Courtney Love Quotes (66 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love

Courtney Love

Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love

Courtney Love

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Courtney Love

Courtney Love: 66 quotes7 likes

Famous Courtney Love Quotes

“I do remember not having good social skills [as a child], although I learned them later. I learned them from hanging out at a gay disco, learning them from drag queens; and I learned them in Liverpool, and I learned them in juvenile hall. So, I learned [my social skills] from future criminals, drag queens, and rock stars.”

Courtney Love

On developing social skills , The Return of Courtney Love (2006)
2006–2013

“Releasing those songs into the void, and not having the void answer back, led all of us to splinter off and attempt to make our mark by deconstructing. Instead of going forward with my tunesmithing, I went back to the beginning. And that’s what Pretty on the Inside was about.”

Courtney Love

On the failure of her first band, Sugar Babydoll, and the subsequent beginnings of her career, interview with The Georgia Straight (1999)
1996–2005
Context: Releasing those songs into the void, and not having the void answer back, led all of us to splinter off and attempt to make our mark by deconstructing. Instead of going forward with my tunesmithing, I went back to the beginning. And that’s what Pretty on the Inside was about. I said, ‘I’m not going to follow any of the songwriting values that I’ve been learning for a good seven years. Instead, I’m going to set up on my own land and make my own stake, and see where it goes.’ And the next place that takes me is Seattle, where what was happening was so heavy, and so intense.

“I can't grow a new heart.”

Courtney Love

“I don’t need any plastic in my body to validate me as a woman.”

Courtney Love

“I used to do drugs, but don't tell anyone because it'll ruin my image.”

Courtney Love

“The language of love letters is the same as suicide notes.”

Courtney Love book Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love

Source: Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love

Courtney Love Quotes about people

“I love being around people that are smarter than me, that think faster than me. So even if you're a dork, and you wear stupid clothes, and you make a fool of yourself, and everyone makes fun of you, and you're just an idiot—I don't care about the context. I don't care. If you're genius and I recognize it, I kind of dig that.”

Courtney Love

On people she is attracted to, The Return of Courtney Love (2006)
2006–2013

“Writing songs has a lot to do with your sexuality. I danced for awhile and just being around that made me realize what people use. And if you grow up blessed with a certain beauty or a certain intelligence that enhances your beauty, you can get into a better position in life.”

Courtney Love

On songwriting and beauty, The Guardian https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22821312/the_guardian/ (December 11, 1991) 1991–1995

“Since I’ve basically been giving my music away for free under the old system, I’m not afraid of wireless, MP3 files or any of the other threats to my copyrights. Anything that makes my music more available to more people is great. MP3 files sound cruddy, but a well-made album sounds great. And I don’t care what anyone says about digital recordings. At this point they are good for dance music, but try listening to a warm guitar tone on them. They suck for what I do. … I’m looking for people to help connect me to more fans, because I believe fans will leave a tip based on the enjoyment and service I provide. I’m not scared of them getting a preview. It really is going to be a global village where a billion people have access to one artist and a billion people can leave a tip if they want to. It’s a radical democratization. Every artist has access to every fan and every fan has access to every artist, and the people who direct fans to those artists. People that give advice and technical value are the people we need. People crowding the distribution pipe and trying to ignore fans and artists have no value. This is a perfect system.”

Courtney Love

From "Courtney Love does the math", a speech given on the corruption of the music industry, from Salon.com http://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/ (14 June 2000) 1996–2005

“I always said I’d never go to New York until someone pays me—because I’ve seen people come back from New York like desiccated, broken… New York is a tough place if you’re coming out of Port Authority or from Oregon, and they were paying me 356 dollars a day to be on the set [of Sid and Nancy] so that was really wonderful. Then I did Straight To Hell which went straight to video (but) then Andy Warhol noticed me from those two films. Then I got to be in Interview magazine and I got this little measure of celebrity, but with no money (laughs) that sucks… (but) it feels great if you’ve been wanting it. A lot of people like to say, ‘oh I didn’t ask for this, it just happened. I’m the luckiest guy in the world…’ I always wanted it.”

Courtney Love

On her first exposure to fame after appearing in Alex Cox's films Sid and Nancy (1986) and Straight to Hell (1987), Dazed (22 March 2016)
2014–2017

“Is this the anti-gay state? Aren't you the people that voted on the anti-gay thing?”

Courtney Love

Lollapalooza, Denver, Colorado; July 8, 1995
Stage banter

“[Crack] used to be called freebase when white rich people did it. Then it got sold in batches, and white rich people were still doing it, and it was still called freebase. And then all of a sudden this guy named Ricky Freeway Ross started making it and he happened to be black, and— everything is political— and, then it turned into "crack."”

Courtney Love

Explaining the racist politics of the history of cocaine; The Howard Stern Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZ7Wwv1og0 (2005) 1996–2005

Courtney Love: Trending quotes

“Don't blush when I rip you open.”

Courtney Love

"Loaded"
Song lyrics, Pretty on the Inside (1991)

“Even though I now feel more confident and happy, I was really paranoid for about a year and a half. Basically, what happened was that I quit taking drugs and I walked out into the world and was sort of in this film that was really well received. So, after years of living a more destructive lifestyle, I had to, instantly, kind of court this world which had incredibly nice value systems, but with protocols that I had never encountered before. And then I had to reconcile these two worlds. You know—I want to live a happier, more productive lifestyle, but the question was, did I want to renounce being in a great rock ’n’ roll band for that? The answer was ‘No way.”

Courtney Love

On reconciling her career in acting and music, interview with The Georgia Straight (1999)
1996–2005

“I want my baby
Where is my baby?
I want my baby
Where is my baby?”

Courtney Love

"I Think That I Would Die"
Song lyrics, Live Through This (1994)

Courtney Love Quotes

“If I see a chick playing guitar, I’m drawn to that band immediately.”

Courtney Love

On women playing guitar, Pitchfork (1 May 2014)
2014–2017
Context: If I see a chick playing guitar, I’m drawn to that band immediately. I want to know everything, even if it’s completely electronic. But you have to really get my attention if you’re male. I can’t help it. It’s part of my nature.

“[Kurt Cobain] had a lot of German in him. Some Irish. But no Jew. I think that if he had had a little Jew he would have [expletive] stuck it out.”

Courtney Love

“It's my lie and I believe in it
It's my lie and I wanted it
It's my bed and I'll bleed in it
It's my bed, and I'll lie
And I sit on the corner
And I drink drown soda
I wanna bomb the whole state of Minnesota”

Courtney Love

"Drown Soda"
Song lyrics, B-sides and compilations

“Don’t eat cheese. There are a million things to eat that are not cheese.”

Courtney Love

On eating habits, Rollerderby fanzine (October 1993)
1991–1995

“I don't know why I ever succumbed to any of it… [but] I liked the rush of going under. It's such a high—it's like dying. I die, but then I come out prettier.”

Courtney Love

On what attracted her to undergo plastic surgery, The Inner Circle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVK-5gmv5hw (27 October 2011) 2006–2013

“When I was fourteen, I was so bloody ugly and I thought I was Kate Moss. I chased this guy named Mark Rennie, who was the hottest photographer in Portland, around, convinced him to [take pictures of me]. I had this big schnoz, I had blusher on, I'm wearing white gloves, and I [was] making new wave faces, and, like, voguing… there was a gap in my teeth, and I was 180 pounds. So if someone calls me ugly, it sort of rolls off my back because it's not about looks, it's about attitude—you get laid on attitude.”

Courtney Love

On confidence; The Opie & Anthony Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUA98nxYLXE (30 May 2013) 2006–2013

“I am a feminist and I’ve always thought of myself as a feminist. What I don’t like about feminism and the far left in general is the in-fighting, the way that the far left in-fights too much to get anything done and I feel like in feminism it’s like, ‘well, she’s not really feminist enough’ and there can be this kind of less-than thing in feminism. And also I think there’s a biological paradigm between men and women where men are just men and women are just women, and there is something to be said about that. But at the same time, I think equality amongst the sexes is critical.”

Courtney Love

On feminism, Dazed http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/30477/1/courtney-love-on-kurt-cobain-hole-andy-warhol-feminism-london (22 March 2016) 2014–2017

“After what I've been through, I'd rather die than take drugs again.”

Courtney Love

On sobriety, The Howard Stern Show (26 April 2010)
2006–2013

“I’ve protected it [the Nirvana catalogue] from everything from Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials to movies about board games. We’ve been offered $6 million for 18 seconds of one Nirvana song and I turned it down.”

Courtney Love

On managing the Nirvana catalogue, The Sydney Morning Herald (11 August 2014)
2014–2017

“Hush your highness, don't you breathe
No, baby, hold me in your arms, I'm shivering
But what's all this for?
If I was the battle, baby, you have won the war”

Courtney Love

"Hold Onto Me"
Song lyrics, America's Sweetheart (2004)

“Every time that I sell myself to you
I feel a little bit cheaper than I need to
I will tear the petals off of you
Rose red, I will make you tell the truth”

Courtney Love

"Asking for It"
Song lyrics, Live Through This (1994)

“You look good in my dress
I'll get your friends to clean the mess
You look good in my clothes
I can feel you where the doctor goes”

Courtney Love

"Beautiful Son"
Song lyrics, B-sides and compilations

“I used to see media on Althea [Flynt] and she was very wild looking. She had a mohawk and she published Hustler—I thought that was crazy. But when you study her, she was so innocent and frail and sort of birdlike, and sweet. She stayed sweet until she died, but I don't know what happened for her to get into drugs or the things she got into.”

Courtney Love

On playing Althea Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Linehan (December 1996)
1996–2005

“If I fuckin' die without having written two, three, or four brilliant rock songs… I don't know why I lived my life.”

Courtney Love

Remarks about her ambitions early in her career (1991), Not Bad for a Girl documentary (1995)
1991–1995

“I wore a dress that was so restricting and shoes that were five inches high, I could barely stage-dive. Then I got the best write-ups, for being feminine, I guess. I couldn’t move well and I was restrained, which equals great review. That’s pretty horrid.”

Courtney Love

On her attire during live performances, Billboard https://books.google.com/books?id=gA0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA135&dq=I+wore+a+dress+that+was+so+restricting+and+shoes+that+were+five+inches+high,+I+could+barely+stage-dive,+Then+I+got+the+best+write-ups,+for+being+feminine,+I+guess.+I+couldn’t+move+well+and+I+was+restrained,+which+equals+great+review.+That’s+pretty+horrid+Read+more+at+http://www.nme.com/list/courtney-love-30-of-her-most-candid-quotes-1309%233eCzLehAzLfAYAW2.99&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHoYHrgbfSAhUDOSYKHeg-DR8Q6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=I%20wore%20a%20dress%20that%20was%20so%20restricting%20and%20shoes%20that%20were%20five%20inches%20high%2C%20I%20could%20barely%20stage-dive%2C%20Then%20I%20got%20the%20best%20write-ups%2C%20for%20being%20feminine%2C%20I%20guess.%20I%20couldn’t%20move%20well%20and%20I%20was%20restrained%2C%20which%20equals%20great%20review.%20That’s%20pretty%20horrid%20Read%20more%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Flist%2Fcourtney-love-30-of-her-most-candid-quotes-1309%233eCzLehAzLfAYAW2.99&f=false (30 March 1996) 1996–2005

“When I post, I forget I’m famous. It’s a really bad thing.”

Courtney Love

On blogging and using Twitter, Spinnermusic.co.uk (January 2010)
2006–2013

“The American male runs half of the global world and grows up on rock music from day one. If you can alter the psyche of someone who's growing up to be a rapist or a total misogynist, you're creating values and instead of making the void bigger, you're making it smaller.”

Courtney Love

On her goals in songwriting, The Guardian (December 11, 1991)
1991–1995

“I've got a blister from touching everything I see
The abyss opens up
It steals everything from me”

Courtney Love

"Softer, Softest"
Song lyrics, Live Through This (1994)

“Someone once said that Nirvana attracted everybody that had ever been through a broken home… my niche is a lot more specific: It's a lot of females, and a lot of gay guys, and a few advanced and evolved heterosexual men—not many, but there's a few out there.”

Courtney Love

On her fans, Hit So Hard (2011) documentary
2006–2013

“Why do guys get to take off their shirts and we don't?”

Courtney Love

Phoenix Theatre, Toronto, Ontario; September 1, 1994
Stage banter

“Oh, make me over
I'm all I wanna be
A walking study
In demonology”

Courtney Love

"Celebrity Skin"
Song lyrics, Celebrity Skin (1998)

“I didn't know it was such a guy's job. It's like playing football in high heels and lipstick; no wonder it smears.”

Courtney Love

On being a woman in rock, The Independent https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/it-still-feels-like-love-courtneys-back-26344406.html (13 January 2008) 2006–2013

“Asphyxiate all your pain away
Don't try to win; it will only end in disgrace
Translucetize the cold light of day
It's glorious, its terrible, God I need it
It's beautiful, it's ravenous; I'll just feed it
Coil down to your black dark decay
And I will dig my own grave now
I'm miss begotten
I am the last one you save here
It's all gone rotten”

Courtney Love

"Nobody's Daughter"
Song lyrics, Nobody's Daughter (2010)

“I punched out Kathleen Hanna… Sonic Youth brought her. I punched her, and she screamed, "I'll take you on, any college in America, any feminist debate," and I said, "But Kathleen, that means you're going to have to read!"”

Courtney Love

On punching Kathleen Hanna backstage at Lollapalooza, interview with Nardwuar (5 July 1995)
1991–1995

“I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming.”

Courtney Love

On women playing rock music, quoted in 1991, from This is the Sound: The Best of Alternative Rock https://books.google.com/books?id=MdmBYULpTrAC&pg=PT72&lpg=PT72&dq=i+want+every+girl+in+the+world+to+pick+up+a+guitar+and+start+screaming&source=bl&ots=wGJk2wQvio&sig=becPFUbQgPjVPwe75eEIadx-kYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCxYu6lvrTAhXjilQKHeziAZM4ChDoAQg5MAU#v=onepage&q=i%20want%20every%20girl%20in%20the%20world%20to%20pick%20up%20a%20guitar%20and%20start%20screaming&f=false (2008), p. 71 1991–1995

“And I don't care what it takes my friend
I will never go hungry, go hungry again
Oh, and I don't care what I have to pretend
I will never go hungry, go hungry again
And the phoenix she rises, she is sure to descend
She will never go hungry, go hungry again
And you're looking to me more and more like a godsend
We will never go hungry, go hungry again
And we owe each other nothing, there's no one left here to offend
We will never go hungry, go hungry again”

Courtney Love

"Never Go Hungry"
Song lyrics, Nobody's Daughter (2010)

“Slutkiss girls, won't you promise her smack?
Is she pretty on the inside?
Is she pretty from the back?
Slutkiss girls, won't you water her rack?
Is she pretty on the inside?
Is she pretty from the back?
Slutkiss girl, molasses, rot blackstrap
Is she rotten on the inside
Is she ugly, ugly from the back?”

Courtney Love

"Pretty on the Inside"
Song lyrics, Pretty on the Inside (1991)

“Sister ectoplasma she's incredulous
Just like a pro she takes off her dress
And she kicks you down in her snow white pumps
Just remember it was me who found the lumps”

Courtney Love

"Mrs. Jones"
Song lyrics, Pretty on the Inside (1991)

“Do you remember when you were young, and you’d stare at someone on-stage and think ‘Oh my God—he looked right at me?’ I do, so I have this kind of rescue-fantasy thing. When I see kids in the audience I think, ‘Okay, that’s me, and it would be kind of cool if the person on-stage would come down and save me.’ I’m not going to be able to save every one of them, but I’ll do my best, because I genuinely like kids. If I didn’t have my lust for my art, I probably would have ended up working with them.”

Courtney Love

On her teenaged fans, interview with The Georgia Straight (1999)
1996–2005

“I don’t like coming to Seattle much. I talked to [Chris] Cornell about it not that long ago. And Jerry Cantrell. None of us like it. It is beautiful, objectively. The arboretum is great. But it freaks me out for obvious reasons. I didn’t really live there. I lived behind a gate. I would try to go up to [Pike Place] Market. My big expedition would be Urban Outfitters and the yoga store.”

Courtney Love

On living in Seattle in the 1990s, The Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/courtney-love-lsquoit-was-war-the-time-after-kurt-diedrsquo/ (14 July 2013) 2006–2013

“And they're coming to take me away now
What I want I will never have
I'm on the Pacific Coast Highway
With your gun in my hands”

Courtney Love

"Pacific Coast Highway"
Song lyrics, Nobody's Daughter (2010)

“I'm all for putting money back into the black community, who white people have been stealing from for years.”

Courtney Love

On race and the music industry, 24 Hours of Love MTV2 Special (21 September 2005)
1996–2005

“Does that make you happy, Mr. Rock & Roll Fantasy? You know what? Eddie Vedder’s gonna live to be 98. How’s that make you feel, huh? I love you, come back. You come back! You love us. You love me, don’t you? You love Frances. Where are you? Are you happier now?”

Courtney Love

April 10, 1994 at Kurt Cobain's public memorial at Seattle Center's Flag Pavilion, Entertainment Weekly (April 22, 1994) http://ew.com/article/1994/04/22/remembering-kurt-cobain/ 1991–1995

“I am the girl you know, can't look you in the eye
I am the girl you know so sick I cannot try
I am the one you want, can't look you in the eye
I am the girl you know, I lie and lie and lie”

Courtney Love

"Miss World"
Song lyrics, Live Through This (1994)

“Hi. We're Hole. As in "asshole."”

Courtney Love

Stage banter

“Love hangs herself with the bedsheets in her cell
Threw myself on fires for you
Ten good reasons to stay alive
Ten good reasons that I can't find”

Courtney Love

"Reasons to be Beautiful"
Song lyrics, Celebrity Skin (1998)

“LA is easier. People have garages. And then as you go up the coast, in Washington and Oregon people have bigger houses and bigger garages, and people have parents.”

Courtney Love

On being a working musician on the West Coast, in conversation with Lana Del Rey, Dazed http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/35578/1/lana-del-rey-courtney-love-lust-for-life (April 2017) 2014–2017

“I started chanting when I was living on Hollywood Boulevard, working as a stripper. Within six months, I got my first million dollars and I didn’t have to strip for bucks any more. Then I met Kurt and we still chanted, but we did a lot of drugs together.”

Courtney Love

On her Nichiren Buddhist chanting practice, The Guardian (29 December 2010)
2006–2013

“You should've loved me baby
When redemption's too blind
Nature took my soul
And sin left a scar so wide
Time ravaged my body
And now I live in the house
Where the red light's always on”

Courtney Love

"Life Despite God"
Song lyrics, America's Sweetheart (2004)

“I finally learned from Fred Durst, who is [of] my generation, that "selling out" means every ticket at The Forum got sold. I don't think Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] sit there agonizing over their record sales. The [term] "sell out" needs to be eradicated from the language, because if you don't "sell out," guess what? An asshole will.”

Courtney Love

On the notion of "selling out" in the music industry, 24 Hours of Love MTV2 Special (21 September 2005)
1996–2005

“Crash and burn
All the stars explode tonight
How'd you get so desperate?
How'd you stay alive?”

Courtney Love

"Malibu"
Song lyrics, Celebrity Skin (1998)