I think if the United States gave anything to culture at large in the 20th century, the most important contribution made was the popular song.

Music is a work in progress. On a record, it gets frozen in time. And it's oddly unnatural.

This is an election year, and I think we're in desperate trouble and it's time for people to speak up and not pipe down. It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know.

Everybody has their own level of doing their music. ... Mine just happened to resonate over the years, in one way and another, with a significant enough number of people so that I could do it professionally.

I think that Frank Sinatra was maybe the greatest pop singer.

I thought everybody could sing, because everybody in my family could.

I think there's mind in nature. There's a power in nature, and there's a universal power that you'd better not ignore.