral. It was sad and I cried a lot but it made such a beautiful corpse that we had an open casket.

No, I like being a role model because I know how much comfort my musical idols brought me.

No, I'm not Shirley the girl, I'm the woman on MTV with the big boots.

People don't associate red hair, pale skin, and freckles with beauty.

Selling millions of albums is a sign you've infiltrated the culture.

That's a difficult question, because to consider yourself a rebel is sort of ridiculous.

We're living in a time when people are struggling to appear perfect.

You don't really hear a female perspective on the radio, because so many of the songs are being written by men.

And then there's all these other creeps that surround your band and suck off you like leeches and try to manipulate you and your business. You have to watch like a hawk. I'm always ready to fight. I see it very much as a battle.

I couldn't feel good about myself hanging out in Armani clothes when my girlfriend can't even pay her heating bill. I'd feel foul and I'd be embarrassed.

A lot of celebrities just want money, fame, power, fancy cars, houses all over the world and have people bow down to them. To me, that's frightful behaviour.

At the end of the day, though, the band members have to be strong. It's down to the individuals in the unit. Listen to me, I'm talking like I'm in the army and this is my squadron.

I refuse to step inside the ring and fight like a gladiator against my own. I'm not playing that game. Any woman who has survived a year or more of making music has my undying respect.

I think it's a great thing to have failed in life and then pulled yourself up by the boot straps and actually done something, because then you appreciate it more.

Possibly because I grew up not feeling very confident about my own physical appearance, I developed internal devices so that I could integrate into society.

Starbucks is my main fix and it's usually you people working in there - sometimes they're actually shaking. It just makes me feel horrendous because I've been in that situation.

I am not a sexy woman, I'm not beautiful, I'm not a sex kitten, I don't flirt with people, yet I've been tagged more of sex symbol than women who truly are and I that's solely because I don't reveal too much: people are curious.