"I just go where the guitar takes me"
About this Quote
There is a sly modesty to "I just go where the guitar takes me" that doubles as a mission statement for rock as a craft, not a seminar. Angus Young frames authorship as surrender: the instrument leads, the player follows. It reads like humility, but it also protects the mystique. If the guitar is the driver, then inspiration stays primal and unexplainable, beyond interviews and overanalysis. You can almost hear the subtext: stop asking me to intellectualize the thing that works because it isnt intellectual.
In the context of AC/DC, that posture matters. The band built a career on repetition so consistent it turned into a brand: riffs that hit like industrial machinery, solos that behave like controlled sparks. Youngs line is a tidy rebuttal to the idea that longevity requires reinvention or a grand conceptual arc. It suggests an ethic of instinct over novelty: you dont chase trends, you chase the next lick that makes the room move.
The phrasing also quietly elevates the guitar from tool to compass. It casts rock performance as a kind of physical conversation - hands, wood, wire, volume - where thinking too much is the enemy of swing. Young has always sold energy: the schoolboy uniform, the duckwalk, the tight, bright tone that cuts through a stadium mix. "Where the guitar takes me" is a way of saying the body is the argument. The audience doesnt need the map; they just need to feel the momentum.
In the context of AC/DC, that posture matters. The band built a career on repetition so consistent it turned into a brand: riffs that hit like industrial machinery, solos that behave like controlled sparks. Youngs line is a tidy rebuttal to the idea that longevity requires reinvention or a grand conceptual arc. It suggests an ethic of instinct over novelty: you dont chase trends, you chase the next lick that makes the room move.
The phrasing also quietly elevates the guitar from tool to compass. It casts rock performance as a kind of physical conversation - hands, wood, wire, volume - where thinking too much is the enemy of swing. Young has always sold energy: the schoolboy uniform, the duckwalk, the tight, bright tone that cuts through a stadium mix. "Where the guitar takes me" is a way of saying the body is the argument. The audience doesnt need the map; they just need to feel the momentum.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Young, Angus. (2026, January 17). I just go where the guitar takes me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-just-go-where-the-guitar-takes-me-43470/
Chicago Style
Young, Angus. "I just go where the guitar takes me." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-just-go-where-the-guitar-takes-me-43470/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I just go where the guitar takes me." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-just-go-where-the-guitar-takes-me-43470/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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