Anyone who's been a heavy drinker and heavy smoker and has the good future to survive that and give it up knows what a very different kind of daily existence one has. I was smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day. And I was drinking heavily on tours.

Everyone has a kind of magical system that they employ in the hopes that this will open up the channels.

I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.

Some people, it [songwriting] comes faster. Some people, it comes slower.

If you're lucky, you can keep the vehicle healthy and responsive over the years. If you're lucky, your own intentions have very little to do with this.

I alwaysthought of myself as a competent, minor poet. I know who I'm up against.

A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh.