Guitar is easy, all it takes is 5 fingers, 6 strings and 1 a**hole

The thing about being a songwriter, once you realize you are one, is that to provide ammo, you start to become an observer. ... You're constantly on the alert. That faculty gets trained in you over the years: observing people, how they react to one another, which in a way makes you weirdly distant. ... It's a little of Peeping Tom, being a song-writer.

Good music comes out of people playing together, knowing what they want to do and going for it. You have to sweat over it and bug it to death. You can't do it by pushing buttons and watching a TV screen.

I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had problems with the police.

The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It's almost like Hari Kari. I intend to live to a 100 and go down in history.

To a musician or songwriter, your canvas is silence.

What's the big deal about still working? Retirement age is sixty-five, and that's at a normal job - and I ain't there yet.