Rufus Wainwright Quotes (29 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

[July 22, 2011, http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=2847, The Backpages Interview: Rufus Wainwright, Barney, Hoskyns, June 2, 2001, Rock's Backpages]

“Even if the sun, it is blazing
Even if the snow, it is raging
All the elements, we must conquer
To get to the other side of town.”

Rufus Wainwright

Tiergarten
Song lyrics, Release the Stars (2007)

“Guess the world needs both sun
And the moon too
Sad with what I have except for you.”

Rufus Wainwright

Sad With What I Have
Song lyrics, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)

“Putting all of my time
In learning to care
And a bucket of rhymes
I threw up somewhere
Want a locket of who
Made me lose my perfunctory view
Of all that is around
And of all that I do.”

Rufus Wainwright

I Don't Know What It Is
Song lyrics, Want One (2003)

“When I first came up with the lines, I don't know what it is, but you got to do it/ I don't know where to go but you got to be there, I was at this party for The Strokes in New York. There was this prevailing sense of, 'We're not quite sure what's happening or what is cool, but we know that it's somewhere around here, in this room.' It was this vague confusion, with everybody kind of sniffing for blood. It wasn't that it was a bad party, or that I don't like The Strokes; I just think there's a lot of confusion right now in the music business. Then, later on, I realized the song was really personal. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't know I was actually lost. It wasn't about the party at all; it's about searching but not knowing what you're searching for. There's the train motif, being on this train heading for either oblivion or salvation – and just holding on for dear life. That song came down from some mountain somewhere, because it was right after I wrote it that I sort of packed it in.”

Rufus Wainwright

About I Don't Know What It Is,

“I believe in freedom
Freedom's apparently all I need
But who's ever been free in this world?
Who has never had to bleed in this world?”

Rufus Wainwright

Zebulon
Song lyrics, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)

“Yes, I'm a homosexual and I like to shock people with glamour.”

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live from the London Palladium DVD, filmed February 25, 2007

“You broke my heart, Danny boy
Not your fault, Danny boy
I was had at the doorstep
Played, like a two to a four-set
Had, like poor Job in the bible by God.”

Rufus Wainwright

Danny Boy
Song lyrics, Rufus Wainwright (1998)

“These are just the rules and regulations
Of the birds, and the bees
The earth, and the trees,
Not to mention the gods, not to mention the gods.”

Rufus Wainwright

Rules and Regulations
Song lyrics, Release the Stars (2007)

“But I don’t even think you hear me at all
Under your medieval ceiling behind your biblical wall”

Rufus Wainwright

Jericho
Song lyrics, Out of the Game (2012)

“When I was very young I was Judy. On good days I was Dorothy, on bad days I was the Wicked Witch. The interesting thing about it, too, is that I’ve always related to it mainly because I don’t relate much to Frank Sinatra. I appreciate Frank, but there are so many Frank Sinatra imitators, whether it’s Harry Connick Jr. or Michael Bublé—the kind of guys who [Snaps his fingers in quick succession] basically want to get laid. And there’s nobody being the flip side of that, which is the hungry, lonely, desperate, crazy-person singer [Laughs]. So I wanted to pick up that mantle and try to be a little less cool.”

Rufus Wainwright

About Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall concert, Time Out New York Issue 551, April 20–26, 2006

“The song is about knowing the end result of every situation you're in, and being able to play it out in your mind and see it before it happens. It's about addiction, really, about knowing how it's all going to end up. In that sense, you're watching a movie of yourself all the time – and then you want out of that movie.”

Rufus Wainwright

About Movies of Myself, [July 28, 2011, http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=376772359546, Want One Bio, December 1, 2009]

“Somebody curse the light
And take me far away from myself”

Rufus Wainwright

Bitter Tears
Song lyrics, Out of the Game (2012)

“Mowing your lawn is against nature.”

Rufus Wainwright

Responding to Reverend Lou Sheldon insisting on homosexuality being against the very force of nature, Bill Maher's talk show Politically Incorrect, August 2001

“Rufus is extraordinary, so musically gifted in many diverse fields. He is a prince in shining armour, a true star in these days of dull and boring, pissy little pop stars.”

Rufus Wainwright

Gavin Friday, [July 16, 2012, http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/everybody-loves-rufus-3168433.html, everybody loves rufus]

“Rufus Wainwright has as true a voice as you can hear and as sweet and acute a sensibility as you can imagine. His musicianship combined with his poetic, intelligent and humane outlook on life make for one of the great performers of our day. I adore his singing, his song-writing, everything about him…”

Rufus Wainwright

Stephen Fry, [July 28, 2011, http://www.digster.co.uk/playlists/rufus-wainwright-by-stephen-fry/, Rufus by Stephen Fry]

“The Greatest songwriter on the planet.”

Rufus Wainwright

Elton John, House of Rufus box set

“Rufus is one of those singular musical talents who both transcends and makes a mockery of fashion. It would not matter in which musical era he chose to materialise, but that his voice and his sensibility would be recognised as unique, timeless and without peer.”

Rufus Wainwright

Sting, House of Rufus box set