"[Rock music is] imitation Afro industrial music; music to assemble Mack trucks by. Slave-labor music. Music to hammer out fenders by.""I hate music. There's too much music everywhere. It's horrible stuff, the most noise conveying the least information. Kids today are violent because they have no inner life; they have no inner life because they have no thoughts; they have no thoughts because they know no words; they know no words because they never speak; and they never speak because the music's too loud."
Edward Abbey
writer Quentin Crisp
THE SOUND AND THE FURY
From an interview with Quentin Crisp in the Winter 1997 issue of Monk, a magazine published from various locations throughout the country by Michael Lane and James Crotty. Crisp is the author, most recently, of Resident Alien. He lives in New York City.
Monk: Why do you have to live in New York?
Quentin Crisp: Well, I live in Manhattan for the same reason that everybody lives here: so as to be ready to rule the world, should the opportunity arise. And you can't rule the world from anywhere else. So you have to stay here.
Monk: What kind of ruler would you be?
Quentin Crisp: Very benign. I would let almost anything go, except the music. I would put a stop to the music.
Monk: All music, or just certain kinds?
Quentin Crisp: All music.
Monk: No music?
Quentin Crisp: No more music.
Monk: Why's that?
Quentin Crisp: It's the cause of everything that's gone wrong in the world. The dirty music. The young are violent because they have no inner life. And they have no inner life because they have no thoughts. And they have no thoughts because they know no words. And they know no words because they never speak. And they never speak because the music's too loud.
