"I like when people take chances"
About this Quote
In Joshua Homme's world, "I like when people take chances" isn't a Hallmark endorsement of bravery; it's a quiet aesthetic manifesto from a musician who’s built a career on risk as a sound. Homme came out of the desert-rock ecosystem where boredom is the enemy and experimentation is survival. The line carries that desert logic: you either push into the weird, the loud, the uncomfortable, or you dry up.
The specific intent reads as permission-giving. It’s what a bandleader says to a collaborator, a producer, or even an audience: don’t play it safe just to be liked. Underneath it sits a refusal of the safest currency in pop culture - predictability. Homme has always operated in the tension between accessibility and abrasion, writing songs that can swagger like radio rock while still smuggling in odd structures, sleazy textures, and left-turn harmonies. "Take chances" is how you keep the temperature high.
The subtext is also social: he’s signaling what he respects. Not perfection, not virtuosity for its own sake, but the willingness to be exposed. Chances imply the possibility of failure, and in a culture that punishes flop narratives, that’s a minor act of rebellion. It’s a values statement aimed at a scene - and a broader industry - that often rewards brand management over creative volatility.
Context matters because Homme’s public persona oscillates between charm and menace; this line functions as the charming thesis. It frames risk-taking not as self-destruction, but as the only route to something that feels alive.
The specific intent reads as permission-giving. It’s what a bandleader says to a collaborator, a producer, or even an audience: don’t play it safe just to be liked. Underneath it sits a refusal of the safest currency in pop culture - predictability. Homme has always operated in the tension between accessibility and abrasion, writing songs that can swagger like radio rock while still smuggling in odd structures, sleazy textures, and left-turn harmonies. "Take chances" is how you keep the temperature high.
The subtext is also social: he’s signaling what he respects. Not perfection, not virtuosity for its own sake, but the willingness to be exposed. Chances imply the possibility of failure, and in a culture that punishes flop narratives, that’s a minor act of rebellion. It’s a values statement aimed at a scene - and a broader industry - that often rewards brand management over creative volatility.
Context matters because Homme’s public persona oscillates between charm and menace; this line functions as the charming thesis. It frames risk-taking not as self-destruction, but as the only route to something that feels alive.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
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