With studio work, I'm always the bottom man on the totem pole.

I don't want to work on a musical if I'm not the lyricist.

Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.

We have this myth that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. It's not a very American thing to say, but I don't think that's true. It's true for a lot of people, but you need other things to succeed. You need luck, you need opportunity, and you need the life skills to recognize what an opportunity is.

I'm not saying people shouldn't apply themselves and work hard. You do have to try to make your own luck. But I know people firsthand who worked incredibly hard, who were really smart, who never got into trouble, and still didn't get a break.

My jobs on campaigns were pretty low on the totem pole - I was an advance man.