I don't like to write rhetorically or get on a soapbox. I try to make the stuff multi-layered, so that it always has a life outside its social context. I don't believe that you can tell people anything; you can only draw them in.

You make your music, then you try to find whatever audience is out there for it.

I'm interested in what it means to live in America. I'm interested in the kind of country that we live in and leave our kids. I'm interested in trying to define what that country is. I got the chutzpa or whatever you want to say to believe that if I write a really good about it, it's going to make a difference.

Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.

Talk about a dream, try to make it real.

All I try to do is to write music that feels meaningful to me, that has commitment and passion behind it.