You go back and look at some of the ancient writings that exist throughout the world about wars and it's the same; the human beings' articulation of events is the same. That really fascinated me.

I've always been very interested in the visual aspect of what I do.

The craft, the writing of a song, is about creating a story, a life story, a world within three minutes, but that's the frame, if you like, the picture frame. That fascinates me.

I knew what I didn't want to do- that's always my starting point. The starting point is always that I don't want to repeat myself. Or I try my best not to, with varying degrees of success.

I think of myself as a songwriter, a weaver of story and imagination in a way that a novelist might write a book.

I long ago learned that you can't expect people to interpret the songs in the way they had meant for you, as the writer.

I enjoy looking like a tart and thinking like a politician.