Best quotes by John Hiatt

John Hiatt

John Hiatt

American singer-songwriter

John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.

Hiatt was working as a songwriter for Tree International, a record label in Nashville, when his song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" was covered by Three Dog Night. The song became a Top 40 hit, earning Hiatt a recording contract with Epic Records. Since then he has released 22 studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album.

A variety of artists in multiple genres have covered his songs, including Aaron Neville, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Chaka Khan, Albert Lee, Dave Edmunds, Delbert McClinton, Desert Rose Band, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Iggy Pop, I'm with Her, Jeff Healey, Jewel, Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Cocker, Keith Urban, Linda Ronstadt, Mandy Moore, Maria Muldaur, Marti Jones, Nick Lowe, Paula Abdul, Paulini, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder, Suzy Bogguss, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Searchers, Three Dog Night, Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, and Willy DeVille. The Dutch singer-songwriter Ilse DeLange recorded the album Dear John with nine of his songs.

All quotes by John Hiatt:

When the road gets dark - And you can no longer see - Just let my love throw a spark - And have a little faith in me.

Whatever your hands find to do, you must do with all your heart.

Sometimes love can be so wrong/Like a fat man in a thong.

My attitude these days is, if you write a bad song, what are they gonna do, throw you in songwriter jail?

I see you over there, just clinging to the wall. Because they told you like ivy you were bound to crawl. But you kept looking up, girl, and I know why. You knew someday you were gonna touch the sky.

Some folks they take to living fast while some prefer a slow death.

It's a whole package, singer/songwriter. I like writing but I like performing just as much.

[But] they can't kill music. God knows, they've tried. But music always wins. As long as there's kids coming up that have a passion. All the bean counters in the world can't kill that. You know? You just can't. They can try, of course, to feed you the most puerile, benign horse manure, but some kid's going to come along and demand something more than that.

He was the kind of kid you did not want to sit by. He kept his boogers in his desk, he wore a neck tie.

I'd always wanted to make a record with Jim Dickinson, and I'd known about his boys for years, ... He reminded me that when they were 13 or 14 years old they had a punk rock band and I'd called him and wanted to make a record with them then.

I am the student who picks his nose, so come over here and take off your clothes.

Motorboat to heaven, baby's got the key. Tell me, how am I supposed to get in close back here on these water skis?

He's on a mission of mercy to the new frontier, he's gonna check us all on out of here. Up to that mansion on a hill, where you can get your prescription filled.

I've been circling the wagons down at Times Square, trying to fill up this hole in my soul but nothing fits in there.