I don't set goals for myself too much, but I'm always trying to write that one great song.
Songs don't just come out of the air. They take time, but it's good fun, too. Maurice gave me encouragement.
You really only understand whether a song's good or not when you properly play it out in public for the first time.
You know what? I'm not always in a positive, happy place. But I'm able to concentrate enough to come up with a really good song.
'Something Good' is a feel-good song. A reminder that you're dope and have something wonderful to offer life and yourself and the world.
I may have the 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' soundtrack, which I've been told is embarrassing, but come on, there are some good songs on there.
Kevin Costner told me that 'True' was his and his wife's song. I'm not sure if that's a good thing because they split up soon after.
I'm not a very good singer. I just know how to present a song, and honey, I think I've been through enough to do it right.
The male gay community seems to be very into female singers. I think it could be the songs we sing. They're more open with their feelings. And they have good taste!
I started writing songs, I guess, when I was about 13 or 14, but I didn't know if they were good enough yet or anything.
Any vehicle that conveys great songs and the ability to perform them, whether it's 'N Sync or the Backstreet Boys or One Direction, is all good.
If I'm doing a concert, and I'm having a problem with the audience... I just play a Bob Marley song, and I'm good for the rest of the night.
The funny thing is, people's perceptions of what a song is about is usually wrong a majority of the time. But they're still going to read what they want to into it.
God knows why - no pun intended - but every time I write a song, I feel a need to touch on religion.
If you pour your life into songs, you want them to be heard. It's a desire to communicate. A deep desire to communicate inspires songwriting.
I'm sure every song has some kind of undertone of what I was going through with Chris. It was my life.
If my life were a song it would be called 'Don't Stop Believing'. Yeah.
If my life was a song it would be, 'It ain't that easy being green' from Sesame Street.
The way to do it is to put as much life into the song as I can. You can either get it to breathe or you can't.
The way I look at life, whatever I'm doing at that time in my life is going to be reflected in my songs, for the most part.
I was just learning to play guitar when Tracy Chapman came out. She wrote these songs, she played them by herself and I so admired her for that.
