It takes a whole lot of medicine for me to pretend I am somebody else.

Sometimes what I'm writing is more important to me than the rest of my life. It's more important to me that I'm writing well than anything else.

To get nominated by the Republican Party you've got to be pretty reactionary, really.

I once had dinner with Madonna and I wasn't nervous but within about a minute I found myself talking about underwear.

You keep wondering whether people will see that Barack Obama is a liar and not very bright.

If getting on the radio was a major motivation, I'd be one of the worst writers of all time. I admire people who do it, and I think it's a nice way to work, but I try to do the best I can and write what I like. I don't worry about it.

More of my songs are intended to be funny than almost anyone else. Sometimes maybe it cheers me up a bit. I've got a distance from it. Sometimes what I'm writing is more important to me than the rest of my life. It's more important to me that I'm writing well than anything else.