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.

It's not like that when you're a songwriter - songwriters aren't like pulp writers or journalists, even. You just follow the muse. It's called muse-ic. Whenever the muse decides to bestow her inspiration on the songwriter, then the song is born.

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

I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's not paycheck at the end; it's more of a "whatever is left over" kind of situation. Also, it keeps me from thinking about my creativity as a business, which it is not. It should remain pure; that's one of the reasons I made music in the first place.

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

Lyrics are my racket; music is play - the fluff stuff.

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