I'm gonna spare the defeated. I'm gonna tame the proud.

Mama's in the factory, she ain't got no shoes. Daddy's in the alley, he's looking for food.

He's hell bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused, and his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.

Aretha with no goals, eternally single & one step soft of heaven/ let it be understood that she owns this melody along with her emotional diplomats & her earth & her musical secrets

Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.

I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.

In writing songs, I've learned as much from Cezanne as I have from Woody Guthrie.