Say a prayer for the lost generation, who spin the wheel out of desperation.

It would be nice to abandon the verse-chorus-bridge structure completely, and make it so none of these things are definable. ... Make up new names for them. Instead of a bridge, you can call it a highway, or an overpass. ... Music should never be harmless. ... I remember from my earliest years, people speaking, you know, in a certain kind of rhythm and telling stories and sharing experiences in a way that was different in Indian country than it was other places. And I was really struck by this and obviously very affected by it, because it's always come out in my songs.

The Beatles tried to do some tours and found it to be completely pointless and became a non-touring band after that, and with very good reason.

I try not to think the song to death. The main criteria is if it's working on an emotional level.

When you make a record, your own record, and you don't even recognize it yourself, it's hard to think if anybody else is going to recognize.

While I was there, I was just gathering images and names, and ideas and rhythms, and I was storing all of these things - which I didn't realize I was doing - but I was storing them all in an attic in my mind somewhere. And when it was time to sit down and write songs, when I reached into the attic to see what I was gonna write about, that's what was there.

Say a prayer for the lost generation, who spin the wheel out of desperation.