You don't write on tour; it takes all your concentrating to make the gig - that's survival technique. Afterwards, you run around town to find interesting hipsters and go to all the interesting spots. You got to go to every hotspot until everything has closed down.

Politically at that time, with Thatcher in Britain and Reagan in the White House, it wasn't looking too great for the Left. And we were always on the left.

We didn't have any solution to the world's problems. I mean, we were trying to grow up in a socialist way to some future where the world might be less of a miserable place than it is.

You can only follow what's on your mind. In fact, a song is something you write because you can't sleep unless you write it.

Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control. And it didn't have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realized that you either became a power or you were crushed.

I’m kind of like one of those people that picks up small and interesting bits of wood and doesn’t want to let go of them. Or, you know, I’m fascinated with the wrapper on a sardine can. A little cuckoo.

There isn’t a town in the world I haven’t run amok in.

I want to grow up with my audience. I don’t expect to be getting through to the younger pop crowd. I learned that from Paul Simon.

We’re all going to have to learn to live together and develop a greater tolerance and get rid off whatever our fathers gave us in the way of hatred between nations.

I think we’re going to have to forget about the radio and just go back to word of mouth.