Rock stars, of course, have long had the capacity to act like babies, but have not had the sense to sing like them.

I never really learned how to sing. I mean, I think I get most of my experience from just the shower, just annoying my parents to no end, singing loud, having grand encore concerts in the shower. But I've kind of been stuck with this high-pitched voice since forever, so I kind of learned how to use it to my advantage. And I can go very low, too. Not many people know that. I went low once on the show and no one believed it was me.

The parrot cannot be taught to sing when the vibrating membrane in its throat has hardened too much due to age. It must be taught to sing while young, before the collar line appears on its neck. So in old age it is difficult to learn how to fix the mind on God, but it can be easily learnt in youth. (234)

If you think you are too old to rock 'n roll, then you are.

On his neglect of being a rock star: There’s a certain discipline about being a rock star, and I don’t have it. If I was a rock star, I wouldn’t have let a photographer in here, dressed like this. I’d have been down the hairdressers. You try and get Sting to do something without 15 advisors. These boys are like Russian princes...

I can not sing the old songs now! It is not that I deem them low;
’T is that I can’t remember how They go.

Doesn’t anybody in the world anymore want to get up in the middle of the night and
sing?

Women are still a relative rarity in rock bands, and studies of women's experiences with pop and rock music have indicated that girls are socialized to pop and rock music differently from boys: boys and young men tend to learn songs by ear and talk about popular music's technical aspects, while girls and young women tend to focus on lyrics rather than on equipment and instrumentation, and to resist learning songs by ear. Miki Bernyi's experience testifies to the truthfulness of those findings:

I've learned never to say never. You just don't know. But I've reached an age when you start taking it easier. But I enjoy singing. I still sing – at home.

Sing, if you can sing, and if not still be
musical inside yourself.

If you think you’re too old for rock ’n’ roll, then you are.

I never talk about age, but I was born singing. My mother, Catalina, told me that at 9 or 10 months of age I’d wake up in the middle of the night, 2 or 3 in the morning, singing "esta muchachita va a trabajar de noche". Pues la viejita no se equivocó.

Most adults, by contrast, find it hard to be playful — no doubt because they have to take care of all the responsibilities that come with an adult’s life. Creative adults, however, have not forgotten how to play.

Toutes les grandes personnes ont d'abord été des enfants (mais peu d'entre elles s'en souviennent).