Musician

I'm born and bred out of Detroit. Detroit is an interesting place. You've got to be from somewhere.

I'm a musical political, I tend to stick to what I see happening outside my front door.

I have fun with words.

I was skeptical about the whole idea of my being in a film.

I love my country. It's just the government I don't trust.

About love, don't be a silent partner. And be gentle with your anger.

I learned that South Africa is a beautiful country with gorgeous people, and I got to see it from a different perspective than most people do.

My entry level has always been pretty high in the music business.

I always had my guitar; I worked at writing some songs. I always played music - in the house. I sang to my daughters, I scribbled down some ideas. Actually I didn't always play music. I did leave it alone for some time too.

I never left music, I just left the music scene.

Solomon was a musician and David was a musician, so it's a profession that I take seriously.

Some want to do pretty songs with pretty words about pretty people, but that ain't me.

In the '60s and '70s, a protest song was a genre in music.

I don't necessarily want a higher education, I want a wider education. I want to know everything and experience everything.

I've had such an ordinary life.

Was 'Crucify Your Mind' dedicated to anybody? No, it was a generalization. 'A Most Disgusting Song' is like that, too.

In the music business, there's a lot of criticism and rejection. If you embrace it, you'll be better off when the adjustment comes.

I've always covered some Dylan songs. I do one or two. And I do them because they're great songs. You know some people cover songs they wish they could have written, not me. I like to cover songs I know I could not have ever written.

I loved the Woody Guthrie tradition of speaking about what's happening to the country.

I live below my means. I think that's a good discipline because you never can tell.