I never sit and fill a journal with lyrics. Most of the time I'm trying to write a feeling, not a story. I'm not necessarily trying to describe the details of a place or event so much as the feeling of the thing. It is a kind of weird alchemy that is elusive until it feels right.

I don't want somebody telling my daughter who she can marry, or what she can do with her body. That's what was at stake.

I can only write songs when somebody gives me some water to swim in. Otherwise, I'm a fish on the beach.

My parents know that I have always been sort of a dark melodramatic kid, so they were never concerned.

A different drumbeat or some vocal overdub could completely transform the song.

I can never turn a tour into a vacation.

It takes us a long time to write a song that we all really like, so it makes sense that it would take a while for the listener to get there, too.