Courtney Love: Trending quotes

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.

“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.

“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

Love , Suicide

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

Courtney Love

“[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

Thinking

“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

Lie , Drink

“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

“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

World , Way , Feeling , Confidence

“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

Guy

“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

Women , Men , Sex , Way

“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

Money , People , World , Guy

“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