Maybe I was a bit harsh on some people. But I was harshest on myself, really.
I'm always aware of mortality.
You can't keep pursuing pop success, and chasing the past.
I can't read music and I'm crap at learning lyrics. Especially since the accident I have memory problems. I can't remember words, names, places.
I'm the most indecisive person in the world. I'll do three versions of a song, then think, "Is the demo better?"
I liked the idea of writing a song saying I'm happy with who I am, and I don't mind if people think I'm some old git.
I've got so much I want to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. People say to me, "You really shouldn't do so many records", because it actually harms your career.
I thought, I might not look my best, I've forgotten half the words to my songs and I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress, but I've just got to get out there and do it.
Frank Sinatra said this great thing, that singing isn't about singing in tune, or great technical singing. It's about making people believe in the story you're telling.
Don't sing a song you can't carry off, like some 16-year-old kid singing 'My Way'. That song's not for you. You haven't lived that.
So often, the singer is the sound of the record. People think they can cover anything, but the whole voice is the thing that's unrepeatable.
What was great about the 80s was that you still had record companies who would get behind developing you as an artist. You had these bonkers heads of department and A&R people who, even after a flop album, would let you make another one.
Sometimes, with autobiographies, it turns into a bit of score-settling. And looking back, I don't feel the way I did then, and you kind of grow up and let it go behind you.
