"We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist during those days-not like product, which is now the mode"
About this Quote
The key pivot is the blunt contrast: “artist” versus “product.” Wright isn’t just mourning aesthetics; he’s indicting a system. “Treated like an artist” suggests a whole ecosystem of respect: labels willing to bankroll experimentation, audiences patient enough for an album to find its shape, gatekeepers who believed the creator’s identity mattered more than the creator’s metrics. The dash - “not like product” - lands like a snapped guitar string, making the second clause feel colder, more corporate, more transactional.
“Which is now the mode” is quietly devastating because it frames commodification as fashion: not even a moral choice, just the current setting. That resignation is the subtext. Wright isn’t claiming the old days were pure; he’s noting that the default posture has flipped. Today, the musician is expected to behave like a brand: constant output, constant visibility, constant optimization. The farm isn’t just a place, it’s a rebuke - a reminder that art needs room, and room is what the modern pipeline keeps eliminating.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Wright, Gary. (2026, January 16). We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist during those days-not like product, which is now the mode. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-lived-on-a-farm-in-the-english-countryside-135073/
Chicago Style
Wright, Gary. "We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist during those days-not like product, which is now the mode." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-lived-on-a-farm-in-the-english-countryside-135073/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist during those days-not like product, which is now the mode." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-lived-on-a-farm-in-the-english-countryside-135073/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



