When I was young, I used to go to Baha'i camp, and they taught me a lot about the equality of religions.

Folk art has never been much about politics; it's about action and utility.

That's what I mean by "Western morality," is the lack of morality. There is none. People are out for themselves, and they'll stab you in the back.

I wouldn't claim to know what another person is thinking. I can imagine it, but it's my interpretation, and I try to make that clear. It's my vision of what I think their life is. I don't think there are empirical truths in that regard.

I don't know about timeless. I actually think most of what I do is completely modern, but universally modern. Who decides what timeless even means? Are the things that we consider timeless now going to, in fact, be considered timeless in 300 years? Probably not.

Even if I'm writing music, it's with a lyric in mind, to communicate some kind of feeling.

A lot of religious texts make for good reading. That's why they hold up.