I knew a lot of chords, but they weren't the chords that came with the melody that came with the idea I had for the song. Melodies are simple things. If you see a train wreck, there's a melody. If you see a little daisy blowing in the breeze, there's a melody.
I had the notion that I wanted to write the great dirty American novel, so I went to Roanoke College on the GI Bill.
Sinclair Lewis was asked one time to give a talk to class of students about writing. When he got there he asked the class, Do you people want to be writers?and they all said yes. Then Lewis said, Why the hell aren't you at home writing?
I was well traveled, and I created this illusion of literacy through reading and writing. I wrote a book of short stories.
