Neil Sedaka Quotes

Powerful Neil Sedaka for Daily Growth

About Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka, born on March 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York, is an iconic American singer-songwriter who has made significant contributions to the music industry spanning over six decades. Growing up in a musically inclined family, he showed an early aptitude for piano at the age of four and began writing songs by his teenage years. In 1957, Sedaka's career took off when he signed with RCA Victor Records. His first hit single, 'Oh! Carol,' penned as a tribute to his then-girlfriend, Carol King, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This success was followed by more hits such as 'Stinking' Rose Garden,' 'Calendar Girl,' and 'Breaking Up is Hard to Do.' However, Sedaka decided to focus on songwriting due to burnout from touring and the British Invasion. He penned songs for artists like The Monkees, Tommy James, and The Tokens during this period, which further solidified his status as a prolific composer. Returning to performing in 1973, Sedaka achieved international fame with 'Laughter in the Rain' and 'Bad Blood.' His collaborative efforts with Howard Greenfield led to the creation of timeless ballads like 'Solitaire,' 'Love Will Keep Us Together,' and 'Lonely Days.' In 2014, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in recognition of his enduring impact on popular music. Sedaka's career is marked by his versatility as a performer and songwriter, bridging pop, rock, and schmaltzy ballads with equal finesse. His legacy continues to inspire musicians worldwide, making him one of the most influential figures in American music history.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Love is a fragile thing, and it takes a lot of courage to fall in love."

The quote by Neil Sedaka suggests that love is a delicate emotion requiring great bravery to experience. Falling in love involves vulnerability, as one opens oneself up emotionally to another person, risking potential pain or rejection. The courage comes from acknowledging this risk and choosing to take the plunge into the depths of love anyway.

"A song can make you sad, make you happy, make you think, or make you dance."

This quote by Neil Sedaka highlights the multifaceted power of music. A song can evoke a range of emotions, from melancholy to joy, stir thoughts within us, and even inspire physical movement through dance. Essentially, music has an extraordinary ability to connect with our feelings, intellect, and physiology, making it a potent tool for human expression and emotion regulation.

"Music is my mistress, she makes me live."

This quote by Neil Sedaka expresses his deep and passionate connection with music. To him, music serves as a vital source of inspiration and livelihood; it's like a cherished mistress who enriches his life. In essence, the quote emphasizes the profound impact that music has on Sedaka's existence.

"When the music's over, turn out the lights."

This quote by Neil Sedaka suggests a profound acceptance and appreciation for life's temporary nature, particularly as it pertains to experiences like music or love. The "music" here symbolizes joyful moments, pleasurable activities, or any form of transient beauty. When the "music" ends, which can refer to the conclusion of an event, relationship, or phase in life, one should be prepared to move on and let go - just as one would turn out the lights after an event has concluded. It's a call to cherish each moment and embrace the transient nature of life with grace and resilience.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

Neil Sedaka's quote emphasizes the importance of love, both giving and receiving it. In essence, it suggests that one of life's most valuable lessons is learning how to love others and being reciprocated with that same affection. This mutual exchange of love fosters emotional connection, understanding, and growth in relationships, which are crucial elements for personal development and overall well-being.

I like Maroon 5, Cold Play. Snow Patrol from Ireland is very good. Adele is wonderful. I enjoy a new singer named Rumer. I don't care for rap or hip-hop.

- Neil Sedaka

Play, Rap, Very, Patrol

People seem to think of me as a goody-goody who never curses, but I can be very nasty if I'm pushed. Cross me too many times, and I'll never talk to you again.

- Neil Sedaka

Think, Again, Very, Nasty

As far as I'm concerned, all politicians are fake people.

- Neil Sedaka

Concerned, Far, As Far As, Fake

If you have a passion for something, never be discouraged by anyone.

- Neil Sedaka

Passion, Never, Anyone, Discouraged

I was a teenage idol, but not the one that the girls would put up on their walls, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. I was more cerebral, like a Roy Orbison or a Buddy Holly. I was one of the few who could write songs.

- Neil Sedaka

Idol, Teenage, Put, Frankie

I could have been bigger, but I wasn't controversial enough. I didn't do drugs or wreck rooms. There were no dramas in my private life.

- Neil Sedaka

Been, Private, Rooms, Dramas

I like Manchester - I've played it many times. The people have a lot of chein, a lot of heart, and the audiences are very receptive.

- Neil Sedaka

Like, Very, Many, Manchester

I have written for, very fortunately, some great singers from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley.

- Neil Sedaka

Singers, Frank, Very, None

My music is nostalgic. The early Neil Sedaka songs are always catchy and very singable.

- Neil Sedaka

Music, Always, Very, Catchy

I have inner peace; I have accomplished a great deal.

- Neil Sedaka

Peace, Inner Peace, Deal, Great Deal

I knew I had a remarkable voice, but I was embarrassed because it was so high. But when I sang at my bar mitzvah, the rabbi was in tears. He said to my parents, 'He must become a cantor in the synagogue,' but my mother said, 'No, he's going to be a concert pianist.'

- Neil Sedaka

Voice, Tears, Embarrassed, Rabbi

Andy Warhol was a good friend of mine. We used to go to the Studio 54 nightclub together with the likes of Liza Minnelli, and we'd dance through the night.

- Neil Sedaka

Studio, Warhol, Mine, Good Friend

I love America, and parts of New Jersey remind me of Newfoundland - rolling hills and gardens - it's great! I guess that's why they call it the Garden State.

- Neil Sedaka

Love, New, Gardens, Hills

When the Beatles came to America and took me off the map, I thought I would return the favor, and I moved the family to England!

- Neil Sedaka

Thought, England, Took, Map

The spiritual writing of the song is where you're chosen as a vehicle, and it comes from something up above. You don't move; it writes itself. It's very spooky, but that's happened to me just a few times.

- Neil Sedaka

Vehicle, Very, Times, Writes

I rode on a plane a couple years ago with Snow Patrol and didn't know who the hell they were. They said they were big fans of mine and were playing Madison Square Garden. And they let me listen to one of their records on their iPod. I started to weep.

- Neil Sedaka

Big, Couple, Plane, Garden

I worked at Mar-a-Lago for Trump, for some parties, and he seemed nice enough - but I don't think he's presidential. I think he's incompetent; I disagree with his policies, and I'm nervous as an American.

- Neil Sedaka

Think, Some, Trump, Presidential

I think there are three kinds of songs; it's only my theory: psychological, emotional, and spiritual. When you write psychologically or intellectually, you have a tune in your mind, and you re-write it. It's an intellectual approach. The emotional is my favorite because it comes from my kishkas; it comes from my soul.

- Neil Sedaka

Soul, I Think, Psychological, Psychologically

Being a New Yorker, I used to dance to Latin music. There was a place called the Palladium on Broadway. And Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez used to play. So I still have that in my blood.

- Neil Sedaka

Play, New, Still, Rodriguez

America has a tendency to chip away at you if you've been a success for a long time, whereas in Europe, they put you on a pedestal.

- Neil Sedaka

Pedestal, Been, Chip, Whereas

Tra-la-las and doo-be-do's became a Neil Sedaka trademark. I was the king of the tra-la-las and doo-be-do's in the '50s and '60s. But then when I re-recorded 'Breaking Up,' I started with a verse instead of the doo-be-do's!

- Neil Sedaka

King, Became, Neil, Verse

I didn't want to be a rock and roller. I wanted to be a Bobby Darin because he was the epitome of the performer, the sophisticated.

- Neil Sedaka

Want, Sophisticated, Epitome, Roller

Between 1958 and 1963, I sold about 40 million records - to the shock of my mother and father because I was always playing Beethoven. But I bought my mother a mink stole. She was very happy, and she said, 'I think this is better than Beethoven.'

- Neil Sedaka

Mother And Father, Very, Stole

I think I was put on earth to sing and play music.

- Neil Sedaka

Play, Think, I Think, Play Music

Much of my music is inspired by what I heard at picnics and weddings and bar mitzvahs.

- Neil Sedaka

Music, Bar, Weddings, Picnic

I still play my old vinyl LPs - I like the scratches - and I miss browsing in record shops, because they held great nostalgia for me.

- Neil Sedaka

Nostalgia, Play, Still, Vinyl

I was from very poor people: 11 of us in a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. I wanted the large houses, the cars, jets, and yacht.

- Neil Sedaka

Poor People, Very, Large, Yacht

I started out just as Elvis was going into the army, Jerry Lee Lewis married his 14-year-old cousin, and Little Richard became a priest.

- Neil Sedaka

Going, Richard, Became, Cousin

I actually started as a concert pianist. I had a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music.

- Neil Sedaka

Music, Actually, Pianist, Scholarship

I was one of the first American rock n' rollers in the '50s to go to many foreign countries. It's a wonderful thing to go out and spread joy and love rather than hate.

- Neil Sedaka

Love, Go, Rather, Foreign Countries

My teachers said, 'Always keep a Beethoven sonata under your fingers.' I always have. I still play chamber music, and I always play classical.

- Neil Sedaka

Play, Always, Still, Sonata

'Love Will Keep Us Together' was a combination of three different singing styles - Al Green, the Beach Boys, and Diana Ross. I loved all these people, and I put their singing styles together and wrote that tune.

- Neil Sedaka

Love, Three, Put, Beach Boys

I was driving my 1959 Chevy Impala down King's Highway in Brooklyn with the top down, and I heard 'Oh! Carol' on three stations at the same time while I was channel surfing. I knew then that I made it.

- Neil Sedaka

Surfing, Chevy, Channel, Carol

I take care of my voice. I don't go to loud discos where I have to shout; I don't have iced drinks.

- Neil Sedaka

Voice, Loud, Drinks, Shout

I tend to be on the quiet side. I think I would have been bigger if I had a big mouth.

- Neil Sedaka

Think, Big, Side, Big Mouth

Between 1963 and 1975, I worked very little. The Beatles had come to New York and changed music - all the solo singers were out of work.

- Neil Sedaka

New, Singers, Very, Solo

There have been 700 or 800 songs I've written over the last 60 years, as I went through different periods of writing. I listen and marvel at how different they are and how they still stand up. They are very well done, if I must say so.

- Neil Sedaka

Through, Been, Very, Stand Up

I admire Gaga. She's very talented and wise, that girl.

- Neil Sedaka

Wise, She, Very, Talented

I did have my beginnings in doo-wop music; I had a group called the Tokens in Brooklyn. They went on, of course, to do 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and a lot of other great things. I went on as a soloist. But I still love doo-wop music.

- Neil Sedaka

Love, Tonight, Sleeps, Lion

These are some of my awards - an Ivor Novello, a Variety Club Silver Heart, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I also have a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and a street named after me in Brooklyn where I used to live.

- Neil Sedaka

Some, Hollywood, Named, Songwriters

I have a Baldwin in my L.A. apartment, a Steinway in my New York apartment, and a Kawai plexiglass grand piano in storage for shows. I still play for two or three hours every day.

- Neil Sedaka

Play, New, Still, Storage

I am a Jew, and I'm convinced that Israel is the homeland.

- Neil Sedaka

I Am, Homeland, Convinced, Jew

The Apollo Theatre was a difficult audience, and if they didn't like you, they would let you know. Luckily, they liked me.

- Neil Sedaka

Audience, Difficult, Like, Luckily

I've always enjoyed seeing the world through the eyes of my grandchildren.

- Neil Sedaka

Seeing, Through, Always, Enjoyed

The hymn 'Amazing Grace' is so inspirational - I wish I'd written it.

- Neil Sedaka

Amazing, Wish, I Wish, Grace

Family has always been very important to my life. Even though I make my living as an artist, my creativity is merely a fantasy world. Having a close family has been a stabilizing rock for me.

- Neil Sedaka

My Life, Always, Very, Merely

My songs lie somewhere in between the evergreen standards, rock n' roll and pop.

- Neil Sedaka

Rock, Standards, Rock N Roll, Pop

Music is so much a part of me: my parents told me that when I was an infant, I wouldn't eat unless the radio was playing music.

- Neil Sedaka

Music, Radio, Part, Infant

I had talent, and I was hungry for fame, and you can't say I didn't get it.

- Neil Sedaka

Talent, Get, Had, Hungry

I remember Pavarotti telling me, 'Oh, Neil, after seventy, the voice is going to go.' But I've been lucky. You almost have to learn how to sing all over again. You use your diaphragm more. You have to choose the notes and pace yourself.

- Neil Sedaka

Voice, Lucky, Telling, Pace

I'm not afraid of poking fun at myself.

- Neil Sedaka

Myself, Fun, Afraid, Poking

I am very proud of being Jewish.

- Neil Sedaka

I Am, Proud, Very, Jewish

I used to think the whole world was Jewish.

- Neil Sedaka

World, Think, Whole, Jewish

You have to learn how to sing from your diaphragm, and you don't become a great performer overnight. It takes a while. The more you do it, the better you are.

- Neil Sedaka

Learn, More, Your, Performer

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