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A lot of people who were writing when I came through originally as a singer-songwriter have disappeared.

I was never trying to write a hit. I was just trying to write good songs and get a message out, and it was my great good fortune to be popular.

My identity started developing through the songs I was writing.

I was in a band at school, and almost from the day we started, I started writing songs, just because that seemed what you did.

I was a different person before I started to write. When I realized I could be a songwriter and that people would listen - that was when I started feeling good in my life.

I'm really good at writing 'almost hits'.

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.

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.

I'm probably writing music now for the same reason as I started writing songs when I was 14 - to meet women.

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