Matt Berninger Quotes

You gotta lean towards the things that make you like yourself. Forget everything else.

It is the melody and the rhythm that are by far the most important and then words and imagery and stuff, story bits will start to stick to a melody and that is the way I write.

I became at peace with the darkness or the personality that I have. I am usually pretty funny and happy.

I drink wine on stage to sort of loosen my grip on reality a little.

My parents know that I have always been sort of a dark melodramatic kid, so they were never concerned.

I don't want somebody telling my daughter who she can marry, or what she can do with her body. That's what was at stake.

I actually don't go to shows anymore. Rock concerts have lost their appeal for me.

Maybe because I have spent too much of my life in rock clubs. I don't really go to parties anymore either. I'll usually be in the bus by 11:30 after a show.

A song is a song and, if I am emotionally connected to do it, whether it is sad or not sad, I am going to chase that song.

Not all the songs are real events, but I do write about stuff that is close to my heart and it comes out one way or another.

I'm not saying I'm not a moody guy sometimes, but I think I have a pretty normal balance.

Live on coffee and flowers. Try not to worry what the weather will be.

Trying to make it and get people to respect your band, being a cool band-all of that stuff-I think we've arrived at a place where we have kids and everything is in perspective and it doesn't matter.

Music has got a community vibe to it that pulls people together, and those communities are different in different places.

A person with grace is somebody who's socially graceful or is a classy person, but sometimes you just feel the opposite of that, and you just feel like a jerk and a loser and a weirdo.

The song 'Humiliation' is kind of about what if, outside of a dinner party or something, I was blown up by a drone missile, out by the pool. What an embarrassing way to go.

I can never turn a tour into a vacation.

I have pit bulls barking at me on half of the love songs.

Getting on stage and performing and standing under lights is such an unsettling experience - in a good and bad way - but it's the only place I can go to feel comfortable.

When you realize that the baby's healthy and born, it's a release and you're so happy.

Somehow, you realize you can kind of do anything in music. You don't have to be good at a certain thing; you can just do whatever you want.

I focus on the words and then I have fun putting together the music after.

The last thing you want to do is write songs about being in a band.

I've never had so much fun being back at my job sitting in front of my computer. Compared to 10 months on the road, going home and sleeping in my own bed every night is really nice.

A different drumbeat or some vocal overdub could completely transform the song.

I'm doing a little freelance work, and I think everybody's trying to take their minds off rock and roll for a little while and get some perspective.

Once you do have a child you want to talk about every detail of it. And it is really boring to all your friends and it should be.

I'm going to keep drinking on stage. I have a pretty healthy relationship with alcohol. I know how far to go and when to stop.

It takes us a long time to write a song that we all really like, so it makes sense that it would take a while for the listener to get there, too.

I can only write songs when somebody gives me some water to swim in. Otherwise, I'm a fish on the beach.

Lyrics need to be good, but they don't need to be obvious right away.

Sadness is not always the worst feeling. Sometimes it's a really pleasurable thing to be overwhelmed with sadness.

I love to make songs out of some of those shadows - you know, some of the things you lie awake thinking about, social anxieties and romantic insecurities and all that stuff.