Jewel
I've always had a love for poetry and when I got signed to a record label I thought, 'How odd that I'm doing a record before a book of poetry,'Collection: Poetry
I think being raised spending so much time outdoors was really important - while you're in it, you might not know, but now I think of the things I was thankful for.Collection: Thankful
I think when kids just see well-crafted poetry, it's just obtuse to them. It's hard to relate to.Collection: Poetry
Some people want fame, popularity and huge sales. I've always hoped to have a really long career. So I've tried to make each of my creative decisions and business decisions to allow for longevity. As a side effect I got really famous and really big. I didn't realize the two could go together.Collection: Famous
For now I'm just enjoying being a mom. I don't want to be more famous and more rich. I want to be a good mom.Collection: Famous
Love bravely, live bravely, be courageous, there's really nothing to lose. There's no wrong you can't make right again, so be kinder to yourself, you know, have fun, take chances. There's no bounds.Collection: Courage
The things you fear are undefeatable, not by their nature, but by your approach.Collection: Fear
Forgiveness is the needle that knows how to mend.Collection: Forgiveness
I'm a Gemini and I have a lot of different moods. Sometimes I'm very serious and introspective and pensive, but other times I'm completely goofy and girlie. So, I like my songs to cover all my moods.
Hard times make you bitter or make you more compassionate.
On my own I generally have very messy hair, wear jeans and sneakers.
I'm half alive but I feel mostly dead.
I'm not a wild and crazy person.
I'm becoming more and more myself with time. I guess that's what grace is. The refinement of your soul through time.
I think family mealtime is really important. There's a lot of research that shows kids are going to do better in school and have more self-esteem if you can all sit down and eat together.
I would always encourage people of any age not to be so quick to follow other people's truths but to search and follow your own moral code and live by your own integrity, and mostly just be brave.
Being part of the natural world reminds me that innocence isn't ever lost completely; we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it.
Most of us don't spend any time knowing ourselves. We just keep reacting.
I grew up doing live tours and playing in bars, so it was what I love to do.
I sort of came out at the dawn of the Internet in the mid-90s and I think it helped break my career. I think I was one of the first artists to really benefit from the grassroots swell that can happen online. I don't know if I would have broken out without it.
I get bored very easily. I have a voracious appetite and I do not feel alive if I'm repeating something I'm good at. So I'm always looking for new challenges.
I consider myself a product of Alaska. The love and the debt that I feel to my home state - you always want your hometown to be the proudest of you, and so it's heartbreaking to hear people say snarky things.
You have a different crowd every night, so you should do a different show to suit them. I tailor the show to their mood.
Lots of people have gone from public housing to do great things in the world and have a tremendous sense of duty to their fellow man because of it.
I don't see the world unless I see it in ink.
My whole goal is to keep my spirit intact. If that doesn't happen, none of this is worth it.
I'm fairly specific about what I like to wear and looks are important to me, just like they are to everybody.
I tend to eat what I want, which probably isn't good.
I've been performing on stage since I was six years old.
The show is different every night, because I never write a setlist.
I love being in a band.
I love playing big rooms. There's nothing like it. It's a power trip.
I'm not a partygoer.
So what are we given? We're also given, my generation, the disillusionment of our parents.
Writing is a really good first step toward that goal of knowing yourself.
What's great about music is it takes so many kinds of people, including me. Everybody is in a different place.
I never found much comfort in overly organized religion of any sort.
I have a sneaking suspicion that all religions lead to the same place, a very unified place.
I don't exist without writing.
I find you get out of people what you put into them.
The writers I respect the most had an undying commitment to a vision.
If I'm a phenomenon, it makes me feel like I have no purpose.
I have this theory- that if we're told we're bad, then that's the only ideal we'll ever have.
Records have never really been my strong suit. I've always been a much better live act. I didn't understand the language of the studio. You sing differently in a studio. The language, the craft - it's just a whole different deal. I avoided the problem on my first record by doing a live album.
My second record I used a producer, which was frustrating in a way, because I think a lot of the punky spirit and provocative nature of the lyrics didn't come across - the music was pretty.
Once you are successful, there's a very seductive rhythm at work that keeps you wanting to outdo yourself. By the end of 'Spirit' I felt like I didn't want to get into that trap. It almost makes you cartoon-like.
I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire life and trying to make sure my whole life is balanced.
I was turning 20 during my first record. Those decade birthdays always kind of cause me, it seems, to reflect, look back, and then look forward. I just was closing this period of my life where I was living in a car and scrambling my whole life to then signing a six-record deal with Atlantic.
When we're children we're told love is going to be great: Just fall in love, the rest will take care of itself - and then we fall in love and we realize, Okay, this is actually really, really hard work. This guy doesn't just tell me I'm great every day, you know?
Some of my favorite poets had a tremendous sense of whimsy, so it's a writing style I guess I admire.