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.

My intellect has always been more responsible than my emotions for how I respond to the world.

When I was pregnant, I felt filled with life, and I felt really happy. I ate well, and I slept well. I felt much more useful than I'd ever felt before.

And I really wanted a driver's license. I was 43, had my learner's permit and had failed the test once already - but that was in Riverhead, on Long Island.

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

I was the oldest child, and both my parents worked, so I had a great deal of responsibility from a very young age.

But I never want to get to the point where I write a safe song or one that represents my sense of a subject in order to appear civilized.