EVERYBODY’S TALKIN’

"I’d rather listen to other voices. Right away, I heard John Lee Hooker in my head: ‘Worser than Vietnam.’ And Dan Bern’s ‘Oklahoma,’ advising me to remain sane amidst the madness. I got out Joe Tex for his foxhole ballad, ‘I Believe I’m Gonna Make It,’ but he hooked me more [when he was] overwhelmed with the sweet empowerment of ‘Hold What You Got’ and the wit of ‘One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show’: ‘Things don’t happen like that in New York.’ Joe Tex, by the way, was a Muslim."
—Dave Marsh

"As a band, we simply refuse to play into the hands of these terrorists. We won’t allow them to disrupt our lives any further."
—Slayer’s Tom Araya on going ahead with the band’s European tour

"There’s a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall… When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice… You don’t know my people. You don’t know what we’re capable of. You don’t know what you just started. But you’re about to learn."
—Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald

"BASTARDS!"
—headline from The San Francisco Examiner, 9/12/01

"The biggest tragedy of it all would be if the terrorists stole our spirit, for the greatest we have is our ability to feel and love and dream. That can’t be extinguished."
—Holly Gleason, Joe’s Garage (indie PR)

"I have these moments where I cry so hard I can’t breathe, and others where I sit here and stare off into space wondering what the hell is going on downtown and if I even have an apartment to return to."
—Brian Bumbery, Score Press (indie PR)

"If we all go home and do nothing, they’ve won."
—The Damned’s Captain Sensible, on the band’s decision not to call off its U.S. tour

"It is not hyperbole to say the tragedy here transformed New York City from a gigantic, unyielding, furiously paced place, to a warm and shattered community that has shown so much love, commitment, caring and bravery, it’s overwhelming… The sense of unity is so strong now, it is inevitably going to regenerate itself through the artists and culture of this place in passionate ways."
—Michelle Santosuosso, J Records

"In the excruciating, glacially paced past week, I have become patriotic, empathetic to the tune of a torrent of tears. I have also felt the disconcerting thirst for blood. I’ve been connected, disconnected, disillusioned, hateful, hopeful, loving, lost, found, frightened, frantic, fearless. My birth certificate says L.A., but my heart and soul reside in New York."
—Lonn Friend

"I had a hard time being happy. But I’m all teared out at the moment. He would’ve held my hand, he would’ve been in the room."
—Kellie Lee, wife of Backstreet Boys roadie Danny Lee, on the birth of her daughter Allison Danielle two days after her husband died aboard one of the hijacked planes

"I believe we were all given an incredible dose of perspective last Tuesday. A perspective that tells us that sometimes what we may believe to be significant really isn't. The only thing that is significant and meaningful is family, friends and each other. GOD BLESS US ALL."
—Fred Croshal, Maverick Records

"Since I've been coming to America to tour since 1973, I feel kind of like an adopted American in a lot of ways, and this atrocity hit me too. The cold-blooded way these assassins used passenger flights (and whatever creed these people follow, there were surely some of the same creed among the passengers) is unforgivable. They need to be certainly identified, and then blasted and razed from the face of the earth. This is one instance where revenge is inevitable—just make sure they're the right guys and then erase 'em. All our condolences to the relatives and friends; all my disgust for the perpetrators."
—Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead

"You’re a professional, but good Christ, you’re a human being."
—David Letterman to Dan Rather, consoling the seasoned journalist, who was momentarily overcome by emotion during an on-air interview

"Although many of us have lost friends, homes and certainly all of us are as altered as the N.Y. skyline, we are well and strong. My basic feeling about all of this is that it is more important than ever for us as a people to establish deeper communication with each other. We must be compassionate and intelligent in our reactions. It is especially important to reach out to people of the Islamic faith, for they as a people are not an enemy. We must try to understand their problems, their pain and their faith."
—Patti Smith

"We want to ask everyone to support CMJ. If you were pre-registered, don’t cancel. Find a way to go. If you hadn’t signed up before, think about attending next month. Most people who attend these events don’t think about what a huge risk they are for the companies that produce them. It’s a high-wire act with no net. Don’t take CMJ for granted—they need and deserve the music industry’s support right now."
—the South by Southwest staff

"I would not be alive if not for the American orphanages that raised my grandfather after the Armenian Genocide of 1915, so I have a lot of love and respect for the good things that America has and can continue to achieve."
—Serj Tankian, System of a Down