I don't know if music has ever achieved anything past appealing to the people that it appeals to. If a song could stop a war, then Bob Marley and Bob Dylan songs would have stopped one or two.

Motivation has always been a fascinating factor when considering a touring artist, especially when the years stack up. What keeps one out there year after year?

I'm most in my element on tour, with a gig that day, like today. I'm on the road where I am supposed to be. I will be where I'm supposed to be at nighttime, on stage, in front of people, doing my thing.

When a young non-white male is stopped and searched at the whim of a police officer, his idea of personal space, privacy and self esteem are shattered, to say nothing of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment protections. The damage goes deep quickly and stays. Stop & frisk, as well as a tactic, is also an incitement.

I'm actually on the Twitter like all those crazy young kids are, and if I'm going to do an in-store appearance or I post something on my website, I tweet these followers, a word I don't like so much, and over 50,000 people go, like, 'Okay, I got it.'

I think, to a great degree, we humans still divide ourselves into two species, even though we are monotypic. There are males and females. We see them as different and not equal.

The only thing about sanctions is that, like a lot of drone strikes, there are countless unintended victims. Cutting off aid to Uganda only increases the pain there.

Contemporary bands often will do tour-only releases pressed and sold only in Australia. Crikey!

Consumerism is at once the engine of America and simultaneously one of the most revealing indicators of our collective shallowness.

Lou Reed's music has been in the lives of millions of people all over the world for decades. He had a truly universal presence and was respected by musicians across all genres.

Never once have I thought that Social Security would be something that would ever be available to me.

I think young people should travel and travel often to other countries... like I do.

To this day, my haircut is the number two clippers, which I apply to myself every month.

Life will not break your heart. It'll crush it.

Having an identity is one thing. Being born into an identity is quite a different matter.

The first Van Halen album makes Johnny Rotten out to be what he really was and still is: a hairdresser.

I love capitalism. It rewards me for being brave - it awards me for being innovative and thinking out of the box.

If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light, If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you.

I just travel the world with my backpack and my cameras and a bunch of Clif bars.

I have come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time to have too much pride in anything. Perhaps it's good to have a sense of duty, a jealous zeal to protect or improve, but pride ultimately is only that which stands vulnerable to offense and degradation.

I like boring black and white films with subtitles. I'm basically a drip.

There is not one single police officer in America that I am not afraid of and not one that I would trust to tell the truth or obey the laws they are sworn to uphold. I do not believe they protect me in any way.

When you start to doubt yourself the real world will eat you alive.

Now, if someone wants to spit on me, I just roll up the window of my BMW 540i.