Creativity Quote by Stone Gossard

Stone Gossard’s line lands like an offhand aside, but it’s doing real cultural work. “Perfectly human instinct” is a stealthy permission slip: it frames the desire for water not as a hobby (kayaks, beach days, waterfront real estate) but as something baked into the species. The wording is deliberately unglamorous. “Near water,” not “on the ocean” or “by the sea.” It includes muddy rivers, rain-slick streets, the sink running at 2 a.m. That broadness is the point: he’s talking about regulation, not scenery.

Coming from a Seattle musician, the context matters. The Pacific Northwest is water as atmosphere - bays and lakes, sure, but also drizzle, fog, and the constant suggestion of tides. In that climate, water becomes less a destination than a baseline, the environmental soundtrack that mirrors grunge’s emotional palette: restless, cleansing, slightly cold. Gossard’s phrasing carries a quiet counterargument to modern life’s indoor drift. Screens, commutes, and schedules pull us away from elemental rhythms; water is one of the few things that still feels older than your calendar.

The subtext is also social. Access to water has been packaged as luxury, yet he calls it “human,” not “earned.” It nudges against the idea that nature is a premium amenity. And it’s a musician’s instinctive logic: if you want people to come back to themselves, you don’t preach wellness. You point to something they already miss, and let the body recognize it first.