I'd always loved poetry and I'd always loved writing music and composing music, but I hadn't thought of putting the two together until around that time.

The second half of the '60s really was a kind of learning period, in terms of writing, for me.

There was a lot more music than the size of the place would indicate.

I wanted to play rock and roll when I started playing. Nobody at that time ever thought about songwriting. You sang songs, that's all. You sang other people's songs. That's all there were.

I've always loved writing.

All I ever thought was, 'I'm going to do this as long as I can, and if I can't get paid at it, I'll be a bum doing it.' And so, here I am.