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I've always written songs, even when I wasn't doing anything with my personal life in music.

I do work a lot. I mean, most of my income, I would say, comes from live performances. And then you've got publishing, you've got record royalties.

I write my songs because I've lived them.

With songwriting I spend a lot of time living life, accruing all these experiences, journaling, and then by the time I get to the studio I'm teeming with the drive to write.

Royalties are not how most writers or musicians make their living. Musicians by and large make a living with a relationship with an audience that is economically harnessed through performance and ticket sales.

I like working with other people but I'm not a songwriter, I'm a producer.

I ended up writing songs and growing up in public with my songwriting. And it's a good thing for me back then: in the early '70s, there was a thing called artist development, where an artist could find his feet, find himself, find his voice. I think I made five or six albums before I sold five or six albums.

Everything in life influences my music. I've always used songwriting as a means to share what I think is profound.

As a songwriter, I'm not necessarily writing about myself or my life.

I'm a commercial-minded songwriter. I'm here to make a living and be on the radio.