Politics and music don't necessarily go hand in hand. They just do for me.

I don't think I'm a political songwriter as much as I am just a political person. I think it's in my fabric.

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

San Antonio is like a military town. It's like literally - when I was growing up there, there were five Air Force bases, plus Fort Sam Houston. I was always sort of near the military.

Critics are notoriously liberal with their use of the term 'genius'.

When you're really bummed out, the last thing you want to hear is up-tempo and positive. And it lets you know that you're not alone, that somebody has hurt before. It works the same way with chick songs as it does with political songs. When you hear somebody singing about these things, you know that you're not alone, that somebody else is suspicious of what's going on around us in the world. So you don't feel like you're crazy, and you feel like you might be able to make a difference.

What saves me from being a drug addict is sort of the opposite. It's me realizing that I don't really control anything.