There's only one thing that's certainAnd that's everybody, everybody's hurting

My father said it himself in an interview many years ago: 'Husband and wife failed, but mother and father didn't.' I've got a life that really matters to me, and that's because of the way I was raised. My ethics are high because my parents did a great job.

I liked getting the Grammy more than not getting it.

I see myself as a traditionalist. I like traditional things. I like things of substance and value that have been proven. Conceptually, as the songs started to come together, I followed that lead, which is the language I work in.

I do look at songwriting as a lot of work. I don't overintellectualize music as a special medium that only some people deserve to do. I think it's something you do if you put the work in.

I do like a song that can look good on a page without even being sung. I edit and edit and edit.

Those things interest me a lot in songwriting - the human nature of how people think, and the muck that we wind up in.