You talked about being unhappy, and about breaking through unhappiness. Fans often romanticize sadness and depression as a wellspring for great music. Do you buy that at all? Do you relate?
"It depends on your track record. If that?s something that people have seen happen, and it?s a pattern, then you can see why people say that. But Pharrell was in a happy place when he made ?Happy,? and that went to the stratosphere.
When I?m honest in my music?when I?m completely honest in recording a song?it has always registered. For me, it?s when I wasn?t really connected to the songs or wasn?t really sure about what I was saying, or when I really didn?t like the song but did it anyway, is when I disconnected."
What?s your most honest song? One where, if we went back and listened to it right now, here at this table, you?d sit back and tell me, "Whew, boy, I was going through it!"
There?s a lot of those. Right now, I?d say it?s the new one, "Beggin & Pleadin." That song moves me. It?s honest, and I?m singing like it?s the last song I?m ever gonna sing. That?s how it sounds when I play it back.
How hard is it to be honest with yourself when you?re writing songs about love?
I don?t think it?s hard to be honest. I think it?s just hard to be a type of honest. It?s hard to tell the whole truth. You know? You?re telling the truth, but not the entire truth. It?s hard to break through and just say everything. I think that?s what?s hard.
You want to keep something for the vault. That?s where you start to question whether you want people in your business like that. You don?t want to be judged. You don?t want to care about what people think. You don?t want to get human. But, once you get over that, you just tell the truth.
If you gave me studio equipment and told me to sing about my exes, I would lie. All my exes would be wrong.
Music is therapeutic. You have to be honest. You are the artist, and that?s the way you get through stuff. For me, the highest expression is to sing what I?m going through. You know other people are also going through it, so it?s relatable in a way that the person who hears you doesn?t feel alone. And then you (the singer) don?t feel alone.
Have you heard my song?
