Dave Quotes are amusing or interesting things that Dave has said in interviews. "Dave Speak", on the other hand, refers to the hilariously ridiculous things that generally come out of Dave's mouth in concerts. We want these to come mostly from the fans, so if you have any submissions, please feel free to send them in. Thanks :) If you have any quotes or Dave Speak that you'd like to add, you can either email us or use the form on the contact us page.

"When I was young I would hold a tennis racket and pretend I was a rockstar."

"We've always felt a little bit, somehow, like oddballs, like we're the square in the round hole [...] I wish I had that cool thing where people walk in with their posses and everybody's cool […] I always feel like such an idiot- I always think, "What am I doing here?""

"It's nice to be a regular guy now. I never was before I was famous."

"I feel so honored, in a way, so impressed by each individual's playing, that I really don't want to say, "You should play this." It's more like, "This is the song. What would you play on this?""

"Music that has a history to it is not afraid of melody, and I think one of the reasons American music has been so great is that, much like African and Latin music, it couldn't be stood on by oppressive sources. God knows, Africa's been stood on forever, but there's a music that comes, and I think a lot of concentration has gone into music, because it's very hard to oppress art. You can oppress its product, but you can't really oppress its source."

Interviewer: Dave, what were you like as a kid? Were you a class clown, class bully?
Dave: No, I wasn't a bully. I was a swell, nice guy. I was a class clown. No, I wasn't a class clown. In school I kinda kept to myself. No...I'm trying to design an interesting childhood. I was tortured as a child. It's hard to see what kind of kid you were. I liked all my teachers and my teachers liked me, except for Ms. Dixon, but then she came around.

"I don't remember my dreams. I used to have a lot of nightmares and I remember those really clearly. Like dropping the world on the most special person, and not being able to find the Chinese Mothballs to save me from the Frisbee. Those kind of really sensible nightmares. Like a family of Great Danes having a terrible car wreck and there's all kinds of dogs everywhere, and I'm walking through this mass of bent steal and broken dogs, and I just feel so helpless."

Interviewer: What's the best part of being a big rock star?
Dave: It certainly gives an authenticity to some of what I do, and gives me a sort of reassurance since I'm not as confident in my heart about what I do as some artists.

"The [entertainment] industry is an incredibly false industry. There's a lot of people who, if I were bartending, wouldn't give a damn if I was squashed under an 18-wheeler."

"It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic. However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, "Well, for everything, God has a plan." That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, "Well, everything is in the hand of God.""

Interviewer: Alright, is there any last thing, any huge quote that you would like to be the last quote of the article?
Dave: The last quote is that..."Nothing means anything and everything is made up." What do you think?
Interviewer: It's maybe just ethereal enough to end it on a scary note.
Dave: And now I need to go to the toilet.

"I've got people that I love, but you can't compare yourself to other people and be remotely objective. But I do try to compare myself to the people I admire. However, I judge myself more severely. I'm critical. I try to set a standard for myself. And I hope that I get better and better as time goes on."

Interviewer: Anyone you wanted to work on Some Devil who couldn't make it?
Dave: No. I'm lucky that way, I think. I didn't really ask anyone that couldn't make it. It's good that I got who I wanted or else people would have died. Heads would have rolled. It doesn't seem like that when I quietly talk to you, but I'm a killer!
Interviewer: We wouldn't like you when you're angry.
Dave: No! Hell no! I'd cut your throat!

"I think my mom was in a Vivaldi phase when I was in her womb, because I am so inexplicably insane about Vivaldi."

"I'm intimidated playing alone. I love playing with the band so much. I've never worked at anything nearly as hard, so there's really a sense of freedom and accomplishment when we all play together. It's odd when I'm out by myself, because on top of having terrible stage fright, I have to comfort myself with the thought that I'm out there representing the band, not just myself. But I'm still always kinda like, "How did I get here?""

"You mean my goofy leg spasm? I can't fight off the dance. I think it's genetic. My grandmother used to do the Charleston when she was a wild woman of the '20s, and I think I got it from her. I guess I'll never have a cool rock 'n' roll dance."

"I guess as a culture we’ve grown to admire youth and the naïve wonder of youth as somehow better than the wrinkles and wisdom that come with age, and that somehow there’s a fault in accepting mortality. . . Mortality makes it so much more spectacular. That’s the thing we should talk about more than the delusions of grandeur that come along in the afterlife. What an utter waste of time. But I guess it’s more comforting if you think there’s this Santa Claus in the sky who’s waiting to make us happy, or if we haven’t been good, he’s not going to give us any presents. God has no plan. It’s simple to think that we’ll go to heaven or hell when we die. To me, that seems like a way to avoid living."

"I'm not going to Nashville or New York or Hollywood. That's not because I don't like them, but I like my little middleclass lifestyle."

"I feel a certain camaraderie with goats. I'm not sure what it is, dirty old goats. I think it's that you're a stinky old goat, there are versions of that sort of saying, and so I liked goats for some reason. That's how I feel on the inside sometimes, like a goat, a filthy beat up animal."

December 12, 2003- Bryce Jordan Center- Dave Matthews & Friends kick off show for Dave Matthews & Friends tour:

"Well, me and Tim, are gonna stumble backstage, wander around, and try and find some friends to join us on stage. So while we do that, we advise you to go and take a leak or something."

(He mumbles, and makes some noises, walks away from the mic, comes back and yells): "I'm BLAAAAAAZED!"