When I use music on stage, the prime directive is to entertain the public, so it is different.

How to please the public - that's the test,
But nowadays I find I'm in a fix;
I know they're not accustomed to the best,
But they've all read so much they know the tricks.
How can we give then something fresh and new
That's serious, but entertaining too?

Pop music is a fashion, and fashions come and go. The public retires you as their tastes change.

I often think that the prime directive for me as a teacher of writing is akin to that for a physician, which is this: do no harm.

It's about the music and that's it. I'm not an entertainer. But I do entertain people, see what I mean?

We are not trying to entertain the critics. I'll take my chances with the public.