Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre.

Every leap forward that I make is by reaching back and firmly getting a footing in the past, and pushing forward as hard as I can.

I'm a very disciplined person when it comes to my work, but discipline can't save m from being a drug addict.

What songwriting does better than almost anything is empathy - it's incredibly empathetic. The reason people sat around in bars when they were bummed out and listened to country songs is because it made them feel better in the long run.

Every country that's ever been the most powerful country in the world ceases to be the most powerful country in the world at some point.

I was comparatively late in understanding Bob Dylan's overwhelming importance as a songwriter. Everybody who does my job exists in the shadow of Bob Dylan. There are two categories: Dylan and everybody else. It's as simple as that. And it's going to be that way until he dies.

I still write more songs about girls than anything else.