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Creativity Quote by David Friedman

"I've been doing my big theater projects, which take years, and writing a song here and there"

About this Quote

There is a quiet flex in the casualness of "big theater projects" paired with the tossed-off "a song here and there". David Friedman frames his career not as a hustle but as a long game, where the real work happens on a scale that can’t be rushed and can’t be easily summarized. "Which take years" lands like a corrective to the modern expectation that artists should constantly feed the content machine. He’s not apologizing for the silence between releases; he’s naming the cost of ambition.

The subtext is about craft, but also about identity. Theater is described as "my" domain: proprietary, structural, an architectural commitment. Songs are treated like sparks - smaller, more nimble, maybe even a pressure valve that keeps the larger projects alive. That contrast signals range without needing to brag. It also suggests a mature artistic ecosystem: the long-form work provides purpose; the intermittent songs keep the voice limber.

Context matters because Friedman comes from a world where composition is labor-intensive and collaborative: workshops, rewrites, orchestrations, readings, funding, schedules. "Big theater projects" implies not just writing, but shepherding: negotiating with institutions, collaborators, and time itself. By dropping that reality into one plainspoken sentence, he punctures the romantic myth of effortless inspiration and replaces it with a more interesting image - an artist balancing monument-building with small, sustaining acts of creation.

Quote Details

TopicMusic
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Friedman, David. (2026, January 17). I've been doing my big theater projects, which take years, and writing a song here and there. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-doing-my-big-theater-projects-which-take-38259/

Chicago Style
Friedman, David. "I've been doing my big theater projects, which take years, and writing a song here and there." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-doing-my-big-theater-projects-which-take-38259/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've been doing my big theater projects, which take years, and writing a song here and there." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-doing-my-big-theater-projects-which-take-38259/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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Doing big theater projects and writing a song here and there
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About the Author

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David Friedman (born March 10, 1944) is a Musician from USA.

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