These are the days of miracle and wonder.
When I look back at all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.
The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.
Faith is an island in the setting sun, But proof is the bottom line for everyone.
I don’t know what I’m going to write when I begin to write. It feels like you are walking down a path, but you can’t see around the bend and you don’t know where you are going to go, which is fun.
Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
I’m always going forward toward something, and that something is usually an album, because I like to record. I probably like to record more than I like to write.
People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.
My whole artistic life has always been about change, change, change, move on, move on. It’s the only thing I find interesting.
Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.
You want to be a writer, don’t know how or when? Find a quiet place, use a humble pen.
If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you’ve created a special little thing, and that’s what I’m looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything.
Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?
Life I love you, all is groovy.
I like working with sound; sound and rhythm. I like the abstract more than “What does that mean?” Nobody ever says to you, “Why did you use a harmonium?” Or “What is that ringing sound that occurs here?” The questions are always “What does that song mean?” or “What were you trying to say here?”
There’s something about the sound of a train that’s very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful.
A songwriter’s supreme challenge is being complex and simple at the same time.
And a rock feels no pain; And an island never cries.
The abstract music is just more interesting because it doesn’t really have anything to say, but if it is good, it creates thoughts and feelings, and I enjoy that. For me, once the music creates those thoughts and feelings, I begin to write a song about it.
I have my books And my poetry to protect me; I am shielded in my armor, Hiding in my room, safe within my womb. I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock, I am an island.