New Orleans is a unique environment.

Politics has always been in my music. Anybody who doesn't understand how political "Copperhead Road" is isn't listening very well.

Back then, the business depended on bohemians. ... They needed Kristofferson and Roger Miller ..It was the tail end of something...the last Tin Pan Alley. ...and we were the night shift! They gave us keys, because they knew the best songs weren't written in daylight.... We got our keys taken away several times...me and Guy Clark.

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.

I don't spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself, trying to compare how many records I've sold or how much money I've made.

You know I ain't never prayed before 'Cause it always seemed to me That prayin's the same as beggin' Lord, I don't take no charity.

Sympathetic characters usually have a voice. They usually don't have any trouble being heard.