My first song was 'So Sick,' which was my first number one as an artist, and I turned the mic around to the crowd, and they sang the whole song. Every lyric. That was my first experience with the power of music.
Let the music speak to us of tonight, in a happier language than our own.
Sometimes I do a Dylan song and it seems to fit me so right that I figure maybe I wrote it. Dylan didn’t always do it for me as a singer, not in the early days, but then I started listening to the lyrics. That sold me.
I've been writing music since 4th grade, and I love putting words together and expressing things in a way that you can move your head to and you can really relate to, because I have a lot to say.
With rock and metal, I think a lot of people connect with the lyrics because they feel like they don't fit in.
If I don't write a song, I only record it when it's played for me for the first time and I connect to it, am empowered by it, and have a deep connection to the lyrics.
Mad World' was easy for me to sing because I could relate to Roland's lyrics. We were both the middle of three sons and had been brought up by single mothers with absent fathers.
I feel blessed to travel the world and land in a place where, when I sing my songs, they sing along with every word.
It turned out so well because it was the first album that I could identify with in terms of lyrics. ("Captain Fantastic") It was passionate...I could associate myself with every song...It's a unique album in our history. This was the story of us..."Curtains", the lyrics to that are so beautiful because it sums up our friendship so much, and our relationship.
I feel like boys listen to my music. They just don't like to admit it, but I go hard. But yeah, I feel like I go really hard, so why not listen to me? Anybody could relate to my music, honestly.
I would be on dates with guys, and the radio would be on, and if the Moody Blues song came on I couldn't concentrate on the guy; I would go straight into the music.
That's why we do this. In country music, we do this for this very reason... to impact people lyrically, to be a part of their lives.
The bedrock thing of country music is, it's about storytelling. I feel like I was able to find a niche because I connected to that in some way.
