For a while, I felt a little self-impelled to write Lou Reed Kind of songs. I should have understood that a Lou Reed song was anything I wanted to write about.

Raymond Chandler managed to write about L.A. his whole career. Should I keep going writing about New York? Is that what I should be doing? Songwriting doesn't work that way.

I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any attention at all. Sometimes it's me, or a composite of me and other people. Sometimes it's not me at all.

I can create a vibe without saying anything, just by being in the room.

These are really terribly rough times, and we really should try to be as nice to each other as possible.

How can anybody learn anything from an artwork when the piece of art only reflects the vanity of the artist and not reality?