I t was a difficult time, but the actual creation of the record in the studio was the most eye-opening thing for me of the whole process,

Everywhere around the world They’re coming to America Everytime that flags unfurled They’re coming to America Got a dream to take them there They’re coming to America Got a dream they come to share They’re...

We are happy to become the first to play in this beautiful building. I know it will be the first of many (shows). We hope you remember us and that we played here first.

If it can affect me, if it has meaning to me, if I feel I can do it well, I will do it and record it and thats why I recorded these songs.

I’m lucky. Hard work is the key, but luck plays a part.

That’s show business,

Some days are diamonds Some days are stones Sometimes the hard times won’t leave me alone Sometimes the cold wind blows a chill in my soul Some days are diamonds, some days are stone

All of which I agreed to, with the exception of playing on the songs while singing, … We butted heads as far as that one was concerned — I complained about it every day. Fortunately,...

No, I majored in biology, in a pre-med program.

Kind of unspoken, we both agreed to continue working and to get to the next stage, … which was to have me write songs that Rick felt were right for me.

It is a little strange, I have to admit it, seeing someone up there trying to be you. A little weird but also fun. God bless them all, I hope they do great.

I am,” I saidTo no one thereAn no one heard at allNot even the chair”I am,” I cried”I am,” said IAnd I am lost, and I can’t even say whyLeavin’ me lonely still

I’d heard of Rick for a number of years, … He’s kind of a pioneer in the music business, and he’s produced so many different types of music and artists that you can’t help but...

Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest.

Be as a page that aches for a word/ Which speaks on a theme that is timeless.

We’re happy that you’re here and that you remember us, … Remember Me.

Because my musical training has been limited, I’ve never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.

Song Sung Blue took a lot of compressing and refining, and it has one of my favorite lyrics.

You have to go out there and give a piece of yourself — your life, your soul. And you better give the audience everything you can — physically, emotionally, musically. Then maybe they’ll accept you...

I couldn’t resist. I went over and joined in, and we just sang the song together, … They had no idea that I had written it, or who I was. I was just some weird...

Brooklyn is not the easiest place to grow up in, although I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.

Songs are life in 80 words or less.

He was a rap producer, and then he was producing rock with some alternative bands. I just didn’t understand how I fit into that thing. But Bob Dylan’s manager, who I know, called me and...

I made a U-turn and went back 40 years to try to recapture those feelings, … The major difference between this album and my first or second album is I think the lyrics now go...

Chelsea Morning is a great Joni Mitchell song and I guess I’m partial to her lyrics because they show me a slightly different perspective on life.

It’s very difficult for me to say ‘I love you’ but to sing ‘I love you’ for me is easier.

Songwriting is different from music, although I don’t deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory.

He kinda forced me to play [acoustic] guitar, which I did not want to do, and we argued about it almost every single day,

I stayed away from it for years, thinking that there were many, many better guitar players than I and that I should stick to what I do best, the writing and singing, … Rick didn’t...

I don’t like all of the music to be serious and deadly.

All the sparkly shirts and the stage trappings – that’s just the performer, the public me, … Songwriting is the hardest and most personal thing I do. When I’m writing, I’ll go into the studio...

Songwritng is what I do.

As he said to all the rich, middle-aged white people, ‘We are all God’s children.’

the hardest part of this whole project. Each song has its own story, its own emotional content, its own reason for being.

I still need practice in enjoying the fruits of success.

He’s really likable and sincere, and he’s very easy to be with. He certainly wasn’t easygoing in the studio. He’s a passionate, obsessive person, like I am. But I have so much respect for the...

The main objective in any song, the songs that I write, has always been that it reflect the way I feel, that it touch me when I’m finished with it, that it moves me, that...

You are the sun, … I am the moon.

I was doing what I wanted to do, … I was making the records I wanted to make where and when I wanted to do them. I wasn’t looking aggressively for someone to come in...

I think probably Australians have just a little more taste than most people.

Neil Diamond impersonators will be much in demand at bar mitzvahs.

There’s a mystery to writing, and you don’t really know where most of it comes from.

What is the next line to the song?

His reputation preceded him, … But man to man, I just liked him a lot.

I’ve always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I’ll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that...

[Diamond and Rubin ended up with almost 30 songs.] It was a new experience for both of us, … Normally, I don’t let a producer hear a song until I’m ready to record it. But...

When you’re on a merry-go-round, you miss a lot of the scenery.

Of course I liked what Johnny did with ‘Solitary Man,’

the recordings became bigger than the songs, which I came to understand is a backwards way of doing it. The songs have to come first and inspire everything else. If Rick did anything for me,...

I’ve looked at photographs of myself during concerts and it sometimes looks as if I’m in a fencing move, with a guitar in my hands instead of a sword.