A carefree quality is a whole aspect of life that I will never understand. I don't think I have ever been carefree and can't see the pleasure of it.
Carter Burwell

All my music is very simple in that melody is usually clearly stated.
Carter Burwell

Any film which views the darker side of life, which is death with a sense of humor, is very much to my taste.
Carter Burwell

Big Sur is at the end of the continent. It attracts really crazy people.
Carter Burwell

Carefully execute every instruction given to you by the director, producer, and studio. But that would be a life not worth living.
Carter Burwell

Conducting, I tried it once off the cuff, and quickly realized there were subtle aspects that I was missing. There is a lot more to it that I was able to grasp simply by watching conductors.
Carter Burwell

Connection is what one is after in probably most media, but certainly in film, which is an immersive medium.
Carter Burwell

Death is always around the corner, but often our society gives it inordinate help.
Carter Burwell

Even if I went off to some other career, I hope I would still be doing Coen films.
Carter Burwell

Hopefully each film can be given a musical voice of its own, which is not to say that the instrumentation is always unique, but that the relationship between the sound and the image is unique.
Carter Burwell


How does my music connect to an audience? That is just a complete mystery to me.
Carter Burwell

I almost never try to make the audience comfortable. I wouldn't want that if I were in the audience.
Carter Burwell

I don't find myself lobbying for projects. Filmmakers almost always come to me.
Carter Burwell

I don't generally find myself listening to the music of a film unless there's something awfully wrong with it.
Carter Burwell

I don't personally see my work as being dark. What interests me is a balance between light and dark.
Carter Burwell

I had piano lessons when I was a kid, like most people. And hated them, like most people. And quit, like most people.
Carter Burwell

I have always loved Scottish music - all sorts of Celtic, Gaelic music.
Carter Burwell

I just love the sheer mess of New York.
Carter Burwell

I like business and personal life to be distinct.
Carter Burwell

I like the fact that New York looks a bit backwards, toward the Old World, rather than resolutely forwards.
Carter Burwell