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If you look at the content of songs people write, it's usually about the things they know best.

The back story of a songwriter isn't important to me - I don't listen to music needing to know who the guy is.

When you're writing a song, you have to know two things. You have to know who you are, and you have to think about other people.

I am a songwriter. I do get to put my personal experiences in song.

I think that most people who write about music just want to fill some paper. They're not really interested in getting to the heart of something. Otherwise, they wouldn't write what they write.

That is what intrigues me; songwriting and song structure and expression.

If you're somebody who writes songs or writes fiction, a writer that people pay for your opinion in any way, you shouldn't be the least bit uncomfortable giving it to them. People want songwriters to tell them how they think and how they feel. That's what a song is. That's what I want to hear in a song.

Throughout my life I have cared as deeply about the songs of all peoples as I have about the rights of all peoples.

I feel like songwriting is an experiment in empathy.

Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn't get some of that stuff out.