All of the anxious thoughts that you are able to escape during the day that somehow know when you are lying down to relax.

Menopausal anxiety.

Questions that I can’t answer – and that’s what becomes a book.

Threat of nuclear war, Iran/US situation, Syria, everything. I take sleeping pills.

The most extravagant thing was a bottle of 1904 armagnac for $1,000. I spent $10,000 on a Martin guitar in the 90s. I also spent $100,000 on a Fairlight keyboard and I ended up giving it away. Oh well.

It feels like a yearning but also a kind of overwhelming glowing out.

I would have tried to meet Lou Reed backstage. I went to see him for years, and never tried to meet him. Eventually we met at award shows and did become friends.

A death threat at Glastonbury festival in 1989. The police told me not to go on, but I said I had to because I was headlining. So I wore a bullet-proof vest. It seemed unlikely that I would be assassinated, but it was shocking and very stressful.

Ten more closets: I am a hoarder.

There are a few. As far as getting started, lots of people who really want to make a song have figured that out already. I very rarely get asked for advice from people who have never written a song and want to know how to get started. It’s usually about getting stuck or feeling like they’ve painted themselves into a corner. I remember getting asked a question from this one kid who was probably 13 years old. He wanted to know if it was okay to always write in A minor. He liked writing classical piano pieces and his favorite key was A minor. My favorite key is also A minor, so he wanted to know if that was okay.