Top 55 Benjamin Clementine Quotes

I don’t think I’m a singer, I think I’m an expressionist. But it takes time to put it in people’s minds that this guy is not singing, ‘Baby, I want to have you.’ This guy is actually thinking about what he’s saying. This guy has something to say.

My parents always said that I would be a lawyer or pilot or doctor – and I always just thought that’s what I would do.

I started writing music in a French way: more focused on lyrics than melody.

I clearly remember my father cutting our jumpers and our sports clothes with scissors – because he didn’t want us to wear jogging bottoms and hoodies. He thought that would somehow set the police on us.

I’m from London, and you hardly see stars because of the pollution of light. But in Arizona, there’s nothing, so I can see the stars.

It’s amazing how people believe you if you use long words.

It stayed with me – the Bible has stayed with me. I’ve grown out of it because, obviously, you live life for yourself and have your choice to believe what you want to believe in, but I know that the Bible can be used to appreciate life.

If I weren’t musical, then I would have just published a book, you know? But I’m lucky enough to play piano, and so I use piano to convert my poems.

If you have parents who can’t show you love, a kid can grow up to look arrogant. Because they need to create a fake self. Or they think they’re more powerful than they really are.

It’s my only freedom, music, and I’m not going to give it up to anyone else.

Because I didn’t think anyone would actually listen to my music, I thought I could say whatever I wanted.

If I’m being forced to do something I don’t want to do, my real self comes out. But whether or not I’m aware of it, no matter what happens, I’m always going to have a fake self, and I’m not going to judge my fake self.

People say my world is dark. No, there’s a lot of lightness in my world. But I know very well that I’m not normal when I’m performing.

I wanted to find people who were like me, and I did, in the people I was reading.

There are things that need to be said… and I think it’s my obligation to say them.

The thing is: I was quite slow when I was younger. I might have been smart – I don’t know – but I was slow talking to people. And as you can see, I don’t talk very loud.

I always try to be as discreet as possible, so I wear black.

I dedicate all my time to music. And I’m glad that it’s paying off in some ways.

I don’t have a flat anywhere. I’m registered in the U.K. for tax purposes, I suppose, and my mail goes to my parents.

Now I’m standing in front of a thousand people. They’re all looking at me, but they’re sitting down. They’re surrendered, so I have to keep on proving myself to them and giving them all my passion.

In Paris, I was really singing for the sake of living. But eventually people said, ‘Keep going; you’ve got a great voice,’ and I started having confidence in my voice all of a sudden. That’s when I started creating my own music.

When I first started singing in Paris, I sounded horrible: I was just singing to get some money to eat. And I wasn’t singing my own songs: it was Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix. Eventually, when I wrote my own music, my style just came out of my own place.

People don’t always realize that as a performer, you’ve got to relive those moments. Memories crash through your brains, and you’ve got to think about your past and the reason why you wrote the song. All that emotion comes back.

Honestly, I still don’t know a lot of artists, and I want to keep it that way for a while. I think that’s why I might be quite original.

Where I’m staying, near Lafayette Street, Bowery, and Houston, you get different people with different spirits, and that’s what I like.

I just want us to understand each other. That’s the point of my music.

People want a beautiful story. Hopefully my life story is still beautiful, but that metro stuff doesn’t make it much more pitiful.

I like black a lot because I can’t really see colors – so I wear a lot of dark-colored clothes. You’ve got to be aware of what you’re wearing because you might become that.

I’m a very honest person, and I’m quite emotional for a man. If I want to say something, I’ll say it.

The meaning of love is obviously huge – but for me, it means be nice to people, and people will be nice to you back. Love is a selfless place to be. There is no safer place to be than under the canopy of love.

I’ve learned in the little bit of my life so far that you can’t fool people. And so I only tell people what I think about: my ambitions, my dreams, what inspires me.

Not all families stay together.

I grew up as a man because I was by myself.

My heroes: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Nina Simone.

In this life, I’ve learned to be patient. And I’m still learning… Even now, I wish things would go quicker.

I got into a lot of trouble. Maybe that’s why my parents didn’t really like me and I didn’t blend in with my family. I was always the naughty one.

I know, deep down, that what makes my music what it is are my words. It always starts from me wanting to say something. Once I’ve run out of things to say, I’ll be done.

The fact is, it wasn’t enjoyable being in secondary school. I was a weird kid.

I just wanted to eat, to survive. I started singing a cappella in bars. I saved up money to get my first guitar and started writing songs.

Poetry itself is music. I’m just lucky that I can convert it into music. William Blake is my favorite poet of all time, and he said that he wasn’t quite familiar with the sounds of music. If so, he would have been a musician. All of his poems are all like songs, and that’s how I always try to start my thoughts.

Most people think a song is a song – three minutes, and you’re done. I don’t think this way. Songs are my wings. They’re what I use to fly. It’s very important for me to put everything in the right place.

Studying music involves a lot of mathematics and a lot of exercises of memory. Or you’ve got to be able to be like somebody, to play like somebody, to play Mozart’s music the way he played it and how he intended it. You’ve got to make it perfect, and that’s not what I want to do. Although it is beautiful.

If you live in central London, that’s probably fine for you, but in places like Edmonton, where you’re almost out of sight of London, you’ve got to pay more and more to get into central London. How does that work?

Where you’re from shapes you, but you can actually do whatever you want.

I believe when the music is being sung or being played, at the end of it, there’s some sort of grace and understanding. And that’s all I want for humanity. I just want us to understand each other. That’s the point of my music.

I’m actually doing what I like doing, which is mixing opera music and classical music with soul and folk. And I was writing and talking about what I’ve actually experienced, and I don’t think that’s very common.

At home and in church – which I didn’t go to a lot, I was very rebellious, but my family was strict Christians – they would ask us, ‘What’s the shortest verse in the Bible?’ and I was the one who always said ‘John 11:35’ straightaway. It stayed with me: the Bible has stayed with me.

I’ve learned my lessons, but I’m also still learning them.

I never thought I’d say this, but to any child listening, the world is your oyster.

I would describe myself as outspoken. Not political. Outspoken about what I want to say. There are things that need to be said… and I think it’s my obligation to say them.

I was on the train; I did play, but I also played in bars, in the streets, at birthday parties for people who discovered me on the train.

When I was very young, my brother and I, we used to go into charity shops to buy suits. The thing about clothes is that people judge you by what you wear, unfortunately. So when we wore suits, people gave us respect – we were very young, and it made them think we were older.

Paris is very dear to me, and I’ll never forget Paris.

Arizona – I’ve only spent a few days there, but it’s inspired me the most. It’s so peaceful.

I realised that we’re all equal – it’s all about helping each other.