There is a real patriotism underneath the best of my music but it is a critical, questioning and often angry patriotism.

I tend to be pessimistic. I want to believe in hope.

The poets down here don't write nothin' at all, they just stand back and let it all be.

Hey man, did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud.

I studied other singers, so I would learn how to phrase, and learn how to breathe. And the main thing was, I learned how to inhabit my song.

You can hide beneath the covers and study your pain, make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain. Waste your summer praying in vain, for a savior to rise from these streets.

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.