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

I focus on the words and then I have fun putting together the music after.

There are records that you just sink into. They coincide with what you’re going through and become an ally. If our records do that for people, that’s the greatest compliment I could ever receive. That’s one of the reasons making music is so important to me, because there’s a very strange emotional reach. For me—more than books or movies or other things—music is like a mainline to your heart.

I actually don't go to shows anymore. Rock concerts have lost their appeal for me.

You gotta lean towards the things that make you like yourself. Forget everything else.

A person with grace is somebody who's socially graceful or is a classy person, but sometimes you just feel the opposite of that, and you just feel like a jerk and a loser and a weirdo.

I drink wine on stage to sort of loosen my grip on reality a little.