To me, a political song is also a personal song. Most political activism has been driven by empathy for other people and the desire for a world that's less divisive. Even if songs aren't overtly political, they can make a listener more empathetic.

I always embrace the worst-case scenario.

I think there's a danger, for me at least, in retreating and going inward and depression. I have to stay diligent against that tendency.

If I could act like This was my real life, And not some cage where I've been placed, Well then, I could tell you The truth like I used to And not be afraid of sounding fake.

My head's a carousel of pictures and The spinning never stops.

One by one I drowned all the people I’d been.

Rock and roll seems to have had a mellowing in the business where it got harder to sell individual records and make money doing that.