Im so fascinated by the human longing for meaning. The way we relate romantically to each other is so much to do with our longing for meaning as well.

That's the beauty of song writing. You never know when inspiration will come or how it will hit, you just gotta kinda grasp a hold of it and make sense of it somehow.

When you work on an album for three and a half years, you're kind of ready for it to get out there. To have your songs reach people.

My process is to be by myself when I record. It's quite an emotional performance to pull off when someone else is in the room. I prefer to go away and have my own time with it, bring it in later.

I want to be the kind of artist who keeps pushing on every album. I don't want to settle on a sound.

America is definitely something I'm pretty excited about.

Just try to keep the heart turned outward, as well as having moments inward.

There's a vulnerability in music but you've also got to protect your sacred place and have a place you can still retire to that no one else knows about. So that's a thing I just try to balance.

The fun of being in the pop world is you can really play with people's perceptions of what the word pop means.

. The key to all of that is keeping hold of humility and keeping hold of the people around you, and making sure you stay grounded with your family and friends.

I like challenging people. I love pop music that can just throw you off.

I love you enough to tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not, but what you do afterward is your choice alone.

Anything is possible as long as you're focused, determined and you really want to do it.

A bard whom there were none to praise, And very few to read.

Think of your woods and orchards without birds! Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams As in an idiot's brain remembered words Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his dreams!

Mach-5, the speed at which stress can't keep up, is simply forward motion. But it has to be self- propelled. Note that people in cars are still stressed.

My favourite road sign is 'Falling Rocks'. What exactly am I supposed to do with that information? They may as well have a sign saying "Random accidents ahead", "Life's a lottery, Be lucky."

I always loved my mother, felt loved, but she was judgmental. Her father in Ireland didn't approve of women generally, and she took on his values. She believed her own mother was foolish.

There's nothing harder to stop than somebody who wants to believe a miracle.

I don't have any system. I dictate a lot, through a machine, and I also have a secretary. But I used to type just like everybody else.

Who wants to be reputable? That's for golfers and tycoons with a sleazy past.