It's crucial that I kind of keep up, without drifting into the backslapping land of cliche and lifetime achievement awards.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My greatest achievement is being able to write records that are real snapshots of what's going on in my life. I won't repeat myself for the sake of commerce, or to please other people.
The accolades, just like the scrapes and bruises, fade in the end, and all you're left with is your ambition.
If you stick around long enough, people start referring to you as a survivor. Suddenly I found myself on the receiving end of several prestigious awards.
The sort of lifetime achievement stuff that I'm getting now is kind of like Tom Sawyer's funeral because they all know I'm sick. I am getting buildings named after me and awards and stuff.
I've managed to keep my career going in a way that suits me. I'll perform, and then I'll go home to my actual life, and I've never been so visible.
I feel like my career has been a series of glowing obituaries.
It's interesting, winning an Academy Award as a young man... life-changing, but I'm just me within that. It's been very helpful for my career, but I'm trying to stay on the path I was on before.
You spend most of your life working and trying to hone your craft, working on your chops, working on your writing, and you don't really think about accolades. Then you get a bit older and they start coming your way. It's a nice pat on the back.
Awards shows are my greatest inducement to get back into shape.
Awards can give you a tremendous amount of encouragement to keep getting better, no matter how young or old you are.