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I've Worked Since I Was 11 Years Old, Playing Music And Following The Dream, And Shaking And Moving And Doing It. And Then, You Have Cancer And It Was Like 'ooooohh.' It Was Like A Big Eraser. It Was The Only Thing In My Life That Had Ever Made Me Just Stop.

-Melissa Etheridge

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I've Worked Since I

Melissa Etheridge

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I've Worked Since I Was 11 Years Old, Playing Music And Following The Dream, And Shaking And Moving And Doing It. And Then, You Have Cancer And It Was Like 'ooooohh.' It Was Like A Big Eraser. It Was The Only Thing In My Life That Had Ever Made Me Just Stop.

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When I Grew Up, There Were No Songs About Gay People.

I'm So Close To Heaven, This Hell Cannot Be Mine.

I Tell People That Anything That Could Ever Happen To You On Stage Has Happened To Me. My Clothes Have Fallen Off. I've Fallen Off The Stage. I've Gotten Sick - Anything.

I Feel My Heart Break To See A Nation Ripped Apart By It's Own Greatest Strength - It's Diversity.

To Deserve This Fate What Have I Ever Done?... All I Want Is Just A Little Piece Of Mind But The Angels Won't Have It.

I Can Look At Cancer As A Disease That Picks Me Out And 'why Me,' Or I Can Look At It Through Love And Say, 'this Is A Wake-up Call. This Is My Body Telling Me: 'hey, You're Out Of Balance Here. It's Time To Get In Line With Yourself.'

There's Been So Many Different Types Of Musicals And It's A Funny Genre Because There's A Fine Line Between Clever And Stupid. It Really Takes A Genius To Know How To Do It.

There Will Always Be Someone Else With A Different View Than You. I Appreciate Them And Would Never Say That They Are Wrong. I Hope That They Would Give Me That Courtesy Also.

When You Grow Up In One Town And Your Life Revolves Around It, You Are Very Aware Of Any Darkness On The Edge Of Town. That's Because It's Scary And It's Inviting.

I Adopted A Healthier Diet. I Take At Least A Tablespoon Of Apple-cider Vinegar A Day. It's An Old Wives' Tale, But It Really Is One Of The Best Things You Can Put In Your Mouth.

I Taught Brad Pitt How To Fly-fish In My Swimming Pool!

There Is No Fear When You Choose Love. The More You Choose Love, The More Love Is In Your Life. It Gets Easier And Easier.

Inspirational Life

I'm Very Fortunate That I Have A Wonderful Family Around Me And Loved Ones.

Wonderful Family

It's The Closest To Death I Have Ever Been. The Chemotherapy Takes You As Far Down Into Hell As You've Ever, Ever Been.

Christmas Comes During A Season When The Earth Is In Its Darkest Time. It's A Holiday For The Family And For Everyone.

I Have A Very Strong Opinions About Health And Our Responsibility To Our Own Health, And I Will Always Say What I Feel.

To Be Completely Stripped Bare Of Any Image Power Or My Hair. To Step Onstage And Get The Response That I Got Blew Any Problems I Had About Self-image Out The Door.

I Think I've Been On A Path Ever Since I Was Born, A Path Of High Stress. I Put Myself, My Career, It Was A Big Old Juicy Carrot Right In Front Of Me For All Of My Life.

I'm Not One For Big Public Displays Of Affection, Anyway. Straight, Gay, Whatever.

You Are More Powerful Than You Know; You Are Beautiful Just As You Are.

I Believed In Obama For Social Issues. I Believe He Brought Our Nation Together And Healed Our Racial Divide. Martin Luther King's Dream Came True When He Was Elected. That's Huge.

Instead Of Taking Five Or Six Of The Prescriptions, I Decided To Go A Natural Route And Smoke Marijuana.

Don't Let Anyone Tell You That You Have To Be A Certain Way. Be Unique. Be What You Feel.

My Ultimate Joy And Happiness Is Being A Wife And Mother.

I Think I'd Like To Be Inspirational To Anyone Who Has A Dream, Anyone Who Wants To Make More Of Their Life Than Maybe What Is Set Out In Front Of Them. And You Can!

Mothers, Tell Your Children: Be Quick, You Must Be Strong. Life Is Full Of Wonder, Love Is Never Wrong. Remember How They Taught You, How Much Of It Was Fear. Refuse To Hand It Down - The Legacy Stops Here.

My Belief Is That Cancer Comes From Inside You And So Much Of It Has To Do With The Environment Of Your Body. It's The Stress That Will Turn That Gene On Or Not.

Once I Overcame Breast Cancer, I Wasn't Afraid Of Anything Anymore.

I Write Songs For People Who Drive In Cars. I Really Do.

I've Been A Rock Star Since You Were Very Young. But I've Never Encountered Anything As Powerful As Cancer.

The Only Thing That Stays The Same Is Change.

I Think The Best Way To Be An Activist Is To Live Your Life Well And Be Honest. It Means Being Out. If You Are Not Comfortable Marching, You Can Make A Big Difference Just By Working Side By Side With Someone Who Actually Knows You're Gay And A Fine Human Being.

I Hope That You Know In Your Heart How You Feel About Things, And You Don't Let The People That Live On Fear And Hate Govern The Way You Live.

On The Road, As A 'rock Star,' There's Superficial Attention And Adulation Is Thrown At You For A Couple Of Hours - Then You're Alone In Your Room And It's Lonely.

No One To Hear, You Might As Well Scream.

What People Don't Get Is That Hair Is Such A Big Part Of Our Identity.

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Go On And Close Your Eyes, Go On Imagine Me There She's Got Similar Features With Longer Hair And If That's What It Takes To Get You Through Go On And Close Your Eyes It Shouldn't Bother You

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The Night Is Black, As Black As Night.

My Wife Works Harder Than Anyone Else With The Children Around The House. I Make The Money, Sure, But She Does Everything Else.

I Stand Before You A Totally Healthy Person.

The Sign Says Do Not Enter, No Trespassing Allowed. With Visions Of Redemption I Walk Against The Crowd.

There's A Point When Your Tape Of Life Runs Off The Reel And There's This Stillness Of Your Own - I Got To Know Myself.

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I Had To Go See The Glee Concert With My Daughter - Oh My God, Shoot Me.

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Im One Step Ahead Of My Past, Two Steps Behind My Dream.

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I've Worked Since I Was 11 Years Old, Playing Music And Following The Dream, And Shaking And Moving And Doing It. And Then, You Have Cancer And It Was Like 'ooooohh.' It Was Like A Big Eraser. It Was The Only Thing In My Life That Had Ever Made Me Just Stop.

Cancer Is An Opportunity To Sit Down And Look Into Yourself And Find The Answers. Yes, It's Serious, But It's Not The End-all.

The Songs Are Inspired By My Experiences. Sometimes They Are More Than My Real-life And, Conversely, My Life Is More Than Just My Songs.

I Have That Gene Mutation Too And It’s Not Something I Would Believe In For Myself. I Wouldn’t Call It The Brave Choice. I Actually Think It’s The Most Fearful Choice You Can Make When Confronting Anything With Cancer. My Belief Is That Cancer Comes From Inside You And So Much Of It Has To Do With The Environment Of Your Body. It’s The Stress That Will Turn That Gene On Or Not.

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The Sweetness Is In Having Success With Something You Truly Believe In.

My Kids And I Love To Listen To Bill Cosby.

I'm For Gay Marriage, Because I'm For Gay Divorce.

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This Is The Only Naked Man That Will Ever Be In My Bedroom.

I Could Have Been You, You Could Have Been Me. One Small Change That Shapes Your Destiny.

I Have Found That I'm Just Political Just By Being Who I Am.

I Would Never Say I Had A Bad Childhood At All.

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