Make your melodies simple enough so that the average person can hum them.

My best album is called In Search Of A Song. That was my best shot right there. My finest hour, as they say. I could listen to the whole thing all the way through. There's nothing really crammed into it.

I think the nature of songwriters is that they are philosophers, and philosophers have a bent towards poetry and songwriting, so I think that the two run around together. The nature of a songwriter could be philosophical. Looking for universal ideas, a way to say things, get the story across as a means of entertaining, provoking thought.

Sinclair Lewis was asked one time to give a talk to class of students about writing. When he got there he asked the class, Do you people want to be writers?and they all said yes. Then Lewis said, Why the hell aren't you at home writing?

A song is a poem set to music.

A monkey was the President, though maybe not the first. And there was peace and harmony throughout the universe.

When you retire, it's a place in life, a part of the journey. You just don't quit work; you develop an attitude where you can do what you please