- I've found out how overwhelming the media is and the way it drills things into your head, it's almost like a mind control. If I could control prople's minds, I'd like to put something useful in.
- I don't want to live in a culture of despair. I'd like to live in a culture of hope.
- People always tell me that my live shows differ greatly from my albums, which are a little more meticulous and subdued. People come see me live, and I'm cracking jokes and dancing around like a savage, and it's truly unpredictable. There should be a record of that.
- A lot of things are personal experiences disguised as other people's experiences. I can't remove the autobiographical slant from the things I write. You always bring yourself into what you're writing.
- Britain was the first place I ever travelled outside the United States so when I arrived in London at the age of 19, everything was exciting - the sense of history and all these cute guys with British accents.
- One of the things I'm trying to do as an artist is comfort people. Tell them, 'You're not alone.'
- Sometimes I've lamented that, because I've written songs that were angry but I could never sound as angry as I felt. But at other times I feel really happy that I have this voice, because it seems to soothe people and draw them close to me. Children really love my voice. I've been noticing a lot of really young kids at the show - like, 12 and under - lately, and I'm really excited. Because if I were 12 years old, going to a concert, it would be a choice between either the Backstreet Boys or me. I'm just glad it's me.
- The '60s aesthetic has never really appealed to me, the tie-dyed Deadhead running barefoot through the forest on LSD. I don't think that's really me. But I've been a vegetarian for 17 years and I consider myself an environmentalist inasmuch as I can be, considering the job that I have. I prefer living in the countryside rather than the city; I find it more sane and sustaining for myself. - Interview - October 24, 1995
- It's very odd to think of the places my music can go once it leaves my hands.
- I think of myself as a musician and not a celebrity. Celebrity status is something you have to deliberately pursue - I couldn't imagine myself seeking that. (Interview with The Providence Journal-Bulletin - February 13, 1996.)
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