"I walked to the store today. I fell in love when I saw her at the cheese counter".

I wrote this line around the time of our 2nd album, to illustrate how I don't like to write. These days, I'm finding that there's a lot of freedom in this line, and that describing things for what they are gains you alot of freedom. I like the line now. I think it's good. I use the word 'good' intentionally, because you're always told, "never use the word 'good', there are thousands of better words to more accurately describe something..."

Don't believe it.

'Good' is one of the best words I know. It's an accurate barometer, when it's meant. "How do you really feel?" "I feel good." It's one syllable, easy to understand, mellow and confident. It is the opposite of Bad. Good is the ember. It sits there and smolders for you. It does it's job quietly. If you're, lucky, you know what Good feels like. Sometimes Good in life is rare, but when it's there, you know it, and it feels good.

"I walked to the store today. I fell in love when I saw her at the cheese counter".

I like the line now. I think it's good. But the line never really happened to me, so I didn't put it in a song. If you're going to be so plain spoken, it has to be true. When it's true, there's nothing to hide. There is a lot of merit to that kind of writing, though it's still the challenge to say something in a way that hasn't been said over and over again, the same as before and before...

Unless, of course, it's simply good…and true. And, in rock and roll music, people relate to the cheese counter.

So cheese is good, but only if it's real.