I write a lot from instinct. But as you're writing out of instinct, once you reach a certain level as a songwriter, the craft is always there talking to you in the back of your head...that tells you when it's time to go to the chorus, when it's time to rhyme. Real basic craft... it's second nature.

Going off the road just leaves me more time to be a writer.

It seems to be part of the human condition to need someone you can look down on. I still don't get that one.

The money when you're having a hit is great, but money can be taken from you. What can't be taken from you is the talent and the effect your work has.

At the end of the day, all you can hope for is to go on. The older I get, the more I realize that just keeping on keeping on is what life's all about.

I know just enough Japanese to get by if I get lost and greet an audience properly, just from having a lot of Japanese friends and being there over the years.

I gave guitar lessons. I tried to join bands. My mom always said it was obvious that nothing was going to stop me.