Lavinia Greenlaw

“I was thrilled by discovery, crushed by disappointment, and mortified by any misplaced enthusiasm. I declared allegiance, took a position, and always had a view, not noticing that girls were bemused and boys found me boring. Was a girl not supposed to feel so strongly, let alone want so much to possess and know something for her own sake?”

“...loving music didn't have to mean wanting the same song all the time, or believing it perfect, and that what you loved didn't have to add up, let alone define you.”

“Why did girls never play air guitar? Did we sing along because singing was what girls did or was it that girls only sang because they didn't play air guitar? These are not questions I asked myself at the time. I was pushing away such complications.”

“If I had not kissed anyone, or danced with anyone, or had a reason to cry, the music made me feel as if I had gone through all that anyway.”

“There are times when we need the rocket fuel of singing and dancing to power us through an act of blind faith. Falling in love is one of those times, when we need to move into a phase of enchantment with enough force so that when things cool and the air clears, we are locked into that person, that love. We fall in love and we sing as we walk down the street; we turn up the music and dance.”

“Song and dance are explosion and interruption, and sometimes the only way to keep up with what's happening.”

“The greatest act of love was to make a tape for someone. It was the only way we could share music and it was also a way of advertising yourself.”

“[My mother] believed we could each change the world, but what convinced me this was possible was music.”

“Being a woman seemed to mean listening to the music boys liked and neither dancing nor singing along.”

“Too young to bring about change, we brought about disturbance.”

“I got to know [teen music] as we absorb music in passing but can remember only its seriousness and weight.”

“More so than with any other instrument, the violin becomes part of the body. Good musicians are physically dissolved when playing, and for violinists, who cannot see where to place their fingers and have nothing to guide them through touch, music must be more than ever about memory than fingertips and breath; the ventage is deeper, more of the self, closer to singing.”

“If you don't hear this kind of music [pop] at the right time, can it ever make sense to you?”

“When children meet other children, they have to do something -- fight or play.”

“We reveal something of our nature when we sing, something that can be disguised in our speaking voice.”

“This is the starting point of dance: something -- the music, the steps, your partner -- holds you but you also have to hold it and, to achieve the necessary tension, hold yourself against it.”

“This is a work of memory -- facts have been altered. Names have been changed.”