I think that it's the job of the artist to be in transition and constantly learn more.

Nashville's like any other hometown - after a while, it's stifling.

I think a lot of men are afraid of pretty things, and I'm not, I like pretty songs.

As a southern man, there's two things I'm definitely not scared of: bow ties and white pants.

My parents split up when I was about 2. I realize more and more how much I'm like my father. My gentleness comes from my mother.

I didn't do anything differently than what my father was doing. It's a really hard family to rebel in. I could have become an accountant. Or I could have become a Republican.

All my records have been written to be records, rather than writing a group of songs and seeing if they fit together.

I didn't get into music to become a blues musician, or a country musician. I'm a singer-songwrit er. In my book that means I get to do whatever I want.

I've never been good at rock'n'roll songs, anyway; either I'm blessed or I'm cursed, but whatever I write comes out sounding old.

I heard Nirvana, and discovered that songs could be like poetry, but a little bit more refined: you didn't have to have 20 verses to get your point across.

I always watched movies and rooted for the bad guys, you know? I've always been that kind of guy. I still hold some respect for criminals that are good at their jobs.

You can believe in whatsoever you like, but the truth remains the truth, no matter how sweet the lie may taste.

Let your light shine brightly.

If a child shows himself to be incorrigible, he should be decently and quietly beheaded at the age of twelve, lest he grow to maturity, marry, and perpetuate his kind.

After a few years of marriage a man can look right at a woman without seeing her and a woman can see right through a man without looking at him.

No matter what I do, no matter how predictable I try to make my life, it will not be any more predictable than the rest of the world. Which is chaotic.

To conceive the good, in fact, is not sufficient; it must be made to succeed among men. To accomplish this less pure paths must be followed.

To see what isn't true is easy. But to see what is true will take some doing.

Getting love is a very small experience. It is the experience of beggar.

Morality, thou deadly bane,Thy tens o' thousands thou has slain!

I'd love to do sitcoms. I think I'm pretty darn funny.