When I'm trying to write a song for someone else, you can only see anything through your own eyes.

I do like the word timeless. That's a great word.

I want to make something that's useful to someone, somewhere.

I have been singing as long as I can remember. I used to be in choir; I used to do musical theater. I'd prefer not to sing my own songs, but there you have it.

I miss working. It's real, you know? But I don't know anything but songwriting, and I don't even know that. I didn't go to school; the only thing I know how to do is this. The only thing that I know is that I know nothing.

Thank god we don't know a lot about William Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautréamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious. Once biographical information contaminates your consciousness, it's impossible to erase it and look at someone's work the same way again.

Dead men always have the last laugh. They win. They're dead. You can't hurt their feelings anymore.