An album doesn't mean as much to a lot of people now, compared to just songs.

People make maps of all the places I've mentioned. I knew that those people were out there. I wanted to create something for them.

There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right / Boys and Girls in America / Have such a sad time together.

I really like narrative songs, but I wonder if that's a thing for some people. Once they've heard the story, do they really need to hear the story again?

I'm able to draw outside my own personal experiences. No one wants to hear the song about what I really did today, which is go get coffee and clean my apartment.

When people hit on feeling a certain melancholy or elation, it's a really exciting moment. I think making that connection is the goal, and what makes something great.

Sometimes things reveal themselves to you a little bit. I think it was Joan Didion that said, "We write to find out what we're thinking." And sometimes that happens.

I would never talk to a girl in a bar, like a pick-up thing. But I could talk to anyone if they wore a t-shirt of a band I like.

Just looking into something kind of analytically can give a lot of ideas.

People think of songwriting as a very personal thing: A guy gets up there with an acoustic guitar and he sings his heart out, bares his soul.

One of the things is my process requires a lot of repetition. I can probably drive people crazy because I'm interested in playing a song twenty times in a row.

If we do not feel like praying, then we should pray until we do feel like praying.

Church and business are compatible

Believe you know all the answers, and you know all the answers. Believe you're a master, and you are.

Had I known that coffee could taste so good, I would have gotten drunk on it every day.

Thanksgiving comes after Christmas.

There's a vintage which comes with age and experience.

I like the idea of a love story between men. There is a great affection between men, which exists much more in ethnic groups: Latin, Italian, Jewish.

America is the greatest country in the whole world.

As a producer, you really have - you're able to hand-pick all the talent that you want to be surrounded with.

Don't be ridiculous, please.' The most insulting words in the world!