So few people are truly themselves when they're in the spotlight.

I'm dealing with things as they come along, and I'm talking about it.

I just broke up with my boyfriend, and I've been spending more time alone than I'd like.

I'm trying to get out of my own way.

I'm trying to learn how to tap into the power of my own being. I know it sounds corny.

I have such a great band. We had played all this material on the road. I just wanted to let it fly.

We just did a few takes of a song and just picked the best one. It was real organic and genuine.

I grew up in a very literate, very independent household where people spoke their ideas and were very supportive of helping each other find their own way.

The more I separate myself from my upbringing, the more I appreciate what it's done for me.

You should put time into learning your craft. It seems like people want success so quickly, way before they're ready.

The old jazz singers or old blues singers, you always just saw them kind of sitting down and singing. They weren't worried as much about their voice sounding perfect. They would make the song kind of fit their voice.

I started writing more with my voice in mind.

Sade's stuff is real deceptive. She's got stuff about prostitutes, poverty and people on the streets.

I mean, whose songs don't focus on tragedy and loss?

I write first for myself as a therapeutic process, to get stuff out and to deal with it.

Just because I'm talking about something that might have been a sad or painful situation doesn't mean that I'm sad or tortured 24 hours a day any more than anybody else is.

I've had trouble being in relationships and writing. This has been a real problem for me. I don't know if it's because I'm not free to fantasize or create these fantasy things about other people.

In so many interviews, they bring up the sexual aspect of the record. I've had some journalists say it sounds like I'm lying down in bed singing with a microphone. It gets so old!

I'd rather play a few nights at the Fillmore than play one night at an arena.

You can't really praise somebody's work and then criticize the process.

Some of their best songs don't have bridges and choruses. So that made me think I should trust my instincts. My songs were okay, I figured. I didn't need to change anything.

I usually have an idea of how I want a song to sound, but I don't always know how to get there.

I feel a lot more comfortable being me these days. I'm constantly told that my work is good. A lot of fans and a lot of other artists say my songs and albums mean a lot to them. Isn't that what's important?

I guess you could write a good song if your heart hadn't been broken, but I don't know of anyone whose heart hasn't been broken.

I'm always coming up with ideas that have been inspired by memories, everyday life and this and that and the other.

Sometimes I might borrow something from a song I started a long time ago and see if I can grab something.

Back in the 1960s, I saw Peter, Paul and Mary. I was at that age, about 14, and I was mesmerized.

First thing, I throw on some jeans, a T-shirt and my Keds sneakers and make coffee. That is actually my favorite time of day. That is when I do my songwriting, when I am in writing mode.

The way I look at life, whatever I'm doing at that time in my life is going to be reflected in my songs, for the most part.

Of course, I'm older now. I'm in a different place in my life than when I wrote the songs for 'Car Wheels' or 'Essence' or whatever. Different things were going on.

I have a folder of scraps and pieces of paper with stuff, ideas for songs from the last 25 years; just little things, maybe early songs that I finished, but didn't think they were good enough.