I think you want to write a song that’s like the songs you are into.

An album doesn’t mean as much to a lot of people now, compared to just songs.

Springsteen on that record started writing less about having your wind in your hair and turning the radio up and more about being dragged down by adult things. Regular people trying to get ahead. A little less mythical and romantic, and more real. It’s a really spectacular record for that reason.

If I’m stuck, I’ll sit down and read. That’s a big thing.

I think having a coach or an editor or whatever the novelist’s producer is could help. If you finish a chapter and you turn it in to him, and he or she said, “That was pretty good, it might go better.” Maybe that’s what I’ll try to find.

You can either go to the gym because you want to lose weight, or you can go to the gym because you like how it makes you feel when you’re running.

I don’t really pursue writing songs for other people. I guess one of the things I always think about is a good line in a song should be something I can hear myself saying.

One of the things is my process requires a lot of repetition. I can probably drive people crazy because I’m interested in playing a song twenty times in a row.

I’m not only a songwriter but I’m a massive music fan and I love going to shows. It’s different than reading a book.

I think the biggest thing – and this I think is true of songs but also of movies and books and art in general – is when you have this moment where you hear a song or whatever and you say, “Hey, I’ve felt that exact way as a human being,” and there’s no easy way to describe it.