It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page.
I don't feel I have to write deep and meaningful songs; they can be light and meaningless. It has to do with the place I am in my life, a really good place.
Music is just a really fun hobby that I do, because I'm actually really good about writing songs and producing. People don't realize this, but I am an excellent writer for artists.
I think the world is ready for some rock 'n' roll. Some real time guys that play their own instruments, write their own songs, and sing the music and have a good time doing it.
I am a songwriter at heart, and I feel like I would, in the future, write songs for other people. I don't think I want to pursue it for myself, for a solo career.
I did the co-writing thing all through the '90s and I got one hit out of it - a Keith Urban song called 'But For The Grace Of God' - but then I got burnt out.
Song-writing is therapy for me. I'm a very moody person, very difficult to live with. There's a lot going on and a lot of contradictions. My life is always one step away from disaster.
Unlike motor sport, I didn't get into music for the live performances. I like writing and studio work and seeing how a song can come to life.
I feel the emotion that life conjures up and the songs I write get me closer to my feelings and realising who I am. It's a natural process.
Early in my songwriting career, when I was learning a lot about writing songs, I'd force myself to sit down until I came up with something.
It's more difficult to write a song about having your heart ripped out of your chest while you're in love. Because it lacks honesty. And the honesty comes through in the music, it really does.
I know what my job is: I write the songs, I sing them, I play them on the piano.
Writing a song is like playing a series of downs in football: Lots of rules, timing is crucial, lots of boundaries, lots of protective gear, lots of stopping and starting.
When I started writing songs, I was doing it for myself and a small circle of friends. And gradually, over the years, an audience became involved.
I never set out to write songs about the world around me... it just kind of came about as a result of paying more attention to things.
As a singer-songwriter, a solo artist with a guitar, I can only write so many weepie little bedroom songs.
There were times in my career when I would try to write songs like Bob Dylan... Artists get hooked up in that. To be a follower, you lose.
But when it came to jamming and writing songs like we used to, we realized Brandon was a huge spirit in the band. Who knew? It was just something we had to learn.
I've always felt writing a song was a bit like going on location. That's true in an almost literal sense. Where you are seeps in somehow.
U2 is sort of song writing by accident really. We don't really know what we're doing and when we do, it doesn't seem to help.
I learned to embrace my individuality, and if that meant writing a song on one chord over and over again, then that's what I do.
