All my songs come from me because I only seem able to write about myself and my experiences.
I'm like a bad musical cliche because I bring my guitar on the road and try to write songs in hotel rooms.
When I write, I don't have any expectation of what kind of song it will become or who it might reach.
I write songs to turn myself into something else. And then I become that, and I want to become something else.
I find writing songs hard, because it does not come naturally to me. I never set out to be a songwriter or a singer.
I have to write the songs before I become too enamored with my own melodies.
Write your own songs. It helps you to mean what you're singing, which will then make it mean something to listeners.
When I start writing songs and it turns into an overly belabored intellectual process, I just throw it out.
A lot of people from my generation can't write songs anymore, or it's really hard and it's an unpleasant experience. I don't feel that way at all.
That sense of failure, I don't know where people put it who don't write songs and aren't able to emote physically. It must go somewhere.
I never thought of having platinum albums and winning awards. I just wanted to write songs and sing when I started out in the music business.
Then l learned to play guitar and l started writing songs and my mother formed for me a publishing business, so we started publishing and managing artists.
I definitely dislike pomposity and artifice. I hope that I'm not that. Once I write a song, it belongs to the world, and the way people perceive it, it's cool.
When I'm 40 and nobody wants to see me in a sparkly dress anymore, I'll be like: 'Cool, I'll just go in the studio and write songs for kids.'
I'm not the kind of guy who sits around at home and writes songs. Once in a while I'll pick up a guitar and noodle around, but it's rare.
I dream crazy vivid dreams. Like, entire movies. And sometimes I write songs about them.
The advice I have for new artists is this - write great songs and play them live as often as possible. Get residencies all over town and crush it.
Don't try to follow any trends, just concentrate on writing great songs and knowing your instrument. All the other stuff will fall into place.
I've never been good at rock'n'roll songs, anyway; either I'm blessed or I'm cursed, but whatever I write comes out sounding old.
I guess you could write a good song if your heart hadn't been broken, but I don't know of anyone whose heart hasn't been broken.
A lot of times songs are very much of a moment, that you just encapsulate. They come to you, you write them, you feel good that day, or bad that day.
