High Fidelity » Discussions

Favorite Quotations

 
  • Favorite Quotations

    "[Rob has just placed 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' on a top five list]
    Barry: Oh, that's not obvious enough Rob. How about the Beatles? Or fucking... fucking Beethoven? Side one, Track one of the Fifth Symphony... How can someone with no interest in music own a record store?"

    Your favorite quotations, novel or movie, it doesn't matter (and there are enough cool quotations and passages thanks to Hornby's humour).

    If you can't remember some quotations out of the movie any more, look here, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has all you need (or at least a lot of it).

  • For me, besides the "what came first..." introduction monologue, I think the tagline was a very good one as well:

    "A comedy about fear of commitment, hating your job, falling in love and other pop favorites."

    "MC Escher is my favorite MC"
  • Other than the "what came first" monologue which is epic, btw, I'd have to go with:

    Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
    Barry: Yea we have it.
    Barry's Customer: Well, can I have it?
    Barry: No, actually, you can't.
    Barry's Customer: Why not?
    Barry: God. Do you even know your daughter? There's no way she likes that song. Oops, is she in a coma?

    I swear I'll give it back tomorrow, but for now I think that I'll just borrow all the chords from this song and all the words from another song I heard yesterday.
  • Re:

    Quoth Floydleft:Oops, is she in a coma?
    Haha, that one's really great and so cynical, awesome.

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 7 Jan 2006, 20:23
    Rob: Should I bolt every time I get that feeling in my gut when I meet someone new? Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains

    I couldn't express it in better words...

    • mixfused said...
    • Subscriber
    • 10 Feb 2006, 00:11
    Rob Gordon: I will now sell four copies of "The Three EPs" by The Beta Band.
    Dick: Go for it.
    [Rob plays the record]
    Beta Band Customer: Who is this?
    Rob Gordon: The Beta Band.
    Beta Band Customer: It's good.
    Rob Gordon: I know.




    The reason we all want to work in record shops.

  • Let 'em riot. We're Sonic-fuckin'-Death Monkey.

    • miraaa said...
    • User
    • 14 Mar 2006, 19:30
    Rob: If you really wanted to screw me up, you should've gotten to me earlier

    [while Marie de Salle is singing "Baby I Love Your Way"]
    Rob Gordon: I used to hate this song.
    Barry, Dick: Yeah.
    Rob Gordon: Now I kinda like it.
    Barry, Dick: Yeah.

    • aisopis said...
    • User
    • 19 Mar 2006, 15:27
    From the book, though I don't know if it's word by word (I read the german translation, and now I'm gonna translate this one back to English.... ;) )

    It's awesome to feel depressed, you can be an asshole as much as you like.
    (In German: Es ist klasse, deprimiert zu sein, man kann sich so mies aufführen, wie man möchte)

    the stars don't shine for me and you/they shine no matter what we do
    http://www.aisopis.de
    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 30 Apr 2006, 05:24
    Barry: We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. We're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive, but just for tonight, we are Barry Jive and his Uptown Five.

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 7 May 2006, 09:12
    Rob: I can't fire them. I hired these guys for three days a week and they just started showing up every day.... That was four years ago.

  • It’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn’t even speak to each other if they met at a party.

    Of course, you could argue that the whole point of the book is disproving this very statement...

  • From the movie

    It doesn't come in the book, at least not the last two lines:

    Rob: Where's Ian? Or Ray, or... what is his fucking name, anyway? What do you call him, Ian or Ray?
    Laura: Ray. I hate Ian.
    Rob: I hate him too.
    Laura: Yeah... I'm sure.

  • of course, the intro monologue.

    besides that i'd have to say when rob is trying to convince barry to not play the record release party.

    "If laura and her bougois(spelling?) lawyer friends can't handle it, fuck them, let 'em riot. We're sonic fucking death monkey."

    "i took a stand... because someone stole my chair."- Kiddo.
  • Re:

    Quoth Floydleft:
    Other than the "what came first" monologue which is epic, btw, I'd have to go with:

    Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
    Barry: Yea we have it.
    Barry's Customer: Well, can I have it?
    Barry: No, actually, you can't.
    Barry's Customer: Why not?
    Barry: God. Do you even know your daughter? There's no way she likes that song. Oops, is she in a coma?


    That is the best quote of the entire book and movie! It just reminded me of my own days working at a record store (well CD shop) and the times when i really just wanted to tell a customer "No, are you nuts?" when they asked about an artist I hated and just laughing when another coworker of mine would go into a verbal assault of a band he absolutely hated.

    Me: I never heard anything by Kraftwerk.
    Him: Have you ever dialed a phone?
    Me: Um...yeah.
    Him: Same exact thing.

    And so on. I actually miss my days at (dare I say it) Tower Records. The pay was crap but the people were cool!

  • Film. Can't remember if it's in the book.

    Dick: In my opinion there are two bands that influenced Green Day...
    Anna: The Clash!
    Dick: Er, right. The other one, I think, is Stiff Little Fingers. Listen...

    *Dick puts on a Stiff Little Fingers song*

    Shopper: Is this the new Green Day song?

    *Dick and Anna both giggle*

  • Re:

    Quoth pumpkinbomb:
    Film. Can't remember if it's in the book.

    Dick: In my opinion there are two bands that influenced Green Day...
    Anna: The Clash!
    Dick: Er, right. The other one, I think, is Stiff Little Fingers. Listen...

    *Dick puts on a Stiff Little Fingers song*

    Shopper: Is this the new Green Day song?

    *Dick and Anna both giggle*

    Don't think it's in the book...

  • No, now that I think again about it it's not. I've only read the book once and that was after I'd seen the film. I should really read it again.

    • xDaZeDx said...
    • User
    • 3 Jul 2006, 05:10
    I dont know if this is in the book or not, but I just love Jack Black :P


    Barry: Rob, I'm telling you this for your own good, that's the worst fuckin' sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater.

    [Imitating Cosby]

    Barry: A Cosssssssby sweater.

    There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.
  • "Barry wanted to shoot the Beatles, but I pointed out that someone had already done it."

    From the book, when they first meet Anna, and Rob discusses the Bands Or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come The Musical Revolution.

    Gosh I love this book.

    No confession will ever reach my lips.
    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 5 Aug 2006, 19:14
    Holy shiite! What the fuck is this?

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 5 Aug 2006, 19:14
    Holy shiite! What the fuck is this?

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 5 Aug 2006, 19:14
    That was Barry, by the way. From the movie.

  • From the book, conversation with Alison Ashworth's mom:

    Her: What did you say your name was?"
    Rob: "Rob. Bobby. Bob. Robert. Robert Zimmerman."

    Conversation with Ian on the phone:
    Ian: Good. So how shall we leave it then?
    Rob: We won't leave it, Ian. Or at least, I won't. I'd change your phone number, if I were you. I'd change your address. One day you'll soon look back on one visit to the house and ten phone calls a night as a golden age. Watch your step, boy. [Slams receiver down].

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 1 Nov 2006, 06:09
    from the novel:

    "If I can't buy specially priced compilation albums for new girlfriends, then I might as well give up, because I'm not sure that I know how to do anything else."

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