It's impossible to write and produce a record when your parents are dying. I really tried, I really, really tried, but it just wouldn't come.

You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.

It's impossible to write and produce a record when your parents are dying. I really tried, I really, really tried, but it just wouldn't come.

I don't even have voice mail, and people get all out of shape about that. But, you know what, I don't want to transcribe your message; I want to talk to you. And that kind of freaks people out a bit. They go, 'Oh, who has time to talk?' and I'm like, 'Well, I'm gonna make time.

If you have your own agenda and your own style and you don't easily conform to what the masses are doing, you're looked upon as being difficult. Whereas, I think of it as just being an individual.

I'd love to be the political voice of my generation, but that's not my gift.

When you're away for a long time, tastes change, fans move on. You hate to think about it, but it's an ugly fact of life.