When people ask me who I'd want to have dinner with, dead or alive, I always say, 'John Lennon.' I just feel that he was an artist who was, in his own way, committed to wholeness and authenticity in a not dissimilar way that I am years later.
I have a profound empathy for people who are in the public eye, whether they manifest it themselves or whether it happened by accident - it doesn't matter to me. I think there's a great misunderstanding of what it is to be famous.
I saw music as a way to entertain people and take them away from their daily lives and put smiles on their faces, as opposed to what I see it being now, which is a way for me to actually communicate, and a way for me to tap into my subconscious.
And ultimately the people who produce my records, they know that they're here to serve the purpose of me expressing who I am at this period of time and augmenting that or pulling it forward and I love that process.
I love the universality of music and how it can viscerally connect people from culture to culture, regardless of anything. It kind of levels everything out and connects us. That universal sound thing is a big deal to me.
Writing the record for me - every record is almost a surprise. When people ask me, what are the themes you want to grapple with on this one? I have no idea until the record's finished.
I was always such a people-watcher. I would sit on street corners alone and watch people and make up stories about them in my head. Then, all of a sudden, I was the one being watched.
I understand that people are afraid. Because I think censorship is about fear. It's just fear being projected onto art.
Infidelity is a deal breaker for me. I've broken up with people over it. You can't do monogamy 90 percent of the time.
I'm saying what a lot of people would want to say but are too embarrassed.
When we [people] are operating from the belief that we're not connected, it feels so dangerous and scary and vulnerable and awful.
I highly recommend getting older! There's less tendency to people-please.
I guess what people forget sometimes is that when I write songs, I write them sometimes in about 20 minutes.
I'll be writing records until I'm dead, whether people like it or not!
Making a movie requires 20 to 500 people to make and a lot of money and the stakes are a lot higher.
Fame is hollow. It amplifies what is there. If there is any self-doubt, or hatred, or lack of ability to connect with people, fame will magnify it.
I think some people think I'm a smarty-pants. Some people think I'm intense, some people think I'm super-esoteric and nuts.
I wish people could acheive what they think would bring them happiness in order for them to realize that thats not really what happiness is.
The people that were invested in me staying the same way after a decade will most likely by default have to be disappointed.
There were a lot of people who were a little afraid of the rage or blaming stance I was taking, and find what I am doing now more refreshing.
It's exciting for people to define who they are in relation to what I write - whether it be by loving or hating it.
I'm a liability to them - I'm a woman, I'm empowered, I'm an artist. I've had executives who can't come to my shows they're so scared of me. I've been a thorn in many people's sides just by existing.