"I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion, which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't"
About this Quote
The real emotional payload is the counterfactual: “I wish I had taken piano.” Piano isn’t just another instrument here; it’s shorthand for access. It’s the songwriting tool sitting in nearly every demo room, the instrument that turns a singer into a maker. Francis is pointing at the structural difference between interpreting hits and generating them - between being the voice and owning the voice’s source code. “I definitely would have written more songs of my own” reads as both self-belief and grievance: she trusts her creative capacity, and she’s still tallying what didn’t get nurtured.
Context matters: Francis came up in an era when pop women were often rewarded for delivery, not for control of repertoire. Her regret isn’t sentimental; it’s a late-life audit of agency. The quote works because it turns a mundane childhood lesson into a critique of how talent gets managed, and by whom.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Francis, Connie. (2026, January 16). I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion, which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-never-encouraged-to-do-it-and-i-played-the-124326/
Chicago Style
Francis, Connie. "I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion, which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-never-encouraged-to-do-it-and-i-played-the-124326/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion, which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-never-encouraged-to-do-it-and-i-played-the-124326/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.


