Welcome to the world of Gilbert O’Sullivan, where music meets lyrical finesse and timeless melodies. Gilbert O’Sullivan, born Raymond Edward O’Sullivan, is an Irish singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, poignant storytelling, and unforgettable hits spanning decades. With a career that began in the early 1970s, O’Sullivan has left an indelible mark on the music industry, influencing generations with his emotive ballads and clever wordplay.
Throughout his illustrious career, Gilbert O’Sullivan has captivated audiences with his ability to blend elements of pop, rock, and folk into songs that resonate deeply with listeners. From chart-topping singles like Alone Again (Naturally) to heartfelt ballads such as Clair, O’Sullivan’s music continues to evoke a range of emotions, transcending time and genre boundaries. His unique perspective on love, loss, and the human experience has solidified his status as a musical icon, earning him a devoted fanbase worldwide. Delve into the lyrical genius and musical brilliance of Gilbert O’Sullivan as we explore some of his most memorable quotes below.
I never wanted global fame you know. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Song writing is very serious; it is hard. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I quite like the idea of performing in front of people that don’t like me. Gilbert O’Sullivan
As long as I can write songs, make a record and do concerts, I’m really quite happy. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’d go to meetings with record companies – CBS, Decca, EMI. They’d tell me to wear a pair of jeans and grow my hair and look normal. And I’d say, ‘Sod that,’ and storm out. And I do think that belligerence is important when you’re young. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’ve never had writer’s block. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Doing the Best I Can’ is a sure fire hit. Incredibly commercial. But what could you say about it? Catchy and good to dance to. But ‘Nothing Rhymes’ is different. A much bigger risk but it was lyrics people could talk about. So that was the one to launch me on. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The music is the thing. I am not writing for critics; I don’t want to become a personality. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’ve always been a bit of a loner. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The writing is everything of course but you can’t be making records and not be willing to go out there and perform. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I used to play music all night and sleep during the day. I was very career-minded. The music dominated everything and anything that interfered with that, I put a stop to it. Gilbert O’Sullivan
We all try to increase our length of life, but we all have to pass. It’s highly interesting as a lyricist. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’ve only recorded my own songs. I don’t consider myself a great singer, so I wouldn’t be comfortable interpreting other people’s songs. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I often meet people who say, ‘I thought you were dead.’ Gilbert O’Sullivan
I am immensely proud of my Irish roots. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I thought my singing and songwriting were good, but nothing different. Then you’re presented with this picture image that contradicts the impression you get from listening to the record. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I see myself in competition with Blur and Oasis. But everyone else just sees me as this guy with a history. Gilbert O’Sullivan
There are two types of session guitar players. One reads and only plays what the ‘dots’ say. The other adds that something special and plays notes and solos you dream of. Big Jim Sullivan was such a player. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I always tell people that I went through long hair. I was a typical art school scruff. It was good then. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I do believe that any conflict has a better chance of being resolved if two people can come face to face. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Just because you sell millions of records it doesn’t guarantee bums on seats. Gilbert O’Sullivan
What I can’t understand is why people still won’t give me the credibility that I look for. If Mojo or any other of those magazines would give me the credit for only ever performing my own songs rather than someone like Rod Stewart singing other people’s songs looking for success. Gilbert O’Sullivan
When it comes to my songs I’m confident. Back in 1967, I would go to a publisher’s office, and tell them they just had to listen to my music. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’ve always been interested in relationships and the break-up of relationships. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I don’t like people who make records and then don’t ever perform. If you are going to make a record it’s important you get out there so people can see you if they want to and get to hear you if they want to. Gilbert O’Sullivan
At school, I was basically a loner, it was hard until I was 15 or so. Then I went to art school and was gifted with freedom to do the things I really wanted to do. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I work in the studio all day, and then I go for a walk with my dog, listening to music on headphones. And Saturday and Sundays, work is strictly out of bounds. It has to be. Gilbert O’Sullivan
It’s very easy to think about rhymes and just usage of words that sound good but don’t mean anything. Basically, I try to put into song the way people actually talk. Gilbert O’Sullivan
You see, I read reviews of people like Paul Simon, and they don’t talk about the fact that he’s looking old or whether he is fashionable; they talk about the music, which is how it should be. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’m very much a home bird. I sometimes think I should have been a domestic. I like sweeping up, getting everything tidy. I’m obsessive compulsive. I don’t mind admitting it. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I was one of six children, brought up by my mother in Swindon after my father died. We had all we needed – food on the table, clothes to wear. When I wanted a drum kit, my mother got me one. When I got into playing guitar, I came down one Christmas or birthday and there was a guitar for me. It amazes me how Mum managed to do it. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I know I can cut it with any songwriters in the world. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I couldn’t live without tea. I have two cups in the morning, one at lunch, two in the afternoon and one in the evening – Assam with milk and sugar. It has to be leaf tea – no bags – and drunk from a china cup. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I bought my mum a new house when the money started to come in; it’s that old cliche. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Lennon and McCartney became great songwriters because they were prepared to listen to and learn from all types of music. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The perception that if you’re not on ‘Top Of The Pops’ you’re dead and buried is a good one for pop music, because ‘TOTP’ is a catalyst or barometer for pop success. Gilbert O’Sullivan
It’s all very well making records, but the joy of performing is that you get to meet people who give you instant feedback. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I didn’t come into the music business to make money. I came into it to be a success. Of course, if you’re successful, you’ll earn money and I was happy to receive it. Gilbert O’Sullivan
My motto is, ‘You may not be as good as you think you are, but thinking you are is good.’ Gilbert O’Sullivan
The basis of everything I do is down to the song. If I don’t have the song I don’t sing, and if I don’t sing I don’t perform. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I think if every song I had was, ‘I love you, you love me,’ there would be a problem. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I feel every time I have 12 good songs for a new album, I am in with a chance to compete with the big boys. As long as I have that attitude, it’s healthy. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The measure of success was writing a song, recording it and for it being in the hit parade in England. Success was about the postman walking up the garden whistling my song. I wasn’t trying to conquer the world. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Nobody likes going to court. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The Beatles changed everything . I knew I couldn’t compete, couldn’t be as cool, so I went completely the other way. Gilbert O’Sullivan
As you get older you lose interest in what you hear on the radio. But you can’t be like that, you have to enjoy what’s going on. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I have learned to avoid the coverage, good or bad – and it’s mostly bad. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’ve never recorded anyone else’s songs. I’m not interested. If you gave me a song by Bono and Edge and promised me a number one hit with it I’d still say no. That, for me, is not the kind of success I want. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Whenever I write lyrics and an Americanism slips in, I always cut it straight out. I can’t use the word ‘babe,’ for instance. It makes me cringe. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I always take a teapot with me on tour. I suppose it’s only natural that I’ve just written a song called ‘Where Would We Be Without Tea?’ Gilbert O’Sullivan
I must be the only artist whose image was hated by everybody. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I was a big fan of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I do pick up on contemporary issues. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’m not a great socialiser. Nor am I a red carpet person. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The way I do that is to keep coming up with good songs and when I do a concert, I make sure I give a good performance. It’s not rocket science. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I do like to write about dark subjects. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I think I’m a good lyricist. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I don’t trust anybody. Gilbert O’Sullivan
When the magazines talk about artists they talk about the Paul McCartneys, the Paul Simons, they never talk about me. So their readers and contemporary artists are never going to check me out because they’re not reading about me. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Some artists say ‘Don’t categorize me.’ I’m saying ‘You can’t categorize me.’ Gilbert O’Sullivan
I wanted to look different. I liked being original. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Success isn’t dependent on the market place, because I can’t control that. It’s about completing a good song. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Success for me is to write what I think is a good song. When I’m pleased with it, that, for me, is a magical moment. I never lost that buzz. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I only think in the following terms: writing, recording, releasing. That’s what I have control of. What I don’t have control is whether critics or the public like what I do. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I like conflict in songs. Gilbert O’Sullivan
My Norwegian wife Aase was a Pan Am stewardess back in the Seventies when we met. She was very attractive, and we became good friends, but I was travelling a lot and she was jetting back and forth across the Atlantic, so it was a while before we got together. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I used to get these reviews in American newspapers saying that they didn’t understand what my lyrics were about. I saw that as a compliment. That’s exactly what English songwriters should be doing! Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’m basically as shy a person as I was when I once worked in an office in London in the late Sixties. I like my own company. I didn’t need a lot of friends. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I always want to keep moving musically and trying new things. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I have quite a strong self-belief. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I love writing and I just sit at my keyboard and write. Gilbert O’Sullivan
It is ironic that losing makes you more liked than winning. Gilbert O’Sullivan
It’s ridiculous that people would judge my songs based on what I wore, but that’s how it is… superficial. I don’t really care, though – I am confident in the quality of my own work. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I couldn’t live without Radio 1. They condemned me to oblivion, but they’re what I grew up with. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Technology has very little to do with what I do. I have a purpose built studio but all I need for writing is my piano and a cassette recorder as I still use cassettes. Gilbert O’Sullivan
The quality of my songs will get through to people. They are good songs. Lyrically, some of them are interesting: there’s stories, a bit of humour. I’m very confident about the music I play, you know. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I never complete a song until I’m actually going to make a record. Gilbert O’Sullivan
To be successful to me meant to have a hit record in England. I never looked outside England. Gilbert O’Sullivan
Nothing Rhymed,’ my first single in England, was a nice ballad, which I thought would sound like a songwriter typical of the day – denim, jeans, long hair, early 20s. Gilbert O’Sullivan
What I would hate to go through is what happened in the mid-90s playing in front of a half-empty theatre, which prompted me to say ‘never again’ when it came to Waterford. To go through that again in any of the places I call home would destroy me. Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’d love to see myself on sale in shops. It tickles me, does the idea of me being marketed. Gilbert O’Sullivan
When I started out I thought just hearing one of my records on the radio would be magical. Fortunately, that naivety has always stayed with me. Because when you’ve had massive success and it tapers off people lose interest in you. So you have to work even harder to generate interest. Gilbert O’Sullivan