There are a lot of composers who were fantastic, but I challenge them to write a record that you could play five times a day for two months on the radio, songs that people will want to dance to on a Saturday night.

What hurts people a lot is taking humiliation.

There's no field of music which doesn't have good ideas.

The most effective instruments do have a vocal quality.

I looked at what adults were doing and how they wanted to earn money, and I really didn't want to do that. I wanted to go away.

Love is blind. My politics has been, too. I think you can fall in love with ideas, and you can fall in love with people. It's a very subjective experience. And I'm loyal to that experience.

I know people who grow old and bitter. I want to keep making a fresh start. I don't want them to defeat me. That would be suicidal.