But I think that your entire life is a process of sorting out some of those early messages that you got.

I go to put my arm around you and you give me a look like I'm way out of bounds.

When I was young I was very shy and that was my personality. I was a pretty sensitive kid and quite neurotic, filled with a lot of anxiety.

I have my ideas, I have my music and I also just enjoy showing off, so that's a big part of it. Also, I like to get up onstage and behave insanely or express myself physically, and the band can get pretty silly.

Those wounds stay with you, and you turn them into a language and a purpose.

A man armed with a rhyming dictionary is a dangerous man.

I was a guitar player on the streets of Asbury Park and already a member in good standing amongst those who lie in service of the truth - artists with a small A. But I held four clean aces. I had youth, almost a decade of hardcore bar band experience, a good group of homegrown musicians who were attuned to my performance style, and a story to tell.