When Lisa Loeb hit the scene in 1994 with her No. 1 song “Stay (I Missed You)” for the popular film Reality Bites, the world looked like it would be her oyster. And it was, for a time, anyway.
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Since then, the songwriter and performer has written award-winning children’s music, started an eye-wear line with her signature cat frame eyeglasses, done cooking shows, become a mother, and continued to tour the world and perform her songs, including her hit track.
Today, the now-55-year-old artist remains in the spotlight, and for good reason, given the experiences and accolades listed above. But what does the Maryland-born Loeb have to say about life, love, and the world around her? About her craft and her success?
Without further ado, here are the 20 best Lisa Loeb quotes.
1. “Where I grew up in Dallas, things might be a little more traditional. People have the same things in mind. They’re supposed to grow up, go to college, get a job, get married, and have children, and grandchildren. That’s the world I grew up in.”
2. “My overnight success was really 15 years in the making. I’d been writing songs since I was 6 and playing in bands and performing since I was 14.”
3. “One of the things that’s influenced me musically was my experience at Brown University. I was surrounded by musicians that I really admired, and felt challenged to come up with music, lyrics, and recordings that stood up to the expectations of those musicians and myself.”
4. “A friend of mine once told me that I can’t screw up when I play my own music. I also take voice lessons, play other peoples’ songs out of music books, and occasionally figure out how to play other people’s music from records. This keeps my ears, fingers, and mind working.”
5. “Some people train for certain sports and I want to train to be able to hold a super heavy electric guitar and carry luggage around myself because I always have to have 7,000 pairs of shoes. Who cares about sports?”
6. “You should try to get what you want in life and try not to be limited.”
7. “When someone asks if you’d like cake or pie, why not say you want cake and pie?”
8. “I have many memories of waking up to eat breakfast that my mother carefully prepared for us and her saying, what do y’all want for lunch, and as we’re eating lunch, what do y’all want for dinner? It’s always about the next meal.”
9. “There’s a variety and depth to the song topics I get to write about in children’s music and books: being able to write about things I wouldn’t normally write about, like a disappointing pancake, or monsters or opposite day is really different than writing about heartbreak and relationships.”
10. “I always find myself stopping to write down ideas of things I’d like to make from computer hardware items to things new moms need—inventions to share with others to make their lives more fun or interesting or easy.”
11. “I don’t hold it against somebody if they don’t know who I am—I don’t know who a lot of people are.”
12. “I want children to be glued to interactive books that encourage singing and dancing. I feel when kids work together it brings about a different energy.”
13. “With my daughter, we do arts and crafts, we read a lot, we listen to music, and we cut the strings off balloons and bounce them around after birthday parties.”
14. “I didn’t realize what an impact having a No. 1 single would have. It connects me with people of different ages, and I get to travel all over the world.”
15. “I think we were raised in a nice Texas Jewish family where education was the most important thing, and close behind that was the arts. It was emphasized and expected that we’d play piano.”
16. “I’m old-school. I want to be there to drop off my daughter at school and pick her up.”
17. “I don’t think I can tell any stories about how I lived in a van in Alaska. I grew up in the suburbs, I even had my own room. We weren’t poor. Everything was very normal.”
18. “I don’t use simple words. I make games and puzzles with my songs.”
19. “I think a good mom is an awake mom. At least for me, I’ve always been a kinder, better person awake than sleep-deprived!”
20. “I’m always learning better and better how to prioritize and how to leave certain things for the next day.“
Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
