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Creativity Quote by Jackie DeShannon

"I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion"

About this Quote

There is a quiet flex hiding inside that casual "I mean". Jackie DeShannon isn’t selling mystique; she’s selling proof. The image is stripped to essentials: a guitar, a pulse of percussion, and songs sturdy enough to survive without studio sheen. In an era when pop can be built like architecture - stacked harmonies, glossy production, layers that mask thin writing - she’s invoking the opposite value system. Minimal gear becomes a credibility test.

The phrasing matters. "I can sit down" frames musicianship as something portable, not a spectacle requiring elaborate staging. It suggests readiness: artistry that doesn’t need perfect conditions to appear. Then she pivots from the singular to the collective - "we do" - which subtly positions her not as a solitary auteur but as a bandleader with chemistry to spare. That shift also nods to the live tradition: music as collaboration, timing, breath, and human friction, not just a recorded product.

The specificity of "two, three songs" is doing cultural work. It’s not a grand claim about an entire catalog; it’s the practical setlist detail of someone who has done this, repeatedly, in real rooms with real audiences. DeShannon came up in a mid-century ecosystem where songs had to travel - from demo to stage to radio - and this line defends that craft. The subtext is simple: if you want to know what’s real, take away the scaffolding and listen to what still stands.

Quote Details

TopicMusic
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
DeShannon, Jackie. (2026, January 16). I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-can-sit-down-with-a-guitar-and-in-fact-92176/

Chicago Style
DeShannon, Jackie. "I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-can-sit-down-with-a-guitar-and-in-fact-92176/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-can-sit-down-with-a-guitar-and-in-fact-92176/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Jackie Add to List
Jackie DeShannon: Songs That Stand with Guitar and Percussion
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About the Author

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Jackie DeShannon (born August 21, 1944) is a Musician from USA.

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