I sang in the coffee houses of the country in the early ’60s with no idea of success in terms of records or television. I just thought I was a storyteller. I didn’t even think of myself as a singer.

Music is always occurring. It is just a matter of marketing, attention, and many other factors, that determines whether people will hear these songs or not.

I have friends who’ve tried suicide many times and haven’t succeeded. I myself made an attempt, so I had a connection with that sort of group of people who have tried suicide at one time in their lives.

I think that new communications are wonderful and I am delighted to be a part of the Internet generation.

I am just glad that I can take the music to the people who want to hear it. I love my audiences. I am deeply indebted to them for giving me the chance to sing my concerts, make records, and do what I love. Whatever people call it, it is great to have a voice!

I had some wonderful dreaming meetings. I can’t tell you specifically what they’ve been in the recent months. In the past they’ve been verbal kinds of messages that he needed to give me. Now they’re more dreams of his presence.

It is true that I have had heartache and tragedy in my life. These are things none of us avoids. Suffering is the price of being alive.

I sang in the coffee houses of the country in the early ’60s with no idea of success in terms of records or television. I just thought I was a storyteller. I didn’t even think of myself as a singer.

My book ‘Trust Your Heart’, which is the story of my life, will be followed by ‘Singing Lessons’, a memoir of love, loss, hope, and healing, which talks about the death of my son and the hope that has been the aftermath of the healing from that tragedy.

I am thrilled to have been able to put together this new album. I listened to everything I had recorded in the 24 years with Elektra, and then just took all the ones I am mad about.

I was raised to speak out about politics and the world around me. I would do it whether I was in the public or not. It is the way I was taught. The American way.

I think people who are creative are the luckiest people on earth. I know that there are no shortcuts, but you must keep your faith in something Greater than You, and keep doing what you love. Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world.

Writing anything is terribly hard but, alas for me, because I am addicted, a heck of a lot of fun. I often am sorry I ever started writing prose, because it is so hard. But I can’t stop.

I don’t know where my songs come from… If I knew, I’d know too much, more than we are allowed on this plane.

If I give myself a chore, for instance, when I was writing the songs for Shameless, I said to myself, Now, every day for 90 days you have to write a song; good, bad or indifferent. So that was really helpful.

Recovering from the suicide of a loved one, you need all the help you can get, so I very much recommend a meditation program. The whole picture of how to recover from this has to do with body, mind, and spirit. That’s applicable to any kind of depression.

I don’t dream songs. I’m more apt to write dreams down and then to be able to interpret them into a song. I also tend to get up and write prose in the morning from which will come songs.

I may like the Blizzard best, of all the songs I have written.

I think suicide is sort of like cancer was 50 years ago. People don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to know about it. People are frightened of it, and they don’t understand, when actually these issues are medically treatable.

I don’t think you get to good writing unless you expose yourself and your feelings. Deep songs don’t come from the surface; they come from the deep down. The poetry and the songs that you are suppose to write, I believe are in your heart.

Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world.

I write journals and would recommend journal writing to anyone who wishes to pursue a writing career. You learn a lot. You also remember a lot… and memory is important.

I’ve gone through many, many things. I tell you something, that if it doesn’t kill you, you get stronger.

The powerful men in my life have always believed in me: my husband, my son.

When inspiration does not come, I go for a walk, go to the movie, talk to a friend, let go… The muse is bound to return again, especially if I turn my back!

I always sang when I was little and my father, who was a great influence on me, also had a wonderful voice. He and my mother really encouraged me to sing and play the piano. They were always very supportive.

Most of what we take as being important is not material, whether it’s music or feelings or love. They’re things we can’t really see or touch. They’re not material, but they’re vitally important to us.

I feel so very grateful to have the voice God gave me. It takes a lot of rest and training to sing, and I was lucky that I found a great teacher when I first moved to New York.

If I had not been already been meditating, I would certainly have had to start. I’ve treated my own depression for many years with exercise and meditation, and I’ve found that to be a tremendous help.

For many centuries, suicides were treated like criminals by the society. That is part of the terrible legacy that has come down into society’s method of handling suicide recovery. Now we have to fight off the demons that have been hanging around suicide for centuries.

I have inspiration and feelings of being alive most every day I live.

I have tried, in all the ways I can, to make timeless music.