I'm in a contented, loving relationship, but that doesn't mean I'm not struggling with other things that are going on around me in the world.

I have to try different things to see what works best. Other people get impatient with that.

I have such a great band. We had played all this material on the road. I just wanted to let it fly.

I think we start suffering as soon as we come out of the womb. I think that people tend to stereotype. When they think of suffering, they think of abuse - physical abuse, emotional abuse, poverty, that kind of thing. There's different levels of suffering. I don't think that it has to do with how much money you have - if you were raised in the ghetto or the Hamptons. For me it's more about perception: self-perception and how you perceive the world.

I usually don't write about my life right when it happens. I process it, and I store it away. Then, when I get in the mood I pull the stuff back out.

Just because I'm talking about something that might have been a sad or painful situation doesn't mean that I'm sad or tortured 24 hours a day any more than anybody else is.

What I do as a songwriter is a constant force in my life, that I'm grateful to have.