It's easy to ignore the mess around election do that over here in Germany. It's just a blip on the radar for the German culture. They're like, "Y'all are crazy over there. Next segment." I'm not saying they're not scared. They're just wondering when people are going to wake up and see the pattern they themselves lived through and could see coming from a much greater distance. They don't have the hubris of youth to luxuriate in. According to the Germans I've spoken with, Trump's rise looks very similar to what happened prior to Hitler rising to power.

I truly believe —particularly in this political climate—I have to make my contribution a hopeful one. I can’t see the world any other way. To whom much is given, much is expected. You can’t come to me and expect that I’m going to be giving up on people, or on our society.

Belief is a choice. Not everyone is going to love Jesus. I'm not asking them to. I'm not asking them to come on the same spectrum as me. No matter where you fall on the faith spectrum, the spiritual can instill a sense of hope in you that's undeniable. The spiritual doesn't ask you to believe any one thing. It just opens you up.

People feel that you'll never be able to recreate the birthplace of a song that has, at its core, the hardship of a people. Unless you underwent the respect that it takes to appropriate those songs through a ritual, then perhaps you should think twice before simply picking them up.

I read nothing. I watch nothing. I haven't even seen myself in the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. I don't look back. I don't allow myself to be influenced by people who don't know me. I'm incredibly thin-skinned. When you wander through this life as an exposed nerve, you have to make sure you remain insulated to a certain extent.

I've always hid behind the music despite the fact that I have a huge personality. I'm thrilled that the music is bigger than me and will outlive and outlast me. It frees me up to take risks.

I don't need to live my art and almost die to understand my heroines. I want to love my sons, live quietly, eat good food, have meaningful friendships in and out of work and have a very large wine collection.