Someone Could Walk Into This Room And

I Was Eating In A Chinese Restaurant Downtown. There Was A Dish Called Mother And Child Reunion. It's Chicken And Eggs. And I Said, I Gotta Use That One.

When I Was 15, I Made A Solo Record. It Made Artie Very Unhappy. He Looked Upon It As Something Of A Betrayal.

I Feel I Should Try To Reveal. When You Hit It Right, You Produce An Emotional Response In The Listener That Can Be Cathartic. When You're Wrong, You're Soppy, Sentimental.

Most Of The Time, The Songs Have Jokes In Them, Little Sarcastic Things, Or Purposely Kitsch Or Something. So That's Going Along With A Story, Like I Do In Life, Just Talking To Myself And Making Fun Of Stuff And Laughing At Stuff That's Serious. And Sometimes It's A Good Idea To Put The Laughing Into The Songs. Sometimes It's Not. Sometimes It's All Right Just To Be Serious. But Most Of The Songs Have Some Kind Of Joke In Them.

Instead Of Thinking In Terms Of Chords, I Think Of Voice-leading; That Is, Melody Line And Bass Line, And Where The Bass Line Goes. If You Do That, You'll Have The Right Chord. [these Voices] Will Give You Some Alternatives, And You Can Play Those Different Alternatives To Hear Which One Suits Your Ear. Keep The Bass Line Moving So You Don't Stay In One Spot: If You Have An Interesting Bass Line And You Roll It Against The Melody, The Chords Are Going To Come Out Right.