The first song I wrote was the first song I remember thinking, "Well, maybe I can do something here." The very first one. By the second one I knew I could do something.

Writing is always personal in some way but not always in a direct way.

Kindness to me is only powerful if it has the cruel streak behind it. If someone is kind all the time under all circumstances, they're just simple-minded. Kindness is only worth something if you have the cruel streak to back it up.

Writing in other voices is almost Japanese in the sense that theres a certain formality there which allows me to sidestep the embarrassment of directly expressing to complete strangers the most intimate details of my life.

It takes as much discipline to be a mother and a wife as it does to do anything else.

I fingerpick a lot because I can get more of a range of feeling from the guitar than I can when I bash away with a pick.

It's striking how commercially viable that impulse for instant intimacy is right now, especially in songs and writing.