“I believe that music is God’s voice.”

I think about God, yes, and I wonder if there is a God. And if there is a God, will God please help me through my hard trips.

The idea of taking a song, envisioning the overall sound in my head and then bringing the arrangement to life in the studio…well, that gives me satisfaction like nothing else.

I have an instinct for music, or a feeling about it, and I’ll have my feelings guide my hands.

I’ve never written one note or word of music simply because I think it will make money.

I think cursing is a bunch of malarkey.

Every now and then I hear voices in my head, but not very clear. I can’t understand what they are saying. It’s a mental illness. I have been diagnosed as a manic depressive.

I have stage fright every single concert I’ve ever done. I have at least four or five minutes of it. It’s absolute living hell.

If there’s not love present, it’s much, much harder to function. When there’s love present, it’s easier to deal with life.

J.S. Bach was easily the greatest musical innovator in the history of the world. He was so advanced for his time. There’s a spiritual depth to his music. You can listen to it and it’s like meditation.

The only reason I’d ever get a sex change operation is to see what it’s like to be right all the time.

There’s nothing greater than a girl…. Well a kid, your daughter, but that’s a girl too.

Humor – it helps to make the vibe better – it loosens up the vibrations.

People are part of my music. A lot of my songs are the result of emotional experiences, sadness, pain, joy, and exultation in nature and sunshine and so on…like ‘California Girls’ which was a hymn to youth.

I still believe that something is right only when it feels right.

I consider myself to be a crusader of love. I try to spread love around the world as best I can because I know I have a handle on love.

You say how you feel, and songs don’t lie. Songs are the most honest form of human expression there is–there’s nothing that lies about a song.