I think there's a huge pivot in popular music, and just in culture in general, towards art that is vulnerable and emotionally honest.
No two people will ever see or feel things in the same way, Merry. The challenge is to be truthful when you write. Don't approximate. Don't settle for the easiest combination of words. Go searching instead for those that explain exactly what you think. What you feel.
Nothing's wrong with honest emotion.
I think the emotion between a child and a mother is the most beautiful and honest emotion you will ever get to see.
The thing is, if you tell your story specifically enough, it becomes so universal. Just because you're a gay man singing an honest love song, people should know that it's about men and that they can still relate to it.
Out of love you can speak with straight fury.
Rapping is the only time I'm serious.
There's nothing quite as raw and honest as one person and one instrument.
I think it's a big chance to take to make a movie that's about as something as pure and honest and something people can relate to everyday.
Or you might shout at the top of your lungs or whisper into your sleeve, "I hate you, God." That is a prayer too, because it is real, it is truth, and maybe it is the first sincere thought you've had in months.
You really can't be a good artist if you can't say what you really feel. And people may be offended, but, you know, that's how you feel, and that is your right, and that is your gift as well.
I never smile unless I mean it.
