Best Quotes from All Together Now by Alan Doyle with Page Numbers

I found the very thought of it baffling. I would have to see it for myself, I supposed.

As well as a wanderlust dream come true, that day in the park was an incredible opportunity for our band’s introduction in the United States.

If we were ever to tour successfully and make a cent in America, we’d need every single one of these Canucks on our side.

It’s a walk in the park.

I was shaking Gord Downie’s hand. Backstage. In Central Park. New York City. Holy Shite!

This was going even better than the meeting with The Hip guys. Home run.

Darrell, being closest to Jeff, offered his arm as the Guitar God offered his hand.

It was a true sign that we had made it. Part of the way, at least.

Fate could not beat him, it did the only thing it could. It started removing him. Bit by bit.

Or I suppose I could be just rebuilding meself somewhere else.

‘Let’s go down on the field.’

‘We’re gonna get shot,’ Greg whisper-yelled. ‘Just keep walking.’

‘Yeah, man, congrats! Way to go!’

I embraced and kissed that Cup like it was my fiancée.

My heart filled with pride.

What’s more Canadian than that?

You laid your hands on the Grey Cup and Anne Murray in less than twenty-four hours.

The bar at the Duke is altar enough for me.

I joyfully watched Anne’s set...Holy shite—l am going to sing live onstage with Anne Friggin’ Murray.

There’s so much to celebrate in life, and it’s those little moments with friends that make it all worthwhile.

This trip was my coming-of-age party.

I came here to prove I was a smart and worldly person, not to be shown that I could be taken by this scammer.

I finally defeated the bad guy.

Nothing now, Bernie. Nothing now.

I had just flown on a plane for the first time and sat on a subway for the first time.

I was here to come of age and getting the crash course.

The first time I ever saw traffic.

I was almost twenty years old, but in a big city at rush hour for the first time.

It remains a popular busking location.

We’ve done a lot together over the years. Me following him. Him following me. And both of us just trying to figure it all out together.

The only thing you can’t do is nothing.

It might be hard. But not impossible.

He was terrified of them becoming lazy.

Our bond was forged cutting wood and digging holes.

When one man tore down a shed, another man got old naily lumber to burn in the fire.

It was a room that we had carved from a space that had not even existed before.

Much of that same pile of wood would shortly be unpiled and split into smaller splits to light the fire.

This is the most poorly planned job ever.

It was a room with mud floors and walls made of concrete and rock.

We were going to dig a basement under a house that had already been built.

"Believe it or not, I was extremely excited for both types of duties."

"This place was settled by sailors and I have always wanted to join the history of people who left St. John’s for a journey by the original route in and out of town."

"There was not so much as a breath of wind and the water was as calm as a clock."

"It is tough to look at a root cellar and not think, 'Why did we ever stop doing that?'"

"You could very well be the first person to ever stand in the spot that you are standing right now."

"It was a living museum to the strength and determination of the folks who settled on a rock in the middle of the ocean."

"With hardly a tree to be seen, it was tough not to wonder how any year-round inhabitation ever happened here."

"I concluded that I live in a very special place. One with a complicated and deep relationship to the land and sea far greater than I would have imagined."

"We are in it and of it in a way that is unique to here. We walk on it and it feels us."

"A wife and a son waving you into St. John’s in all its morning glory. I am the luckiest person I have ever heard of."

If I do one thing in my life, I will strive to be as good a parent to my son as Mom and Dad have been to the four of us.

Still alive, b’y. Still alive.

You should say when you’re Buddy.

The privileges of an adult beverage would be taken away if I let my work and behaviour slip.

I was aware at a very young age that people might like you just a little bit more if you sang to them.

An unlikely song can save you, though.

Do your work, behave yourself, and you’ll be treated like a grown-up.

I wanted to sing for them as badly or more as they wanted me to sing for them.

I was used to the popularity and longer leash that the Doyles had in Petty Harbour.

My nan loves your band.

“The only thing worse than being on the road is not being on the road.”

“A crowd needs a band almost as bad as a band needs a crowd.”

“I remain a dedicated student to it all, but here’s what I’ve concluded so far: Fronting a band each night is a cocktail of humility and confidence. Gratitude and swagger. Modesty and bravado. Bashfulness and balls.”

“It’s not the first time and won’t be the last time I say it, or shout to the heavens: A crowd needs a band almost as bad as a band needs a crowd.”

“A song saves the day. Funny how often that happens.”

“You did all there was to do. You saw it through to the end.”

“I am as grateful as ever that you would give me your night, or afternoon, or morning.”

“You don’t always get the blend right, but when you do, it is the best drink in the world.”

“I walk onstage and see the audience checking out what the stage looks like and they’re happy to see the members of the band haven’t changed or are curious about seeing a new member.”

“With each verse and chorus the energy grew almost as fast as the realization that we were all doing something very cool together that we could never do alone.”