The most important ingredient to making a song work is the magic. You've got a melody, you've got words, but on the more successful songs, there's a sort of magic glow that just happens and you can feel it happening. It just makes the songs sort of roll out.

The ring at the end of my nose makes me look rather pretty.

Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard.

I did study Shakespeare, that was sort of my thing; I got a Literature A-level, which is my only claim to academic fame.

None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back.

I just start singing some words with a tune. I don't ever write a song thinking, Now I'll write a song about... .

My dad, bless him, was a musician. And his dad had thought that his music was rubbish.