When I'm writing a lyric, things can only get so serious before they start becoming humorous.

My sense of humor has saved me more than a couple of times in my life.

If I can make myself laugh about something that I should be crying about, that's pretty good.

I sound like that old guy down the street that doesn't chase you out of his apple tree.

I think I've finally, after 72 years, gotten used to my voice, and it sounds like a friend now instead of an enemy.

I feel basically good about my career because it's remained constant. What I do has never been especially in vogue or gotten high on the charts. At the same time, I haven't had to stop performing any of my music because it aged in style.

Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me as patting yourself on the back.

I used to read a lot of Steinbeck, and I admired Roger Miller and Bob Dylan.

People keep inventing all these new machines, and producers and recording engineers keep wanting to use them.