You know, I've always said, I've never felt I was a particularly good singer, but I've always thought I had a great knack for picking hit songs.
When you have a song on the radio your career and your life changes maybe for the better and maybe for the not so good... depending on how it's going that day.
I always knew I couldn't sing, but I also knew I had a voice that isn't heard by many, and that I could learn how to stretch it and make songs sound good.
A lot of the lyrics I write involve images that just swing the song in a way that feels really good to me and there isn't a literal explanation. They're not riddles for the listener to solve.
I need a little bass and I don't even need that crazy bass to break your face. I just want it to sound good when I have my favorite song.
The way I started playing music was sitting around with friends and singing songs. I love good ol' fashioned guitar pulls.
I like the Sci Fi channel and 'Science Fiction Theatre.' I've been doing a lot of television-watching and thinking about good songs to write.
It's good fun, making a solo album, because there's perhaps songs that wouldn't get used for the Stones or any other kind of outfit that I'm working with. It's just nice to be the boss.
I may not be the most famous songwriter in the world, but you know a David Friedman song when you hear it. It took me a long time to appreciate that.
I became famous, I think, really because of the interpretation of other people's songs, way back when, and that's what I enjoy the most. And I'm a lazy bugger.
Video is a funny thing. It's one thing to be an artist, singer-songwriter, and use words and create pictures in people's minds. And then be asked to do video for it, to actually give a certain visual for your song.
It's funny, when I'm not on the road or doing stuff with Bad Company - or whatever- I've always written songs galore... a lot of stuff people don't even hear.
The fact that I'm shouting that I have Gangnam style makes people crack up. Imagine if Brad Pitt was singing the song - would it be funny? A twist is important when it comes to writing lyrics.
My inspiration comes from God, so I always have to be open, kind of like being an antenna. I like to write songs people love.
Do I appreciate the idea of jealousy, revenge and all these so-called dark qualities? Yes. Do I write these songs in order to engage in some public war with someone? No.
You know, I've sung a lot of emotional songs in my life, but when you're writing it yourself, it's very difficult to decide what to reveal.
Since I was a child, my whole life has revolved around music. It's often while listening to a song that ideas for my fashion collections formed.
The things in my songs are the edited highlights of my life. I don't go seeking out strange sexual experiences every day of the week.
By the end of the writing process, which is about 80 songs per album, I look at the material and think, what's going to make a difference in someone's life.
The thing is, my life is a country song. I don't need to be manufactured, and I don't need anyone to tell me what to say or what to sing.
You know, that single girl life and that sense of isolation - that doesn't leave you just like that. And that's what that song is about. I remember that, and that is imprinted on me, that sense.
