"My grandfather played a mandolin, so I got my hands on that. Then on down to a banjo, and I found I couldn't play any kind of soft or mournful music with that, so I took up the fiddle in my late 20s or early 30s - and that was far too late. But it keeps me off the streets. It has been a love of mine since I was 17, maybe"
About this Quote
The line “and that was far too late” lands with a particular adult sting. In acting, “late” can be romanticized as character-building; in music, it carries the quiet terror of technique, muscle memory, and all the hours you didn’t put in. He’s puncturing any pretension about mastery, positioning himself as a devotee rather than an expert. That humility is also protective: it makes room for play.
Then comes the killer closer: “But it keeps me off the streets.” It’s a self-deprecating old-man joke with a serious subtext about discipline and survival. For someone whose public identity is built on performance, the fiddle becomes private structure - a way to keep faith with a teenage love at 17, even if the craft arrived late. It’s not a career anecdote. It’s a portrait of how art functions as ballast.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gleeson, Brendan. (2026, February 16). My grandfather played a mandolin, so I got my hands on that. Then on down to a banjo, and I found I couldn't play any kind of soft or mournful music with that, so I took up the fiddle in my late 20s or early 30s - and that was far too late. But it keeps me off the streets. It has been a love of mine since I was 17, maybe. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-grandfather-played-a-mandolin-so-i-got-my-149642/
Chicago Style
Gleeson, Brendan. "My grandfather played a mandolin, so I got my hands on that. Then on down to a banjo, and I found I couldn't play any kind of soft or mournful music with that, so I took up the fiddle in my late 20s or early 30s - and that was far too late. But it keeps me off the streets. It has been a love of mine since I was 17, maybe." FixQuotes. February 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-grandfather-played-a-mandolin-so-i-got-my-149642/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My grandfather played a mandolin, so I got my hands on that. Then on down to a banjo, and I found I couldn't play any kind of soft or mournful music with that, so I took up the fiddle in my late 20s or early 30s - and that was far too late. But it keeps me off the streets. It has been a love of mine since I was 17, maybe." FixQuotes, 16 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-grandfather-played-a-mandolin-so-i-got-my-149642/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
