The irony is that musical artists have enormous public voices, but behind the scenes we're voiceless, actually.

There's nothing in the recent past I want to write about.

When I sing, it's the most solitary state: just me, and the microphone, and the holy spirit. It's not about notes or scales, it's all about emotion.

If there was acceptance of the mentally ill in the Catholic Church, the entire Curia would resign!

When I kissed you, you didn't mind. I thought I tasted of too many cigarettes, but you tasted like wine.

Forgiveness is the most important thing. We all have to forgive what was done to us - the Irish people have to forgive. The African people. The Jewish people. We all have to forgive and understand the only way to stop the cycle of hate and abuse is not to allow yourself to get caught in it.

I suppose the biggest change to me is this kind of very oversexualizing of everything. Not that anyone wants to take the sex out of rock 'n' roll, you know - that would be ludicrous - but it seems that everything now, it's like the sexuality is the only voice; everything else is gone.