Mortality! It's intimations of mortality. I'm 58, and by that time, more people you know have died. My mother died a few years ago. And being a New Yorker, 9/11 had a lot to do with the mood of the city.
It's great to know that our old stuff still sounds good to our fans, just as it's wonderful to think that we've turned a few people on to jazz over the years.
Anthemic rock music is inherently fascist - anything intended to move huge masses of people is politically offensive to me.
People are usually afraid to say what's on their mind.