I just want to write songs in my little corner. And I still love music, I've not been worn down by cynicism.

I sacrifice in my love life and my social life, but those things will be there in three or four years. This is a really important time in my life. I can't just be the girl who sang 'I Kissed a Girl.' I have to leave a legacy.

For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall.

My driving philosophy about making music is that you can reduce it all down to one note if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity.

Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it's the last time.

The first time I knew what I wanted to do with my life was when I was about four years old. I was listening to an old Victrola, playing a railroad song...I thought that was the most wonderful, amazing thing...That you could take this piece of wax and music would come out of that box. From that day on, I wanted to sing on the radio.