You know when you take the paint off an old canvas and you discover that something’s been painted underneath it? That’s what I feel like – that part of the old is coming through the new.
We went to see all the shows. American musical theater and jazz were very big.
You usually can’t tell what’s inspiring until you look back on it.
My look was even more solidified when I started singing in Greenwich Village with my sister Lucy. We wore matching dresses as the Simon Sisters.
My father was a classical pianist, and my mother was a singer of just about everything.
We are in this period now where we all are trying to be in shape physically and deny ourselves any pleasure.
I used the physical scar of my breast cancer operation, the scar that I have across my chest as a metaphor for all kinds of scars.
I had this terrible stammer, so I couldn’t really speak properly until I was 16 or 17.
I remember being onstage once when I didn’t have fear: I got so scared I didn’t have fear that it brought on an anxiety attack.
I think that I’ve got some pretty bad reviews on albums or songs that later proved themselves.
One of the things that has always motivated me to write is the desire to get it out and look at it in an objective way, so that it doesn’t cause me any serious pain by staying inside.
You’re so vain. I bet you think this song is about you.
My scar is beautiful. It looks like an arrow.
I try to get to those peculiar and particular things that you never think of to say.
We need role models who are going to break the mold.
I always think it’s interesting to dig a little bit deeper every time you go to someplace that seems like a revelation or a strong connection to an emotional truth.
Do you know how many concerts I’ve done in my whole life, in more than 35 years of performing? Sixty-four.
There was a French singer, Francoise Hardy – I used to look at her pictures and try to dress like her.
I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren’t as easy to sing.
I had a mastectomy in 1998, and then chemo.
The advancements that women have made are very threatening to men in the job place. There haven’t been that many women in politics. If you look at the conventions, it’s kind of pathetic how many men are the heads of companies. On the other hand, I’m not sure what the reality should be.