A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.

We went to see all the shows. American musical theater and jazz were very big.

Sometimes my boyfriend would write the lyrics and I would write the melody, and other times I would start from scratch. Or sometimes I would take a local poem and put that to music...I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren't as easy to sing.

I used the physical scar of my breast cancer operation, the scar that I have across my chest as a metaphor for all kinds of scars.

You know, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 I realized I had spent too long arranging my attitude.

There was a French singer, Francoise Hardy - I used to look at her pictures and try to dress like her.

You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds, but soon you'll cage me on your shelf. I'll never learn to be just me, first by myself.