That terrible mood of depression of whether it's any good or not is what is known as The Artist's Reward.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I think melancholy is part of the natural condition, you know. Anyway, I think it's the artist's function to have their melancholy and not hide it, you see.
I find as an artist if I'm not expressed relatively consistently, I get really depressed.
Depression is melancholy minus its charms - the animation, the fits.
Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind.
I write most of my songs when I'm in a bad mood.
Only the artists interest me whose hearts beat in unison with the poignant misery of the world. If you have not felt that, you have not lived. Pity is essential.
Depression begins with disappointment. When disappointment festers in our soul, it leads to discouragement.
It's usually a big kind of vent of frustration or anger or sadness that puts me in the right frame of mind to write. It's such a cliche to say that artists write when they're down, but it's true for me. It's a relief to get out what's eating away at my heart or my soul or my head.
The conscience of an artist worthy of the name is like an incurable disease which causes him endless torment but occasionally fills him with silent joy.
The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.